Excess roosters, should i butcher?

[Chickendaddy92]

I have a bunch of young roosters, about 2 months maybe. They are barnyard mix, the father is either a orpington jersey giant mix or a naked neck. I've tried selling them but it's hard to get rid of a rooster around here. It seems ridiculous to just dispatch them all for no reason so I figured I'd raise them to a decent weight and butcher them myself. For dog food if nothing else.

Anyway, my main question is is it possible to get their meat tender? I've butchered a rooster before but the meat was tough and gamey. He was probably too old and wasnt fed like the ones i have now. I'd like to be able to make it Into fried chicken without it being rubbery if at all possible.

Right now they are allowed access to food 24/7 but they are also in a tractor so they can still eat bugs and grass and what have you.

Anything I should know? Suggestions, comments, concerns? Thanks in advance

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I process extra dual-purpose cockerels and roosters with some regularity, and find that they reach a good butchering weight at about 5 months. I also cook them in an electronic pressure cooker, and they're rendered fall-off-the-bone tender. I've also cooked older roosters with bad attitudes in the pressure cooker for additional time, and they also came out amazingly tender - not rubbery at all. Some folks like slow cooking roosters, too (I've done both and prefer pressure-cooked).

Roosters raised for months on pasture have time to develop complex flavor - perhaps that's what you're perceiving as "gamey", especially if you're used to eating Cornish Crosses. There may be ways to address that, such as with spices or sauces.

Enjoy that homegrown chicken!

 

[Sussex19]

If you want to fry them, you will have to butcher them early, no more then around 14 weeks.
If you don't mind roasting them, they are good up till around 20 weeks, which means you can get a lot more meat on them. If they are much older then that, stewing of some kind might be the way to go.
When you do butcher them, make sure to let the meat rest in the fridge for 2 to 5 days, until rigor mortis has passed.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I haven't processed older roosters so I can't comment on the age thing. But I just wanted to add that you should age your birds in the fridge or a cooler with ice for 24-72 hours until rigor mortis passes. I didn't see you say you did this so that may be why your last bird was rubbery. Once the the joints move freely and you can kind of jiggle the leg or wing easily, you know rigor mortis has passed and the meat is ready to be eaten.

 

[Sussex19]

View attachment 3539249

I'm wondering about that...I know I would not want to fry one of my 20 week olds.
Roast, yes definitely, but not fry. The oldest one we fried was 18 weeks, and I really wasn't very keen on it.

 

[Sussex19]

How do yall normally store them?

Mine just get put in zip lock bags, then into the refrigerator for 2 to 4 days, and then into the freezer.
If you can vacuum seal 'em, that would be better, I should think.

 

[Molpet]

vaccum seal and freeze. How do yall normally store them?

This is what I do. I have been parting out because they take less room.

 

[Chickendaddy92]

Well I just processed one old hen two roosters and two ducks. It was so easy! I have them in a cooler with brine soaking now. I just made a traffic cone into a kill cone and cut their throats. Didn't have to worry about swinging hard enough or God forbid missing and hitting them somewhere else. They bled out and stopped twitching in under a minute.

Before this I always hated dispatching sick birds and opted to just shoot them a lot of times. Glad I found this method.

 

[Ridgeback825]

I have a bunch of young roosters, about 2 months maybe. They are barnyard mix, the father is either a orpington jersey giant mix or a naked neck. I've tried selling them but it's hard to get rid of a rooster around here. It seems ridiculous to just dispatch them all for no reason so I figured I'd raise them to a decent weight and butcher them myself. For dog food if nothing else.

Anyway, my main question is is it possible to get their meat tender? I've butchered a rooster before but the meat was tough and gamey. He was probably too old and wasnt fed like the ones i have now. I'd like to be able to make it Into fried chicken without it being rubbery if at all possible.

Right now they are allowed access to food 24/7 but they are also in a tractor so they can still eat bugs and grass and what have you.

Anything I should know? Suggestions, comments, concerns? Thanks in advance

Our last 6 roos.

 

[FunClucks]

Butcher no later than 4-6 months if you want it tender. Cook low heat and slow, like 275F for 1-2 hrs or so until internal temperature is at least 175F in thickest part of meat.

You could butcher your roosters right now, and they'd be tender for sure, but small.

At one year old, I pressure cooked my rooster. There is a definite change in flavor as roosters age. Some like it, some don't, also it depends on the rooster. My 1 yr old rooster tasted more like beef or pork than chicken from the grocery store - I put BBQ sauce on it and had "pulled pork". The broth was delicious for chicken soup, pea soup, egg drop soup, etc.

You can search on this site "how to cook old rooster" or "Coq au Vin" and I bet a lot of things would show up.