not meat birds but want to eat them

[Jkioneil]

how old should dual purpose birds be to be eaten? i have rir br and buff orp and i want to eat them. some of them are 16 weeks and some are about 26 weeks? Can we eat them?

 

[silkiechicken]

Sure. Why not? They are meat.

Just need to adjust cooking method to age and don't forget to age them.

 

[Illia]

Sure! I have a lot of cull Araucanas at 5-6 months of age, and all I do is put them in the crockpot for several hours until the meat falls off, and it's just as tender and delicious as any other chicken.

 

[Jkioneil]

great thats what i thought too. we are having to move into a condo due to my health and i love my ladies and wish they could go with but since they can't i thought we could eat them. three are laying and the rest are not yet they have aybe four weeks till they start laying but we will be moving right around then so i figured if they were good to eat by then...then why not. i spent so much time and money on raising my birds that i would really like to enjoy them and since i can't do so in my backyard with eggs then i will have to do so on my table. i just wondered if they were old eough to eat. also what about the roo? we got him right before school ended this summer. end of may early june...is he too young to eat? thanks

 

[Jkioneil]

So i could do that with my EE too? and just crock pot her?

 

[scubaforlife]

they are made up of chicken, you can eat them when you want, probably taste like chicken though.

 

[awesomefowl]

yum!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

They are fine to eat at any age, just adjust the cooking method. We just processed a couple of 10 week old barred rock roos, a bit small and as they were still putting on feathers, there were a bit more pin feathers than I like. Tasted great! We've ate chickens (Both hens & Roos) up to around 3 - 4 years old, the older ones definatly need the crock pot treatment, but are still very tasty.

 

[terri9630]

Have you tried to sell them yet? People around here will pay pretty well for a young hen that is already laying.

 

[SeaHen]

I was thinking the same thing about trying to sell them.. (on Craigslist?). Seems like a shame, considering the time and effort you've put into raising them, to eat them when they are so close to maturity and laying wonderful eggs. Around here your girls would easily sell for $15. to $20. a piece, and you could get a few dollars for the rooster too. Just another idea.