Unwanted Males

[pembrokenh]

Hello all,

My wife and I are brand new to this. We purchased 1 dozen mixed sex chicks with the intent to raise them for eggs. We have 6 Rhode Island Reds and 6 other random species.

We are wondering what to do with the males. My preference would be to slaughter for meat. We do want to keep them as 'pets' and I don't want them to needlessly go to waste.

Specifically, I want to know when to slighter them.

If I slaughter them early enough (before sexual maturity) will them taste the same as hens? The internet seems to suggest that in the meat industry that males and females are raised and slaughtered. I fully understand that I have laying breeds, but in theory, if I slaughter the birds early enough they should NOT be roosters and just taste like normal chicken?

Thanks

 

[WhiskeyTheRedd]

Letting them mature is the best financial bet. THey costed what at max 6 bucks a bird give or take?? A pound of chicken is worth however much at your local stores, id suggest letting them grow until they have a good weight, and plenty body build up. Smaller chickens produce less meat, and younger juvenile birds produce meat that is NOT as good, if even any edible meat. let them grow until you'd get their worth out of their lives.

 

[pembrokenh]

Letting them mature is the best financial bet. THey costed what at max 6 bucks a bird give or take?? A pound of chicken is worth however much at your local stores, id suggest letting them grow until they have a good weight, and plenty body build up. Smaller chickens produce less meat, and younger juvenile birds produce meat that is NOT as good, if even any edible meat. let them grow until you'd get their worth out of their lives.

Thank you for the advice. I guess it would be helpful to know (1) if you can expect a quality of meat similar to a 'female'. My research suggests that in the meat industry males are frequently raised? and (2) Roughly how long we should raise them for get enough meat on them to make it worth it, but not be too old? Is 12 weeks about right? I am still new and dont really have a good sense for this.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hello all,

My wife and I are brand new to this. We purchased 1 dozen mixed sex chicks with the intent to raise them for eggs. We have 6 Rhode Island Reds and 6 other random species.

We are wondering what to do with the males. My preference would be to slaughter for meat. We do want to keep them as 'pets' and I don't want them to needlessly go to waste.

Specifically, I want to know when to slighter them.

If I slaughter them early enough (before sexual maturity) will them taste the same as hens? The internet seems to suggest that in the meat industry that males and females are raised and slaughtered. I fully understand that I have laying breeds, but in theory, if I slaughter the birds early enough they should NOT be roosters and just taste like normal chicken?

Thanks

After about 16 weeks (but faster maturing ones are almost certainly younger), they start to get that 'rooster' flavor and tougher connections. But unfortunately at that age, they typically are still on the small side

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you for the advice. I guess it would be helpful to know (1) if you can expect a quality of meat similar to a 'female'. My research suggests that in the meat industry males are frequently raised? and (2) Roughly how long we should raise them for get enough meat on them to make it worth it, but not be too old? Is 12 weeks about right? I am still new and dont really have a good sense for this.

Meat industry males are CornishX, which reach butcher weight at 8 weeks, if not sooner, about 2 months before hormones typically start tainting the male meat

 

[pembrokenh]

After about 16 weeks (but faster maturing ones are almost certainly younger), they start to get that 'rooster' flavor and tougher connections. But unfortunately at that age, they typically are still on the small side

Really appreciate the feedback here.

Sounds like I can expect a decent quality of meat, but just need to be prepared for a relatively small bird.

I guess economically its not a good trade raising them, but we can at least 'waste' and get something meaningful from them .

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Really appreciate the feedback here.

Sounds like I can expect a decent quality of meat, but just need to be prepared for a relatively small bird.

I guess economically its not a good trade raising them, but we can at least 'waste' and get something meaningful from them .

If you want to stock your freezer, I suggest CornishX. If you just want to use the males and not throw them away, I'd suggest butchering between 12 and 16 weeks and just taking what you can from them. My family likes it for soup, since it doesn't have to be tender going into the pot. But I have to decently chew my pieces when I eat our birds

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If you want to stock your freezer, I suggest CornishX. If you just want to use the males and not throw them away, I'd suggest butchering between 12 and 16 weeks and just taking what you can from them. My family likes it for soup, since it doesn't have to be tender going into the pot. But I have to decently chew my pieces when I eat our birds

That said, I don't fully process mine. It takes me a really long time per bird, so I typically take the breasts and what I can get to of the thighs and drumsticks. I still end up with enough for myself per bird on the low end, usually more.

 

[Sally PB]

A lot of people here on BYC hatch their own eggs, planning that they'll eat the extra males. The pullets are for eggs, the cockerels for meat.

Some people make a 3 year plan something like this:

Year 1: Chicks. Keep the best cockerel for your breeding male. Eat the rest of the boys. Eggs in 5-6 months.

Year 2: Hatch. Need to "trade in" your cockerel? Pick a better one. Eat the other males. Lots of eggs.

Year 3: Hatch. By now, your original hens aren't laying as many eggs. They can become soup if you need to lower your feed bill by thinning the flock.

Repeat. Cull the older, less productive hens; cull any unwanted males; hatch eggs to be your new layers in a few months.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can eat any chicken of any age. Up to a point the older they are the more meat you get. The older they get the more texture they have and the more flavor they have. More texture means you may be limited in how you cook them so they are edible. If cooked properly you can eat any bird. Coq au Vin is a recipe the French developed to turn an old rooster into a delicacy. Tough old hens make the best chicken and dumplings, a real comfort food, if cooked properly.

Any bird of any sex or age needs to be properly aged to get past rigor mortis. If you don't they can be extremely tough. If you can cook them before rigor mortis sets in they will be OK but you don't have a lot of time. You keep them cool so bacteria does not grow until you can freely wiggle a joint. If it is stiff at all it is not ready.

The Cornish X were developed to be butchered by 8 weeks so they are very tender but relatively flavorless. These can be cooked any way but something fast and hot is usually best, like grilling or frying. Rangers were developed to be butchered by 12 weeks or so. You can still grill or fry these but they may have a bit more texture.

Some people butcher dual purpose birds, especially cockerels, pretty young but I find they don't have much meat until at least 16 weeks. So that is a fairly popular time to butcher them. I personally prefer 23 weeks. By then they have ended their growth spurts. They will continue to grow but it will be slow. These are too old to cook fast and hot, I generally bake mine but there are other ways to cook them.

The boys can hit puberty anytime between 12 weeks and 20 weeks. The hormones of puberty can affect behaviors in a big way. That's one reason some people choose to butcher fairly young. Those hormones also cause the meat to change flavor. Many people consider that a gamey taste and don't like it. Some of us prefer it. Pullets don't go through that anywhere close to the extent the boys do but over time they will also get tougher and increase in flavor.

I fully understand that I have laying breeds, but in theory, if I slaughter the birds early enough they should NOT be roosters and just taste like normal chicken?

Taste and texture come mainly from their age when slaughtered. If you butcher them at 8 weeks they will probably taste a lot like the Cornish X you buy at the store. Many people consider that tasting like "normal" chickens. My suggestion is to butcher them at different ages until you find your sweet spot. What works best for you.