Accidentally purchased meat bird, now what?

[tlcmurphy]

If she's mostly been free fed and not had to forage too much, she's probably still pretty tender. CX are naturally lazy birds usually.

I've processed broilers at that age and only noticed a difference in taste with the cockerels.

There isn't really such a thing as "too late" to process a bird for meat unless it's actually been dead too long for the meat to be safe, or dying of something that makes it a bad idea to eat it. At worst, you might have to cook it low & slow to avoid the meat being too tough.

Or pressure cook it

 

[AnneGirlGG]

Ok, thank you.
I’ll still post her and see what happens.

Of course. And best of luck to you!

 

[FunClucks]

I wish she could be a pet for someone, but the most humane thing to do is cull them not too long after they reach processing age. Otherwise their health declines and they have pain and eventually probably a heart attack. At 16 wks, she'll probably need to be pressure cooked, but will still be really tasty and delicious.

She's had the best life she possibly could with you. Much better than any life in a factory or a cage. Lots of fresh air and grass and inter-chicken interactions. Her life may be short, but it's been of excellent quality. Sorry she couldn't stay with you and be a pet.

I usually see what whole chickens sell for in the grocery store per pound, and that would be my starting price for her. A dressed carcass (the whole hens sold in the store) is roughly 2/3 the weight of a live bird. So 14*.66 = 9.24 lbs dressed. ~$1.70 / lb for whole chickens where I live. $1.7*9.24 = 15.7 So the lowest price I'd ask is $15 for the live chicken.

 

[iwltfum]

Definitely not beyond processing age and you don't need to pressure cook a 16 week old chicken of any breed. That being said, I doubt anyone that is willing to process it, would be willing to buy it from you.

I'm sure lots of folks would happily take it off your hands for free.

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

If she's mostly been free fed and not had to forage too much, she's probably still pretty tender. CX are naturally lazy birds usually.

I've processed broilers at that age and only noticed a difference in taste with the cockerels.

There isn't really such a thing as "too late" to process a bird for meat unless it's actually been dead too long for the meat to be safe, or dying of something that makes it a bad idea to eat it. At worst, you might have to cook it low & slow to avoid the meat being too tough.

Yes, she has been free fed chick starter/grower. I never invested in broiler feed, but she’s gotten pretty huge on what I have given her.
Thank you! If the meat ends up being too tuff, we could always do a stew!

 

[kattabelly]

you don't need to pressure cook a 16 week old chicken of any breed.

Agreed I should've been clearer that I was talking more generally and not about this specific chicken. She'll be fine to eat however.

And yeah, processing is enough work that most folk won't want to pay anything like grocery store prices on top of that. Even if you have a plucking machine and enough experience to take just a few minutes from kill to chill, all the setup and cleaning up after is still extra hassle.

 

[Molpet]

I start harvesting heritage chicken at 16 weeks. Makes great roasters. After harvest Have to rest until rigor mortis passes
Age does determine cooking method .

I have a few CX this year

People have raised them for Thanksgiving
Raising large table birds | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens https://share.google/CF35sJQxKZiNWJOIl

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

I wish she could be a pet for someone, but the most humane thing to do is cull them not too long after they reach processing age. Otherwise their health declines and they have pain and eventually probably a heart attack. At 16 wks, she'll probably need to be pressure cooked, but will still be really tasty and delicious.

She's had the best life she possibly could with you. Much better than any life in a factory or a cage. Lots of fresh air and grass and inter-chicken interactions. Her life may be short, but it's been of excellent quality. Sorry she couldn't stay with you and be a pet.

I usually see what whole chickens sell for in the grocery store per pound, and that would be my starting price for her. A dressed carcass (the whole hens sold in the store) is roughly 2/3 the weight of a live bird. So 14*.66 = 9.24 lbs dressed. ~$1.70 / lb for whole chickens where I live. $1.7*9.24 = 15.7 So the lowest price I'd ask is $15 for the live chicken.

I wish she could be a pet too….
She’s always been mine!
I guess the main reason I was so hesitant to crate her off, or cull myself, was because she’s always had such a spunky personality, and I would kinda hate to see her go.
She received the endearing title of “Fat Chick”. That has always been her name,(even though she’s not a chick at all now!) Everyone calls her that, even my friends.

I did try to give her the best life I could… they free range at least 6 hours a day, and she’s always been in surprisingly good health, considering everything I was forewarned.

Thank you for the breakdown. I will definitely keep that in mind!
I was thinking of starting at $15, and seeing what happens. If nothing happens for a week, I could go down.

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

14 lbs?! She's huge!

I KNOW!!!
It normally takes me like 2 tries to even pick her up, and my 11 year old brother can’t even do it!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Lol, she's as big as a small turkey. I wish her all the best, and you, too!