Accomodations if raising chickens for meat & eggs?

[Ted Brown]

I sort of feel guilty asking but here goes.

I want eggs and will seek to acquire hens but get the impression that one gets males as a matter of course? I also eat lots of chicken as part of my diet.

Does one raise the males for culling at 12+ weeks? Until what age do they provide prime meat?

If yes I assume they are separated from the main flock? How is such separation usually achieved?

Thank you.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I want eggs and will seek to acquire hens but get the impression that one gets males as a matter of course? I also eat lots of chicken as part of my diet.
Unless you're hatching the eggs yourself, you can buy sexed pullets. You may still get males, but it's unlikely; I myself have never gotten a mis-sexed chick. Of course, that just means that the hatchery is killing the males for you.

Does one raise the males for culling at 12+ weeks? Until what age do they provide prime meat?
Short answer: depends on the breed.

Most of the breeds raised for egg-laying do not produce meaty carcasses. Laying breed males are best butchered after sixteen weeks (because, despite some toughness, at that point, they actually have meat on them), and then tenderised well for cooking (in comparison, the most popular meat bird, the Cornish Cross, is butchered at seven-to-eight weeks and is much heavier and more tender.)

If yes I assume they are separated from the main flock? How is such separation usually achieved?
With cockerels, I just separate them out the night previous. I have never tried feeding them up in a small pen beforehand; butchering cockerels is usually a spur-of-the-moment thing.

If you do decide to go dual-purpose, be aware that most of the more popular "dual purpose" breeds have actually been specialised into laying birds. The Plymouth Barred Rock, for instance, is a rather small, light bird and a fantastic layer, despite being touted as "dual purpose." The White Plymouth Rock, on the other hand, is much heavier, and not nearly as good a layer, despite being nominally the same breed.

 

[Notaneggspurt]

If you get day old chicks you'll want to look for "sexed pullet" or "sex link pullet" if you only want females.

Pullet=female chicken under 1 year old

As far as when to process, age of cockerel it varies greatly on breed.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I sort of feel guilty asking but here goes.

I want eggs and will seek to acquire hens but get the impression that one gets males as a matter of course? I also eat lots of chicken as part of my diet.

Does one raise the males for culling at 12+ weeks? Until what age do they provide prime meat?

If yes I assume they are separated from the main flock? How is such separation usually achieved?

Thank you.

Hi, hope you are enjoying BYC!

I grow most my boys out for a lonnng time in order to choose the best of the best for breeding forward. Meaning not less than 9 months. I guess I wouldn't call that getting prime meat per say but it gives me prime genetics and the meat still makes great shredded tacos, enchiladas, pot pie type stuff.

Ones who do not qualify will often not be dispatched until 16+ weeks here. Nearly all boys are trying to mate by that age and so I keep a stag pen... which contains roosters and all grow out boys in order to maintain my genetics and mating frequency/load. I add a gentleman to the flock off and on as I wish, but not for extended days on end as he needs to maintain his position in the pecking order... or all heck breaks loose. They have their own coop which is 1/2 the back end of my pole barn with a chicken wire wall separating from the ladies side. Outdoors is a 4 ft stockyard fence reinforded with E wire to keep the boys on their own side.

I cannot say enough about the dual purpose quality of my french black copper Marans. Their growth rate for the table is fantastic. And even if they only lay 3 eggs per week they are usually extra large to jumbo size once mature. I agree with the previous poster about production birds from most hatcheries like the barred Rock... their bodies are lighter than expected and while they do lay slightly more eggs than the Marans they are smaller eggs. Both breeds have been good mothers to sit on and raise their own clutches! Which might be a consideration for you. I send the boys over to the stag pen as soon as they are identifiable and mum starts to boot them, unless they act out with mating behavior sooner than that.

I'll be honest though... it would be less work to just grow Cornish cross for 8 weeks or so, still get some fantastic birds with milder flavor in the freezer and have some fun layers.

You do get males as a matter of course if you are hatching or getting straight run chicks from a location that doesn't have the ability to gender ID them. But if you are able to order just females then that may not be the case for you.

Butchering cockerels is not spur of the moment here... but sometimes we do have to go with the flow. And things happen either sooner or later than you expected... maybe you got one real aggressive toward flock members making havoc daily... he might be the smallest in stature.. but it is what it is and he HAS to GO... or maybe you know you want to do this but working the nerve up pressed it off a week and then it rained now your septic is backed up and next thing you know their a month older...

Meat is still edible... you push harder on the knife to dispatch cuz the skin is thicker, you slow cook your meat instead of frying or grilling. No big deal. We even grind some of our older birds and use in place of beef with correct seasoning.

Good luck on your adventure!

 

[Alaskan]

Just adding how I do it....

I breed for temperament first... so at this point have well behaved males.

It is winter, and nasty out, so I try to consolidate my groups of poultry.

In my group of standard chickens I have a few older very well behaved roosters, and a few young males (cockerels)from this year that I haven't yet decided to butcher, and they are all living peacefully with the big flock of hens and pullets.

If one of those young males starts to cause trouble, I will just eat him.

Any age meat can be great if cooked correctly. The big secret is to cook old meat low and slow!

If I have a large number of young males, then I do put them in their own enclosure.

 

[Ted Brown]

Great info, thank you all!

Almost seems one should have the best of either meat or egg producers and deal with how things unfold.

 

[JDN]

Great info, thank you all!

Almost seems one should have the best of either meat or egg producers and deal with how things unfold.

There are good dual purpose breeds. Naked-Necks/Turkens are the best in terms of "heritage" breeds that are good egg layers but there are others.

 

[aart]

I slaughter cockerels at 13-16 weeks, before they start causing chaos and while still tender enough to grill for that crispy skinned deliciousness. Not much meat but the grilled bones make for some excellent stock. Anything older than that I pressure cook until meat is done and is saved aside then a couple more hours to get that bone broth.

Resting the cleaned carcass in fridge for 48-72 hours for rigor to pass is essential for chewable meat from any bird(except maybe CX?). Tho no homegrown bird I've eaten, layer or meat breed, is as soft as a grocery bird, they are more 'toothsome'.