American Gamefowl

[Wyorp Rock]

Then...there's Ellen. She's done gone broody and she's mad cause I kicked her out of the pen had taken over so I could move Ira. Ellen will get over it.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Do any of you ever eat your game hens? Curious....

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh why not...here's Tetsy's adopted layer chicks that she raised Another with Tetsy, Mean Mummy and Matilda

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Only current thing I can get of those wild GF chicks. They see a phone and take off!
Mean Mummy came to eat with them today. (she's came to steal some of their scratch!)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do any of you ever eat your game hens? Curious....

I haven't GF hens, but I would if I needed to cull numbers. I bet they taste like chicken!

 

[roosterhavoc]

I can’t eat my chickens. I only feed them crushed glass, screws and nails. They wash it all down with HiC Ecto cooler.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do any of you ever eat your game hens? Curious....

No, seriously, I would. If I only had a couple and didn't want to bother with plucking, I would skin them. Depending on how old... cook low and slow. I had a few cockerels last year, so just skinned them. Let the carcasses rest in salt water in the fridge a couple of days, then froze some and also had dinner (crockpot!) Not the same as what you buy in the store of course or even something like a dual purpose bird, but still very good, at least to me.

 

[TJAnonymous]

No, seriously, I would. If I only had a couple and didn't want to bother with plucking, I would skin them. Depending on how old... cook low and slow. I had a few cockerels last year, so just skinned them. Let the carcasses rest in salt water in the fridge a couple of days, then froze some and also had dinner (crockpot!) Not the same as what you buy in the store of course or even something like a dual purpose bird, but still very good, at least to me.

So far we've only butchered and eaten 1 rooster (GLW, not GF). Even though he was only 9 months old, he was REALLY tough. Almost inedible. I still have 3 of these adopted GF hens and now 9 chicks (1/2 GF, 1/2 GLW). DH and I wondered about eating them. With the little cornish game hens we get from the store, we would deep fry them in the turkey fryer. One for each person. They were pretty good...but then those are raised for eating. These clearly aren't.... We do plan on butchering pretty much all of our roosters (except breeding stock) when they get mature.

Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else eats their chickens.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So far we've only butchered and eaten 1 rooster (GLW, not GF). Even though he was only 9 months old, he was REALLY tough. Almost inedible. I still have 3 of these adopted GF hens and now 9 chicks (1/2 GF, 1/2 GLW). DH and I wondered about eating them. With the little cornish game hens we get from the store, we would deep fry them in the turkey fryer. One for each person. They were pretty good...but then those are raised for eating. These clearly aren't.... We do plan on butchering pretty much all of our roosters (except breeding stock) when they get mature.

Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else eats their chickens.

The meat can be tough if you don't let it rest. Also the cooking method makes a big difference too.
The 1/2 layers will be fine to eat, just butcher them younger. I think I did mine at 12-14 weeks. I had a few of 1/2's last year, so they are a leaner bird than dual purpose. I put mine in the crockpot after resting in salt water for a couple of days. That long low cooking made it more tender. Got 2 meals out of each one, so not bad.
Look for posts by RidgeRunner on how to process, brine and cook birds of different age - he has a lot of good info. I'm sure he wouldn't mind answering a pm either. He has a lot of experience in processing birds.

Just a thought.

 

[roosterhavoc]