How do I know when they're ready to go to the processor? A number of the hatcheries give time frames of 5 weeks old+. Do they get to a certain age or size before they can go? thanks, Sonja
Most cornish cross meat birds are ready to process at about 8 - 10 weeks. At 5 weeks or so you will get what the grocery store sells as 'rock cornish game hen'. At 7 -8 weeks you get a nice fryer. 10 or see weeks is a plump roaster/broiler. To know if your birds are being fed out and growing at the average broiler rate you need to weigh them. 8 weeks or so and they should weigh in at 5 - 6 pounds. I let some of mine go last fall for 12 weeks. I had chickens the size of small turkeys - 10 - 13 pounds. They were delicious!
I agree, if these are Cornish X or Cornish broilers (or some such similar name) you have. Is that what you have? Other breeds, the time frame for tenderness is about the same, but with some breeds, there just isn't enough bird there yet to bother with.
We ordered cornish rock broilers from Welp. They arrive the 1st week in September. This is our 1st time with meat birds, so I want to do everything right. There's just so much info out there on how to raise them, I'm beginning to get confused. We do have a few roos from our current flock that I'll have processed at the same time. These boys will be close to 18 weeks when they're processed. Sonja
