Any way to get my roosters ready for Christmas dinner?

[crash0330]

Hello.
I have a question regarding meat chickens, I have a couple of roosters, heavy breeds, that I wanna eat fro christmas thing is they are really skinny, dont know why since I feed them well everyday.
I have them all on layer feed, since they are mixed with my laying hens. What kind of feed should I be giving them so they'll gain more weight fast?

 

[ColbyNTX]

Layer feed is generally around 16% protein and you should feed meat birds more like 24% feed.

 

[Omniskies]

Worm them and start giving them a good broiler/meat feed. If they have been free ranging then they have worms. By worming them you can make sure that all of the food they eat actually goes to them and not the parasites.

 

[SteveH]

Assuming these are well grown , extra males from your yard ................................ I would pen them in a small area where they stop moving as much and not mounting the hens , then roll the cracked corn or scratch grain to them . They're not going to grow much if any , but will put on a little fat in the next three or four weeks .

 

[crash0330]

I just wormed them this past week.
And yes they are just extra roosters that I hatched out this past summer, they are big just not meety. I was thinking about the scratch grains, but doesnt that just puts fat on them and not meat?

 

[Omniskies]

Shell out for the broiler feed. That will build up a little more meat. Scratch grain will be a lot cheaper (and probably more for your money), but really won't put on more than fat, like you said.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Unfortunately they probably just do not have the genetics to put the meat on at a young age . That's why I would opt for adding as much fat in the very short time left as possible , and limit their movement , and hopefully get a more flavorful and tender Christmas meal .