Are hybrids chickens also good to eat?

[natyvidal]

Hi everyone! Thank you all for your input ahead of time. It’s always very helpful



Situation: at present I have 22 chickens, all heritage breeds except for the Olive Eggers which I know they are hybrids.

The breeds are good for laying and eating. Breeds are RIR, barred rocks cuckoo Marans, white leghorns, speckled Sussex, easter Eggers. Also includes two roosters, dominant one is a easter egger and the other americauna.



I have now 3 ladies that are brooding. And thinking on letting them sit on some of the eggs that are fertile. Important to know these ladies lay all their in a common coop so it would be hard to tell which laid what egg or who belongs to what pair.



Question: if I let the brooder hens hatch a few eggs to satisfy their urges, and raise the chicks for meat, will the quality of meat be good being descendants from these breeds?

 

[pennyJo1960]

All can be eaten depending who you got them from can be a expensive meal

 

[natyvidal]

Sorry. Why? I bought the chicks from Rural King store and did my homework before buying them. They are 10 months old and I haven’t lost any to sickness or animals. They are free range and look very health. The purpose of raising the chicks for meat is mainly for our own consumption. I have the space at my farm to diversify I just don’t want to bring any from outside since there is always a risk of bringing in sick birds. The plan is to allow them to grow until two months old and then process them. I am just wondering what the quality of meat will be from these hybrids? The cost will be minimal.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

The meat will be different from the chicken you get at the grocery store in that the carcasses will be leaner, have more dark meat, will need to be cooked differently than a store bought chicken, and the flavor will be stronger.

 

[pennyJo1960]

The chickens you butcher process from your birds will spoil you for any other chicken then but yes you would be ahead of the game if you have a incubator more to the game than trying to brood birds most hatchery have broodiness bred from them

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

The meat will be different from the chicken you get at the grocery store in that the carcasses will be leaner, have more dark meat, will need to be cooked differently than a store bought chicken, and the flavor will be stronger.

Hi Brahma, we are about to butcher 3 mo old layer type extra cockerels and had heard that they should be cooked differently but not how they should be cooked. How do you cook yours?

 

[natyvidal]

Oh! . That is exactly how I like them. Natural and with little white meat. I remember way back when I was a little girl. Way way back! . How flavorful and delicious were my mother’s chicken stews, arroz con pollo, chicken soups etc, she made. We are looking forward to try that again.

I also want the brooder hens do the hatching because again it’s more natural. I prefer nature to do its work. And me watch it to fruition. Besides even if I keep trying to break them of their habit, they stop for a while and go back to brooding. I think by letting them hatch their babies they will get it out of their system?

One last question: what is the best age to process these hybrids before they are stringy? 2, 3, 4 months? I am planning to separate them as soon as the mother lets me and feed them a hi protein diet and free range.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Yes butcher 3 or at most 4 months but best in the spring you can buy broilers also that are great meat birds

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Hi Brahma, we are about to butcher 3 mo old layer type extra cockerels and had heard that they should be cooked differently but not how they should be cooked. How do you cook yours?

I’m hoping to process my first cockerels this year. @aart @Folly's place @BantyChooks @Compost King have experience processing their own birds.

 

[Folly's place]

In the past we processed our own birds. It's a mess! Happily we send them out now...
Mary