At what age should i slaughter these cockerels?

[JoePa]

Quote:

Or a bunch of wrong ones

 

[Judy]

Quote:

Or a bunch of wrong ones

For sure! Heck, I believe the classic French recipe, coq au vin (chicken in wine, uses a whole bottle of wine) calls for a 2 year old rooster.

 

[triplepurpose]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, jmc, it's not that critical. Basically, in a nutshell, I slaughter at 3-4 months for fried chicken, 4-6 for roasting. BTW Dual purpose will always have firmer meat than cornish x--but the meat has much better flavor. And after about half a year or longer you can certainly still slaughter, and the meat will be every bit as delicious if not more so and you'll get a lot more of it, but you'll want to braise or stew it in some way. Basically it just depends what's convenient for you, or on how want to cook it. Don't sweat it!

A lot of people slaughter right about the time they start crowing or just before, but mostly just because having to listen to a lot of adolescent crowing and having them harrassing hens and fighting with eachother is a nuisance.

If you can manage to wait a little longer, you can usually get a decent size roasting chicken before they get past that six month mark and start getting too tough for roasting...

Oh, and letting the meat sit overnight or for a couple of days in the fridge helps to make it more tender too...

Good luck!

 

[triplepurpose]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, jmc, it's not that critical. Basically, in a nutshell, I slaughter at 3-4 months for fried chicken, 4-6 for roasting. BTW Dual purpose will always have firmer meat than cornish x--but the meat has much better flavor. And after about half a year or longer you can certainly still slaughter, and the meat will be every bit as delicious if not more so and you'll get a lot more of it, but you'll want to braise or stew it in some way. Basically it just depends what's convenient for you, or on how want to cook it. Don't sweat it!

A lot of people slaughter right about the time they start crowing or just before, but mostly just because having to listen to a lot of adolescent crowing and having them harrassing hens and fighting with eachother is a nuisance.

If you can manage to wait a little longer, you can usually get a decent size roasting chicken before they get past that six month mark and start getting too tough for roasting...

Oh, and letting the meat sit overnight or for a couple of days in the fridge helps to make it more tender too...

Good luck!

 

[triplepurpose]

Oops, sorry about the double post...

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Ignoring the amount of meat/tenderness issues, is there a feather stage/age to avoid? We had some serious pinfeather issues with one batch last year.

 

[triplepurpose]

they'reHISchickens :

Ignoring the amount of meat/tenderness issues, is there a feather stage/age to avoid? We had some serious pinfeather issues with one batch last year.

How old were they? I think pin feathers are at their worst around that 3 month stage when the adult plumage is first coming in. But honestly I've never paid it that much attention... I'm sure someone else has a more satisfactory answer...​

 

[poulet_passion]

Quote:
This article was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much!

I am now only ordering "heritage" breed birds... no more X's for me. So knowing just when to butcher was a huge question. I just put 15 in the freezer that were of various dual purpose breeds and they were all 8 months old, so far the meat is highly flavorful and not too tough. I think my favorite are the Bard Rocks, they seem to have the most fat content of the breeds that I've tried.

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
This article was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much!

I am now only ordering "heritage" breed birds... no more X's for me. So knowing just when to butcher was a huge question. I just put 15 in the freezer that were of various dual purpose breeds and they were all 8 months old, so far the meat is highly flavorful and not too tough. I think my favorite are the Bard Rocks, they seem to have the most fat content of the breeds that I've tried.

Agreed, a truly awesome article. I just finally got around to reading the whole thing. I wish I'd found this sooner, back when I was trying to figure all this out on my own. It would have saved me a lot of trouble!

Oh, and welcome to the heritage club, poulet passion! If only more people knew what they were missing...