At what age to butcher?

[Vadgo]

I have 17 week old roosters and one hen that have to go. Is that old enough, or should I wait a bit longer?

 

[cybercat]

It is old enough but check their weight first to see if you are happy with it.

 

[Bossroo]

What breed or type of chicken are they? If an egg laying breed, cut your losses and envite them for chicken soup. If a dual purpose, then confine them some and feed them high protein feed until they reach the weight desired then add a little cracked corn as a top dressing for the last week or two to add some fat on them. This will add flavor, as fat is where the flavor comes from in all classes of meat. Have fun.

 

[HickChick Wannabe]

I have the same question, but my birds are currently 4 1/2 weeks old. So what's the ideal butchering age/weight that I should aim for? Is the timing different for pullets and cockerels? I have 2 BO's, a BR (cockerel), and 2 BR's crossed with something else. This will be my first time doing this.

 

[pdpatch]

If you want a fryer and it's not a hybread then around 12 weeks or so, there sill not be a lot of meat on the bird at that age. A broiler is usually at around 15 to 18 weeks.

a Cornish cross or simular bird is usually processed at around 6 weeks of age for a fryer, and 8 to 9 weeks for a broiler.

These times are usually the best feed cost to weight ratio. Not for the amount of meat on the bird. Since we don't need fryers around here we let them go longer.

For a broiler like Buff Orghinton, we prefer ours at around 22 weeks or more.

A fryer is for quick cooking (high heat, short time) like frying in a crying pan on the stove, deap fat frying gas grilling.

A broiler is cooked using slower methods, (low temp, longer time) like baking, smoking, charcol grilling, BBQ.

What yo do post processing can effect the tenderness, of the meat also.

Let you meat rest for a min of 4 hours, below 38 degrees, long is better.
24 to 48 hours is much better,.

Tom

 

[HickChick Wannabe]

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[Lalythra]

What do you mean by letting the meat rest? We have 17, 8 week old Black star chickens. 8 Roosters and 9 hens. We want the hens for egg layers but plan on butchering all but one of the roosters. This is first time either of us has ever raised chickens so any info would be appreciated. Right now they are on a chick starter/grower feed from Rural King, they have grit and are starting to go outside as our weather has been funky this year.

 

[Elke Beck]

What do you mean by letting the meat rest? We have 17, 8 week old Black star chickens. 8 Roosters and 9 hens. We want the hens for egg layers but plan on butchering all but one of the roosters. This is first time either of us has ever raised chickens so any info would be appreciated. Right now they are on a chick starter/grower feed from Rural King, they have grit and are starting to go outside as our weather has been funky this year.

Resting means letting the chicken sit in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days before cooking or freezing. After the bird dies it goes into rigor mortis over the next couple of hours. The muscles stiffen and eventually become inflexible like they are frozen. If you cook the bird when it is like this it will be extremely chewy and tough. On one of the threads someone compared it to squid. If you let the bird stay in the refrigerator for a few days, then rigor will slowly pass and the muscles will become tender again. The way I test is by grabbing the end of the drumstick and wiggling the leg. If the leg remains stiff and the entire body moves rather than the joints in the leg it needs to rest longer. When the drumstick and thigh move freely without taking the rest of the body with it, it is ready to cook.