I don't usually come to this part of the forum because I never intended to cull any of my birds. I have blue andalusianxaustralorp roos, 2 of them that are 14 weeks old. Well they are getting "not nice" and we thought about them getting processed. I remember reading a thread when I first joined that everyone was saying how their chicken just didn't taste good. IF I do make it to the processor what do I have to do, if anything, to prepare them for the freezer. I don't want to turn my family off to fresh chicken. Any info appreciated. Thanks Krista
The roos that aren't cornish crossses go into the pressure cooker and cook twice as long as the directions say, then I make soup out of it.
Usually if you are butchering an older roo, you just really need to cook it longer, as the meat will tend to be a bit toughr. You can boil in a pot of water with veggies and salt, and make soup out of the birds, or you can cook them in a slow cooker. If you cooked them like regular store bought chicken, you will be disapointed in the meat, as they are older birds-not real old, but still older.
14-16 weeks is an ideal time to slaughter roosters. My advice as a butcher after the deed is done let the product sit in a refridgerator for 8 hours, and then place into the deep freeze. Not sure on cooking, my wife always takes care of that part.
I think 14 weeks is OK. You probably won't want to fry them as the meat will have more texture and be a bit chewier. It will also have more flavor. Some people say stew, others say crock pot. Some say keep in the fridge for a few days, some say brine the meat, some say throw it in the freezer and when it thaws it will be more tender. Right now for myself I'm leaning towards a day or two in the fridge, then some sort of marinade overnight and cook in a slow cooker until the meat falls off the bones. There are as many opinions as there are posters.
Agreed. I wonder what would happen if you let it sit in a marinade for two days... That would be some good tasting meats.
You can do what I do when I shoot an older cock pheasant. Make jerky. No matter how tough an old bird is, smoked jerky is good.
I just cooked two roosters in two days in my crock pot. I put them in at night before bed , with water, celery, salt and pepper and cooked them until the next evening. The meat literally fell off the bones. When I used a slotted spoon to lift it out of the broth, all I got was bones. I cooled the carcas, picked of the meat, returned the meat to the broth and froze it all in freezer bags to make chicken and noodles. These were 5 month old roosters. I tried to fry one last week and it was so tough that I just threw it to the dogs.