Barred Rock roos

[homesteadmomma]

I rescued some birds this past weekend, and I have a few barred rock roos that are incredibly mean. By mean, I'm talking when I tried to pick one up to put him in the coop, because he was going to get blown away in a nasty storm, he grabbed a hold of my arm and wouldn't let go, even though I was trying to shake him off. When he finally let go, I disregarded it, and attempted again, got bit again, this time drawing blood. Now because these are rescues, I'm feeling a bit guilty for thinking of butchering them, but in my heart, I know that they are living a great life with plenty of room to run and plenty of food to eat, and that it is humane. So if I'm not incredibly crazy for doing so, how soon can I butcher. They are approx. 10-12 weeks.

 

[itsy]

You can butcher whenever you like. The sooner you butcher - the smaller the bird will be. Many meat type birds are butchered at around 8 weeks, but your BR roos are much smaller than the meat only purpose broiler bird. From the thread What Meat Chickens Should I raise..., Brunty_Farms writes about Dual Purpose birds:

DP or Dual Purpose

These are birds that are not really designed for meat or eggs, they simply fall into the cracks of both. Heritage breeds consist of both rare and not so rare breeds and many of them fall into the Dual Purpose category. Layers don't really lay massive amounts of eggs but they hold their own, usually laying steadily all year long. The males, despite what people have claimed, do dress out to a nice weight of about 5 pounds usually after 20 weeks. My experience is I like to process them at 16 weeks for about 3.5 pound fryers. They make the best fried chicken because unlike the CX crosses the meat is very lean and thin. They fry very uniform making it nice not to pull them out of the fryer to find out they aren't cooked all the way. Overall they are a perfect bird for starters. Would recommend raising a batch of dual purpose roosters for meat before trying any other meat bird category.

PROS

- They free range extremely well, definitely work for their food, and do it willingly even with having grain 24/7 available. The enticing pastures are extremely appealing to dual purpose breeds with their lush green forage and ample supply of insects it surely is a nice fit.

- Meat is extremely flavorful if processed before 24 weeks. The meat seems to take on an extra "toughness" after this 6 month time frame and quick cooking methods could make the experience even worse. For tender meat that comes with any cooking method, process before 24 weeks. Not only are the males good for meat but the females make amazing soup chickens. I'm amazed at the amount of meat that an old layer from a dual purpose breed will give you. Dual purpose is a win / win for meat. Both females and males will suffice for the table. Females will usually dress 4-5 pounds at 3-5 years. Males will be 3.5 - 5 pounds in 24 weeks.

Hope this helps!

 

[homesteadmomma]

Very helpful, thank you!

Now what in the heck do I do for another 6 weeks? They might just have to be appetizers.......

 

[itsy]

Quote:
Chicken nuggets!!!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

butcher as soon as they are a pain. small birds (1.5 lbs) are the perfect size for a pot of soup.

 

[idajack]

I had 4 barred rock roosters processed today right at twelve weeks for exactly that reason, they were getting mean and I didn't feel like putting up with it for another month or two just to get a little meatier bird. They weighed right around 2.5 lbs each as opposed to the accompanying red cornish roosters weighing in at 5.5 lbs. all the birds were the same age.
Thanks also to Katy for the recommendation to use countryside poultry processors in Fruitland, for less than $30 I was able to get 8 birds done in just a few minutes as opposed to doing all of it at home with all the setup and cleanup involved.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

your welcome! they are such neat people too . . . youshould have told me you were coming this way!!!

 

[homesteadmomma]

Looks like the weekend's menu will be chicken nuggets and chicken soup.

 

[idajack]

Quote:
I updated my profile with my location. If you are actually in Boise then I was going away from you lol.
But yeah they are great people, I have a family owned business and I really enjoyed seeing 3 generations working together like they do.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I'm in Middleton

just figured with most of the people on here NOT in Idaho, Boise would be an easier point of referrence