Best age to cull a rooster

[arthurpete]

Looks like i have two roos of the RIR/gold sex variety. One was yoddling from about 4-5 this morning....At about what age is a good time to cull for meat? They are roughly 14 weeks old.

thanks

 

[chickenfeverforever]

From what I have been told, Now its the time. I think anything after 16 weeks is going to be tough meat.

 

[Chick Charm]

Well If you cull at 18 weeks they will be fairly good size. If you let them get much older they do tend to get tougher with age. Those rooster don't reach their full potential in size untill at least a year old thought. I would personally butcher around 16 to 18 weeks.

 

[arthurpete]

so is it a taste or textural component that is lost if you wait? or both?

thanks

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I cull laying breed roos when they start to crow. They're still small, but I don't waste feed this way and they're the perfect size for the soup pot.

 

[Lindalu1450]

I have an 18 week old Americauna rooster that is ready to be culled. Please don't laugh, but my husband and I are both absolutely unwilling to do it, so we''ll probably have to keep him for life. Any suggestions? (Even our neighbors won't take him!)

We have 3 older bantams and 2 Americauna hens same age as he is. All free range, plenty of places to hide. Will he ever settle down and just pick on his "sisters?" It's the bantams I'm worried about. They've never (in 3 years) been around a rooster. I had to build another little coop for them because they wouldn't go into the coop at night, for fear of him.

(I apologize for hijacking this thread, but it was old, so maybe we can get it going again?)

Also, I tried to upload a picture of my new little coop, but it returned an error... do photos still have to be a smaller size than my camera takes? It's very inconvenient to have to go to another program to change the size- any suggestions?

 

[1muttsfan]

I kept my last group until 24 weeks of age, got better size and amount of meat than at 18 weeks, and texture seems fine. They were all dual-purpose breeds, they take a little more time to fill out.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

From what I have been told, Now its the time. I think anything after 16 weeks is going to be tough meat.

Not really. 24 weeks the meat is still tender, but has more flavor. but even a 2 yr old slow cooked will be tender and taste awesome

I kept my last group until 24 weeks of age, got better size and amount of meat than at 18 weeks, and texture seems fine. They were all dual-purpose breeds, they take a little more time to fill out.
Exactly. Cornishx aka broilers prolly would be tough and deff the meat would be grainy if they could even stand that long. lol

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I have an 18 week old Americauna rooster that is ready to be culled. Please don't laugh, but my husband and I are both absolutely unwilling to do it, so we''ll probably have to keep him for life. Any suggestions? (Even our neighbors won't take him!)

The first time can be difficult but its part of owning chickens ( and incredibly tasty on the table)

 

[m2wandc]

Agree - it is easier to get thru emotionally if you have a friend there with an optimistic personality to keep things lighter.

Sadly roosters have very few options (illegal cock fighting rings, or the dinner table) a lot of people think they can set them free on some country road and they will live happily ever after, but the reality is they become dinner very quickly to some wild animal with much more survival skill. And being chased then ripped open alive and eaten while dying is not as humane as simply dispatching it quickly yourself.