Best time to butcher chicks?

[PoultryCrazed]

Unknown breed of chickens and were hatched on May 13th. Packing peanuts from Ideal and there is 10 of them. Do some people butcher a few birds every few months? I would like to do this if you guys thinks it's recomendable, so they are fresher. Thanks for the feedback!!

 

[popsicle]

I process young cockerels from cheap assortments (so any breed) as they become annoying. I start with the most annoying bird or the largest. The age of unbearable annoyingness varies. (Annoying is fighting, crowing, etc.)

 

[Mtnmomma3]

We processed ours in batches this year. We did a few Cornish Xs at six weeks because one of our biggest birds died suddenly and I was afraid the other large ones would follow suit. We did three and they were around four pounds. Meat wasn't very flavorful but it was fine for soup. We waited three weeks and did five more Xs, the meat was much better and they were around 6lb. Then one day we did 10 Red Rangers all at once. It was quite a job! They were between three and five pounds at sixteen weeks of age.

The Xs were relatively easy to butcher so I wouldn't mind doing 5-10 at a time in the future, but never again for Rangers. That was way too hard! Their bodies are tougher and they have more feathers so it is more work all the way around.

 

[PoultryCrazed]

THank you!