Big enough Roos?

[Littleblessings]

We are getting ready to process 4 roosters we hatched. They are 17 weeks and I don't want the meat to get tough. They are buckeyes. Are they big enough to process?

This 3rd pic is one of the Roos that has a scissor beak and is pretty small but he hasn't been growing because of having a hard time eating. Thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[BantamLover21]

They're probably big enough to slaughter, though I wouldn't expect quite as much meat from them as from a commercial bird like a Cornish X. You don't want to butcher much later than 5-6 months, as the meat will be tough.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

We do our heritage birds at 19-24 weeks. While they will be tasty, they'll still need to be cooked slow and wet vs a white broiler that can be cooked any way a supermarket chicken can. Here's the difference between a 21 week Easter Egger roo and an 8 week old Cornish X. The package on the left contains two bone-in broiler breasts. The package on the right contains one Easter Egger rooster. The breast is the triangular lump in the middle, and the legs are arranged around the outside.

 

[andreanar]

I did my 2 buff orp 17-18 week old cockerals. Not much breast meat, but the legs were huge!

 

[gus2pp]

There was an old practice of culling, and then hanging the meat, prior to cleaning and plucking, to tenderize the animal. Red meat gets aged, as we know, but aging meat birds is a largely lost art. I stumbled across the practice accidentally, (long story), but I am so glad that I did. Google it. It's astounding.

Ideally to age the meat in this way, you would want it to maintain a temperature of around 50 degrees. It would allow you to fatten these guys up a little before butchering.

 

[earlyredrooster]

There was an old practice of culling, and then hanging the meat, prior to cleaning and plucking, to tenderize the animal. Red meat gets aged, as we know, but aging meat birds is a largely lost art. I stumbled across the practice accidentally, (long story), but I am so glad that I did. Google it. It's astounding.

Ideally to age the meat in this way, you would want it to maintain a temperature of around 50 degrees. It would allow you to fatten these guys up a little before butchering.

What is the name of the site?

 

[gus2pp]

What is the name of the site?

Look up "hanging game birds honest-food". It's a .net website. Excellent article with a lot of research.

 

[Double Kindness]

My bf was talking about breaking down the chickens, which are all dp breeds, I said it's not like supermarket chicken.. oh well. I am betting it does taste far better though

and I know mine are so happy!