BR rooster

Singlemaple

Songster
9 Years
Jan 27, 2010
194
4
126
Merrimack NH
What is a good age to cull BR roosters? I have 10 that i hatched ( not bad considering i got 31 hens as well )
We want to send them too freezer camp they are 8 weeks old today..

Thanks for any information you can give,
-Hanaah
 
It depends upon what you want and expect. My mother LOVED young cockerels and called them "fryers". She told me to fetch them at 13-15 weeks while still tender. Small carcass, but that is what she wanted. Others prefer to allow them to "fatten up" and wait until 18 weeks. The longer you wait to take them, the longer you need to rest the meat in a cooler after butchering and before freezing. Slooooooow cook or pressure cook an older bird.
 
Thanks!

we where thinking around 12 weeks but were not sure..

I just culled a mean EE rooster he was almost a year old, not to bad little bit tough but it tasted like chicken lol..

What do you think is the fastest way to cull and clean them? I've read a good 20 plus peoples views and i can't figure out what why i should do it.
 
I am old school. Taught by my folks and my grandmother with techniques dating back to the 1880's. I've long ago lost track of the hundreds and hundreds of birds dispatched.

Chopping block and sharp hatchet. Done. Hold the bird until kicking and reflexes stop. A bleed out cone is nice.
Scald, and pluck, clean, wash, singe off tiny stuff, let rest in frig for 2 or 3 days.
 
Thanks so much! these are the first that we actually have to eat we have been planning the last 5 years to do this is with our birds then we get a predator visit and lose the flock..

For instance last September i let my 27 girls and my rooster out to free range around 1:30 in the afternoon i went to the store come back it is 2:15 or so and i see a fox running down the road with my cat i run out back there is another fox out there i lost 25 hens that day they left my rooster and 2 hens and that type of thing has happened the last 5 years but the only time it happens is if we leave the coop run open or if there out free ranging to early in the morning last year was weird cause it was in the mid afternoon.
 
This guy was a 20 week old Barred Plymouth Rock. He was a great hen protector, but he wouldn't stop attacking the kids. He dressed at around 4 1/2 lbs. His dark meat was ridiculously good. It reminded me of rich, turkey dark meat without all the tendons. Still a skinny breast, but amazing.



Edited by DanIndiana - 2/10/12 at 5:39pm
ReplyQuote Multi
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom