BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Anyone here cull their stock at a younger than optimum size for eating? I'm sure their meat will be more tender, but less of it. I've never thought of doing it before but feed $ is getting $$$ and I can clearly see a few giants and a few sussex that I do not plan on keeping anyway. With them not laying yet and winter coming soon some of them might not lay till spring, and I'm getting enough eggs from the others. I'm starting to think feeding now for a few more pounds is not going to give me much return, they're eating like hogs. In the low 40s at night right now I know they will only start eating more.
I can clearly see the sussex cockerels that I don't want also, giant cockerels I'm not sure of yet.
Be a different story if I'd hatched them out in the spring or if SandHill shipped them in early May like they said they were and I planned on growing them out for meat.

I culled my Dorking males early...at about 14 weeks, but we haven't eaten them yet.

 

[Amina]

I always do mine at 13-14 weeks. I don't have the space and the patience for a bunch of loud, obnoxious cockerels...

 

[gjensen]

I am not beyond separating misc. culls at six weeks. I do not kill many at this age, but my goal is to be able to. I think 8wk old birds should have enough on them to eat. Split them, and throw them on the grill.

If you cannot eat them like super sized quail @ 6 - 8wks, get new birds.

My ideal is to eat some especially early, then a big cull at and around the peak of their growth curve. Finally a small cull of birds before the fall that I will not overwinter. These are my roasting fowl.

This is much more economical than raising all of the cockerels until a roasting age.

The youngest birds can be birds that you have identified as not going to make the cut. You can simply kill them on the yard, and skin them. It takes about 60 seconds to skin the bird, and another to clean and split it. Now wash the bird, season it, and throw it on the grill. A quick and easy treat that saved you money. Throw a couple to the dogs raw. They will get a nutritious treat.

We are always looking for a reason to kill birds. Hatch a lot and start killing them until winter enjoys only your best. Those pullets are your winter layers, and laying while your hens are molting. A lot about raising birds is killing birds. Rolling up our sleeves, and going to work.

It is not a once and for all affair. It is a process that occurs over time. Yes there is the big event every year, but it is not the only show in town. It should not be. Not if you like your money.

25% of our birds can go early like this.

Just be careful not to kill birds that you should be keeping, and always have a few more around than you need for the breeding pens in the late winter and early spring.

Never end up with a single cockerel or cock. Your best birds have a target on their back.

 

[bnjrob]

Anyone here cull their stock at a younger than optimum size for eating? I'm sure their meat will be more tender, but less of it. I've never thought of doing it before but feed $ is getting $$$ and I can clearly see a few giants and a few sussex that I do not plan on keeping anyway. With them not laying yet and winter coming soon some of them might not lay till spring, and I'm getting enough eggs from the others. I'm starting to think feeding now for a few more pounds is not going to give me much return, they're eating like hogs. In the low 40s at night right now I know they will only start eating more.
I can clearly see the sussex cockerels that I don't want also, giant cockerels I'm not sure of yet.
Be a different story if I'd hatched them out in the spring or if SandHill shipped them in early May like they said they were and I planned on growing them out for meat.

Sometimes we do, depends on the situation and what we have going on. Even with a smaller amount of meat, they can still be used and if I don't want to mess with roasting or cutting the meat off raw, I'll still put the small carcasses into a pot and make broth with it and boil it till all the little bits fall off.

 

[Beer can]

Yeah about the size of exta large quail. The giant pullets one still has no tail and odd extra fluffy leg feathers, the other two do not have slate legs. Red sussex I have some with black chest feathering in the pullets and cockerels.
I know more growth will not change either of this. Right now I only want to keep obviously potential breeders. Still will leave me with a few sussex cockerels and plenty of giants, can't make a decision on the best of them yet they all look so good, no visible faults as of yet.
Just don't want to think I'm doing something wrong, it's not like they're meaty little cornish game hens...But I've got to save $ somewhere and I already know I plan on eating them when they reach full weight. Decision made, I know what we will have on the grill this weekend. Heck, I'll eat squirrels, those chickens have to have more meat on them than a grey squirrel.

 

[gjensen]

Yeah about the size of exta large quail. The giant pullets one still has no tail and odd extra fluffy leg feathers, the other two do not have slate legs. Red sussex I have some with black chest feathering in the pullets and cockerels.
I know more growth will not change either of this. Right now I only want to keep obviously potential breeders. Still will leave me with a few sussex cockerels and plenty of giants, can't make a decision on the best of them yet they all look so good, no visible faults as of yet.
Just don't want to think I'm doing something wrong, it's not like they're meaty little cornish game hens...But I've got to save $ somewhere and I already know I plan on eating them when they reach full weight. Decision made, I know what we will have on the grill this weekend. Heck, I'll eat squirrels, those chickens have to have more meat on them than a grey squirrel.

Depending, you should get 2 lb birds + at 8wks. Some as heavy as 3 lbs. They are meaty enough to eat at that weight, unless they are junk. They grill up fast split. They will be no roasters mind you, but they will taste as good or better.

 

[hellbender]

Five straight is my norm, anymore than that and my back hurts for days, otherwise back is fine. No sleep or little does suck. Wife says I'm
miserable when I'm doing a lot of double shifts. Just keep going like a robot. I hate alarm clocks..

I would be thrilled to have 5 good hours of sleep. That might NOT make me a new man but I'd feel like one.

 

[hellbender]

Yeah about the size of exta large quail. The giant pullets one still has no tail and odd extra fluffy leg feathers, the other two do not have slate legs. Red sussex I have some with black chest feathering in the pullets and cockerels.
I know more growth will not change either of this. Right now I only want to keep obviously potential breeders. Still will leave me with a few sussex cockerels and plenty of giants, can't make a decision on the best of them yet they all look so good, no visible faults as of yet.
Just don't want to think I'm doing something wrong, it's not like they're meaty little cornish game hens...But I've got to save $ somewhere and I already know I plan on eating them when they reach full weight. Decision made, I know what we will have on the grill this weekend. Heck, I'll eat squirrels, those chickens have to have more meat on them than a grey squirrel.

I'm planning to butcher a few non-capon youngsters (about 5 months old) for the same reason. A couple of Chantecler cockerels are just too big/tall, they remind me of Malays. They run like they have some kind of affliction and I can't ever see them being able to mount a big Chantecler hen, much less, a Dark Cornish.

I have a few"middle-of-the-road" cockerels that are plenty big enough and have nice balance and overall good conformation.

 

[dfr1973]

Anyone here cull their stock at a younger than optimum size for eating? I'm sure their meat will be more tender, but less of it. I've never thought of doing it before but feed $ is getting $$$ and I can clearly see a few giants and a few sussex that I do not plan on keeping anyway. With them not laying yet and winter coming soon some of them might not lay till spring, and I'm getting enough eggs from the others. I'm starting to think feeding now for a few more pounds is not going to give me much return, they're eating like hogs. In the low 40s at night right now I know they will only start eating more.
I can clearly see the sussex cockerels that I don't want also, giant cockerels I'm not sure of yet.
Be a different story if I'd hatched them out in the spring or if SandHill shipped them in early May like they said they were and I planned on growing them out for meat.

I try to caponize at the 8-12 week old range (weather permitting, unlike Sunday where 20% chance of rain meant almost five full hours of steady drizzle to "wall of water") and sometimes one kicks at just the wrong time and bleeds out on the table, or in one case one died of apparent fright. Unless they are in the middle of a growth spurt, I'll skin and clean right there. Beyond my preferred caponizing window, they go when either they start looking tasty or I get tired of their attitudes.

 

[hellbender]

I try to caponize at the 8-12 week old range (weather permitting, unlike Sunday where 20% chance of rain meant almost five full hours of steady drizzle to "wall of water") and sometimes one kicks at just the wrong time and bleeds out on the table, or in one case one died of apparent fright. Unless they are in the middle of a growth spurt, I'll skin and clean right there. Beyond my preferred caponizing window, they go when either they start looking tasty or I get tired of their attitudes.

The ones I'm going to butcher are the ones I had planned to have Ariel (daughter) to caponize because of the difficulty factor but when I mentioned the prospect to her, she just squinted up her eyes and drooped her mouth down on both corners....a clear indication that she had NO interest in such an ordeal at this time.