Butchering 8 week old mixed breed

AU-ChickenGuy

In the Brooder
Nov 21, 2016
12
1
22
Andalusia, AL
Does anyone ever eat mixed breed birds at around 8 weeks? They are currently bigger than a quail but smaller than a wood duck.....I know they won't have a lot of meat, but I don't care to fool with slaughtering older cockerels and I can currently tell them from the hens. A waste or are they tasty? Thanks for the input.
 
Does anyone ever eat mixed breed birds at around 8 weeks? They are currently bigger than a quail but smaller than a wood duck.....I know they won't have a lot of meat, but I don't care to fool with slaughtering older cockerels and I can currently tell them from the hens. A waste or are they tasty? Thanks for the input.
It is too young. You need at lease 16 weeks. It would be best around 18-20weeks.
 
I think it would depend on how quickly they have been maturing. Their size might be comparable to a quail but they are probably more bone than muscle right now.

I just did some 13 week-old EE cockerels last weekend. They are Ameraucana and EE (AM/Wyandotte) crossed with BO and Delaware so a bit bigger than most hatchery EEs thanks to the breeds of the females but really not that big. These cockerels were starting to get annoying and I had some 8 week-old CX to butcher so I did them all together. Below is a side-by-side picture I snapped before evisceration. You can clearly see the difference. I did cook up one of the EEs and it was very juicy but it was only enough to feed about 3 people. If you can, I would wait just a couple more weeks to give you a bit more meat but you don't have to wait the full 16-20 weeks if you don't want to.

IMG_2699.JPG
 
I think it would depend on how quickly they have been maturing. Their size might be comparable to a quail but they are probably more bone than muscle right now.

I just did some 13 week-old EE cockerels last weekend. They are Ameraucana and EE (AM/Wyandotte) crossed with BO and Delaware so a bit bigger than most hatchery EEs thanks to the breeds of the females but really not that big. These cockerels were starting to get annoying and I had some 8 week-old CX to butcher so I did them all together. Below is a side-by-side picture I snapped before evisceration. You can clearly see the difference. I did cook up one of the EEs and it was very juicy but it was only enough to feed about 3 people. If you can, I would wait just a couple more weeks to give you a bit more meat but you don't have to wait the full 16-20 weeks if you don't want to.

View attachment 1177818
This photo really illustrates the point that your standard breed chicken will never be as large as a store chicken. Even at 20 weeks, they will not be Cornish-X. If you are tired of the rooster fights and they are causing problems, they are old enough to cook. They are tasty!
 
This photo really illustrates the point that your standard breed chicken will never be as large as a store chicken. Even at 20 weeks, they will not be Cornish-X. If you are tired of the rooster fights and they are causing problems, they are old enough to cook. They are tasty!
Defiantly.
 

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