Butchering Age for Black Australorps?

[The Monkey Mama]

I have 9 Black Australorps that I've hatched from eggs and they are 7 weeks old. I have what looks like so far a few hens and a few roosters and I plan to butcher and eat the roos.

Does anyone know at what age would these be big enough to eat?

Thanks!

Kelly

 

[RoostersCrow]

Likely at 14 to 16 weeks.

 

[HillCountryMomma]

I helped a friend butcher some Rhode Island/Production Red roos a while back. They were 12 weeks or so when we butchered and weighed about 3 lbs give or take a little bird to bird. The meat was good, just not a whole lot of it!

Australorps are slow growing, so might take longer. I imagine though that you could start thinking seriously about eating them from 12 weeks on. Don't wait too long, they'll get tough. The birds we ate at 12 weeks were really good, nice and tender. They were 100% free ranger. I was actually really surprised by how nice the meat was.

Liz