butchering birds, and meat birds have questions

[mustangsaguaro]

I have a few roosters that need to go. My husband is going to do the butchering and cleaning for me which is a relief. Anyways, what I need to know since neither of us have ever done this before after he kills the bird and cleans it and what not, can we cook the bird right away or does the bird need to sit for a few days before we can eat it.

Also, I'd like to know besides the cornish crosses what breed of bird is good for meat eating? We don't want the cornish crosses or the cornishes because they like keel over after 8 weeks. We are willing to raise the chickens until they are 6-8 months old and then butcher them then. So, what breed or breeds is recommended for this?

Thanks
Kim

 

[Illia]

Non-Cornish X birds good for meat are most dual purpose breeds that are not hatchery quality/bred. I know, I know, I say it a lot, but it is true - good/show quality bloodlines almost always mean more meat on the bone. Hatcheries breed solely for egg production, which in general thins out the bird's body and lightens the weight. They grow faster than good quality chickens, but have far less meat.

I find that French Marans, true Cornish, Dorkings, and Delawares to be good for meat. They're also good for egg laying too.

Another good idea are crossing hatchery-based Easter Eggers with other breeds, even hatchery ones. At least mine turned out fine. . . My EE's I got years ago ended up the heaviest of all the hatchery breeds I got, so after a couple accidental breedings and broody hens, I found that the crosses had really good meat at 4-5 months old.

 

[sonjab314]

There is a thread on the quail forum that asks about the same thing, do you need to wait for a few days to eat them. Most of the people say they kill them and the bird is in the skillet 30 minutes later (both quail and chickens). I have never personally butchered chickens yet so I don't know other than what I've read.

As far as what breed, any dual purpose birds will fit the bill. You can choose from barnevelder, brahmas, orpingtons, barred rocks/plymouth rocks, wyandottes just to name a few. Hope this helps a little.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I use a heritage bred Orpington Roo over hatchery Dels, EEs, Cochins, BO and over other heritage Orpington hens. I like to process also at 5 to 7 months or so. Generally our birds from these crosses weight 4.5 to 7 pounds at that age and are so very delish.

I do age in the fridge, cause it is very dry here in the desert, I do let my birds age in lightly salted water (3 to 5 days, although I have left them in the fridge for a week with no problems or smell).


Birds are either cooked on the grill with indirect heat or roasted in the oven at 350, 20 minutes per pound.


This is a fantastic article about home-raised birds for meat - not the cornish rock crosses - but birds that need to age to put on muscle mass and grow their carcasses:
www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[sonjab314]

Thanks HorseFeatherz for sharing that link. It was very informative. I am working my way up the food chain. I am going in get some quail eggs in a few weeks when my bator empties out some. I am going to start there with the butchering process and try to work my way up. I intended on using excessive wyandottes for butchering. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Captain Carrot]

I'm lucky that i have a cold room, depending on the weather I can leave dead birds hanging from 2-6 days with no problems with tainted meat. I usually can't wait that long and they're in the oven the next day.

Any of the true multi-purpose breeds are good eating. You have to find a good strain though. Sussex are great so are Amrocks, Welsumer, Wyandotts, Australorps, Marans, Dorking etc.

 

[ARose4Heaven]

I don't like to admiit to it, because I buy hatchery birds, but those breeder type people are probably right...birds from hatcheries tend to be smaller. That is not to say that the meat isn't just as good...just takes more birds to get the same quantity.

My scrawny old hens end up in the crockpot or the dog dish. Either way they are used.

I always just get Cornish x for meat. They can be eaten the same day. I never butcher at the 8 week mark. I like em big. I would never recommend more than 12 weeks though...I did that the last time, and had some birds get injured or sick before butcher day. Not nice for the bird, and an awful waste of resources to have to feed that big juicy bird to the dogs.

We are all learning here. I really don't think there is any one hard/fast set of rules for choosing birds. I find that Orpingtons are one of the best dual purpose birds. A Cornish/EE cross makes a real nice large bird too.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Another thank you horsefeatherz.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

For those who like the link - thank you - it is one I found on BYC when I was first getting back into chickens and knew I would be eating our extra cockerels. Personally for me, I prefer homegrown slow growers over the young cornish crosses - birds that get a chance to actually age have fantastic flavor and meat that actually has texture (think steak (slow home grown) vs. veal (processed young) - the only difference between them is age and flavor.)


Honestly you can eat any chicken (or bird) - the difference will be the amount of meat.


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There is nothing *wrong* with hatchery birds - we are not trying to run them down, but yes carcass-wise a hatchery bird is smaller thus has a smaller frame to fill with muscle.

Both of these birds are Orpingtons - the buff is a March 09 hatchery bird and the splash is an October 09 hatch from heritage eggs.

 

[rarely bored]

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