Butchering your roosters!

[tinakevin]

Yup, looks flighty. Is that a feather on your lap that you just trimmed?

Yes they were getting out of the coop and going over to the girl coop. So I trimmed their feathers

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I see a lot of people offering free roosters so often. One or 2 roosters are really easy to butcher! Or, if you don't want to butcher them, you can bring them to a butcher for fairly cheap. Their meat is not as good as broilers, but in a dish (stew, chicken pie, etc.) They taste very good! I will be butchering my extra roosters.
There are most likely not many people who want your roosters, since they most likely can get them to breed from a hatchery.
I just wanted to share my opinion, because I don't like seeing all the people desperately trying to sell their roosters.

Preparation is key. Resting the meat for one. We slaughter then refrigerate for a couple days. Then brine in a vacuum bag with Rosemary twigs, fresh sage leaves and inject with homemade broth. After that Freezer store it till ready. When ready for wowing your friends at your next bbq, , slow thaw it in your refrigerator for a couple days. The meat falls off the bone like pulled pork. Rub the epidermis with olive oil to insure a crispy exterior to lock in the juicy interior..
Yum..

 

[BYCforlife]

Preparation is key. Resting the meat for one. We slaughter then refrigerate for a couple days. Then brine in a vacuum bag with Rosemary twigs, fresh sage leaves and inject with homemade broth. After that Freezer store it till ready. When ready for wowing your friends at your next bbq, , slow thaw it in your refrigerator for a couple days. The meat falls off the bone like pulled pork. Rub the epidermis with olive oil to insure a crispy exterior to lock in the juicy interior..
Yum..

Yum! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

We breed. We hatch. We sell. Chicks only sell fast in the spring time. This time of the year people only want egg layers. (and for dirt cheap). So most of our birds don't sell until they are an average of 3/4/5 months old. We quality feed our flock because we consume as well.
So after 4 months the birds have $ invested in them. I don't list my prices in my ads or I won't get calls.
When people call they are looking for a mature egg laying hen for $5 to $10. When I tell them $25 they freak out and say I am expensive! I reply by saying.. "Buy some chicks from me, feed them for 5 months and keep all of your feed and health care receipts. Add up the amount of money you spent. Then sell them on craigslist for 5 bucks". I tell them I use top quality feed because when no one wants to pay a fair price to the poor farmer who barely gets by, the poor farmer has 5 different kinds of bbqs on his back porch. The poor farmer who dumped all that cash out, smokes chickens, grills chickens, fries chickens.. and so on and so on.

 

[mymilliefleur]

We breed. We hatch. We sell. Chicks only sell fast in the spring time. This time of the year people only want egg layers. (and for dirt cheap). So most of our birds don't sell until they are an average of 3/4/5 months old. We quality feed our flock because we consume as well.
So after 4 months the birds have $ invested in them. I don't list my prices in my ads or I won't get calls.
When people call they are looking for a mature egg laying hen for $5 to $10. When I tell them $25 they freak out and say I am expensive! I reply by saying.. "Buy some chicks from me, feed them for 5 months and keep all of your feed and health care receipts. Add up the amount of money you spent. Then sell them on craigslist for 5 bucks". I tell them I use top quality feed because when no one wants to pay a fair price to the poor farmer who barely gets by, the poor farmer has 5 different kinds of bbqs on his back porch. The poor farmer who dumped all that cash out, smokes chickens, grills chickens, fries chickens.. and so on and so on.

So true! I've been trying to sell some extra birds on Craigslist lately and I can definitely relate to this.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

We breed. We hatch. We sell. Chicks only sell fast in the spring time. This time of the year people only want egg layers. (and for dirt cheap). So most of our birds don't sell until they are an average of 3/4/5 months old. We quality feed our flock because we consume as well.
So after 4 months the birds have $ invested in them. I don't list my prices in my ads or I won't get calls.
When people call they are looking for a mature egg laying hen for $5 to $10. When I tell them $25 they freak out and say I am expensive! I reply by saying.. "Buy some chicks from me, feed them for 5 months and keep all of your feed and health care receipts. Add up the amount of money you spent. Then sell them on craigslist for 5 bucks". I tell them I use top quality feed because when no one wants to pay a fair price to the poor farmer who barely gets by, the poor farmer has 5 different kinds of bbqs on his back porch. The poor farmer who dumped all that cash out, smokes chickens, grills chickens, fries chickens.. and so on and so on.

We currently have ten or so free ranged Roosters that nobody wants to buy. They are listed and not one person has responded. My backyard is like an illegal mexican cock fighting ring! Hubby is going to process them Saturday unless they get a call from the Governor so to speak.
Here is a wacko video my wacko hubby made awhile ago featuring a un needed problem rooster.
BTW, our birds have lived a high quality life before their severance. Compared to the chickens that everybody stuffs their faces with at their local Popeye's or KFC!

 

[BYCforlife]

We currently have ten or so free ranged Roosters that nobody wants to buy. They are listed and not one person has responded. My backyard is like an illegal mexican cock fighting ring! Hubby is going to process them Saturday unless they get a call from the Governor so to speak.
Here is a wacko video my wacko hubby made awhile ago featuring a un needed problem rooster.
BTW, our birds have lived a high quality life before their severance. Compared to the chickens that everybody stuffs their faces with at their local Popeye's or KFC!

Those chickens staring

 

[BlueShadow]

I've been thinking about skinning. Have you done it on layer breed cockbirds?

I have begun skinning all my birds (dual-purpose birds). At 14-16 weeks on cockbirds, it is VERY easy. Not too bad up to 5-6 months on cockbirds, although it does get more challenging. I did a roo at about a year of age and swore never again. Too tough! That age bird would probably be worth the hassle of plucking. However, it wasn't too bad to skin my 3 year old laying hens.

 

[BlueShadow]

I'm looking for pretty dual purpose. Basically I want a chicken that I can kill at around 14 weeks that has a bigger breast but I want to keep docile and be good winter birds. It's just a hobby project. I'm going to start with Brahma, Delaware, White Rock, Black Lace Win and black cornish. Brahma rooster over all these then plan to get second pin to mix the next batch. Want to keep the fluffy feet too lol

Buckeye is another breed to consider that develops a larger breast earlier.

However, I think method of raising will affect it a lot too. I kept mine on 20% starter (feed is pretty cheap from our local mill), and in a small-ish pen (average 9 roosters in 60 square feet, with 2 roosts for entertainment). I was pleased with how they grew in that setup.

 

[cppeace]

I'll have to look into buckeye as well. Chanticleer is another I am planning to add into mix number two- which if I get a decent looking one I will keep a Dark Cornish/Light Brahma rooster to breed to the other mixes and see what I get.
Yeah, how they are raised definitely contributes to their form and such.

Wow,glad I decided not to get Cornish roosters if these 2 cornish pullets are anything to go by. They have a flighty, bitey attitude at 6ish and 8ish weeks old. They are pretty though.