Interesting point. All of the old breeds of livestock that I raise produce smaller cuts. They are actually a more normal, healthy portion size for the consumer, but compared to the supermarket cuts, they look tiny. Production animals have been modified to grow bigger and faster in order to gain more profit for the producer, but it's not what's best for the health of the customer.
I've decided to go with a 4 mos cut off, because we just don't need that big of a bird, so no point in feeding, caring for & listening to all the crowing
I was going to butcher one of my 4 mth.old Dorking cockerels, but he didn't feel like he had any breast meat at all. I need to develop more size & weight in both my breeds, but I think the Dorkings are always going to take longer to mature to where they have enough meat to make eating them worthwhile. I wait 7 mths. for them right now. The Delawares are big enough at 5 mths. That's why I like them. This time, I waited until 7 mths. and the legs were a little too chewy when grilled. I'm not sure if my kitchen scale is accurate, but they weigh between 4.5-5 lbs. dressed.
Karen, it's taken me time to get used to home grown chicken, since I'm used to buying boneless breasts at the store. Mine are still a work in progress, but they taste much better to me now. One goal of mine is to have heritage chicken that I can market to the public. I found the trick is to cook low & slow. The Delawares that we processed at 5 months came out great when grilled. Have you read Gina Bisco's article? It's very helpful.
www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf
Kim
