Can you eat roosters?

[123RedBeard]

Yeah, they taste like chicken!

 

[oldrooster]

Quote: </> I'm thinking roughly half of all store bought chickens are roosters.....

 

[motherhenof4]

This was very helpful as I am new to raising chickens Thank you all for being awesome

 

[featheredflock]

Of course you can eat roosters. That is what people do with them. If they are young, you can fry or roast them. If they have a little age on them you make soup, or chicken and dumplings, or put them in the crock pot.

Do you have to keep them caged and not feed them? If so how long is this process?
Any info would be great.
He is a really really mean rooster. I am wearing scars on my legs from his spurs. Plus he is VERY aggressive to my girls!!!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Nah, if he's big enough to spur you he is big enough to eat. When you wanna get rid of him, wait until nightfall when he's easy to handle, scoop him off his roost, pop him in a tiny cage when you can get him easy (some people bind their legs at this point) and then the next day, just process him. Don't feed him between going to bed and processing. You can let him hang out in the cage until closer to dinner time if you wanna let the food move further down his digestive tract to where it's safe, but you don't *need* to restrict feed, and certainly not for more than 24 hours. If you're inexperienced with processing, restricting feed for a day can make the process a little safer but it's hardly a requirement or a big margain of safety.

Soak any old bird in a nice salt water bath (maybe with a pinch of ACV) to brine him for a day before you eat him, and cook him in a nice wet, slow environment. Soak him in wine or acid for a few hours before cooking to help break things down. Stew him slow or crock pot him with a nice gravy or broth. Pressure cooking is great for this too. Mmmm.

 

[HopkinsFarm]

A rooster typically isn't "dual purpose" as it doesn't lay eggs. Unless you are using them for breeding purposes or just love to hear their constant crows from just before sun up until about sundown, roosters are only good for cooking. I have 3 of them for almost a week now that I got for free with about 9 hens and 3 ducks. Listening to them crow was awesome for the first 2 days. Now I want to choke them out and throw them in the oven. I'm certain that at least 1 of my neighbors feels the same.

 

[muddyguy]

Im thinking of doing the beer butt chicken to a couple of 5-6 month pld roos....is this too old for that method?

 

[a704]

Rooster makes very good soup so yes you can and should eat them

 

[tillylilly]

My rode island red that hatched several months ago , well one is a beautiful rooster but is so mean to my laying Sussex hen she's about two months older.. How do I handle this ? They grew up in same coop.. And we're fine up until two weeks ago . And he comes right to me when I call out his name, now he's handsome and mean just to the one lily Sussex ? Help

 

[ChocolateMouse]

My rode island red that hatched several months ago , well one is a beautiful rooster but is so mean to my laying Sussex hen she's about two months older.. How do I handle this ? They grew up in same coop.. And we're fine up until two weeks ago . And he comes right to me when I call out his name, now he's handsome and mean just to the one lily Sussex ? Help

Are you asking for advice on how to eat him? Or are you asking how to fix his behavior?

Most folks here are of the opinion that the only home for a mean rooster is a stewpot. If that's not an opinion you share for this rooster, you might wanna post under chicken behaviors, not meat birds. (Though even there you'll find "eat him" to be a common sentiment.)

If you're asking for how-to's on processing chickens for meat, I strongly suggest watching videos on youtube. I am a fan of these:

Or this one.