Culling the extra roosters

[feedstorechick]

How old do standard size roosters need to be before butchering? I'm hatching way too many roosters!

 

[doubled]

right about the age they start waking me up in the morning with a crow...

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:

But true. Depends on their size, but I'd say 20 +/- weeks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mine were crowing long before I considered them big enough to eat, but their crowing doesn't wake me up since thery are a fair distance from the house and locked in the coop (which lessens the volume) until I let them out. I might feel differently is they were waking me up! You can eat them at any age if the crowing gives you a problem. You may not get as much meat, but whatever you decide to do is right for you.

Some people that raise them for meat start as early as 12 weeks, but they are pretty small for me at that age. I personally wait until 16 to start. As they get older, they get tougher, which means they need to be cooked by slower cooking methods. There are a lot of threads on here about cooking them. You should be able to do a search and find them.

Good luck!