Do I need a rooster for each variety of chickens or only one rooster?

[Duckfarmer1]

@bobbi-j — when is the ideal time you process them? I have a cockerel now that hatched late August. He’s a product of a broody hen, but he’s a mix breed (plus I already have 4 roosters) so I want him for dinner, but I also want him to get bigger. He’s half Black Jersey Giant so I know he will get bigger, right now he’s the size of a White Leghorn (which is his other half).

I’d wait...he’s sounds like he can grow if he’s got that mix

 

[Duckfarmer1]

How do you plan on cooking him? I you want a fryer, the sooner the better. The longer you wait, the tougher he’ll be. One thing to consider is, he will never fill out like a Cornish x or other meat bird. They’re just not built that way.

Oh, that is true about being tough, we did find that out with a couple older birds...but we skinned them too

 

[Acre4Me]

I did put an add on Craigs List and a man wants to pay me 5.00 each for them so I may consider his offer if I dont get any better offers. Just to get rid of them.

a friend in my area does this, and gets $5 per male. Usually purchased by someone that will process them.

Plucking by hand is ok, but 19 at once would be tiring. You can just remove the skin with the feathers and use the meat without the skin.

 

[aart]

I did put an add on Craigs List and a man wants to pay me 5.00 each for them so I may consider his offer if I dont get any better offers. Just to get rid of them.

GO FOR IT!!
Quick, before he changes his mind.
I can't imagine you'd get a better offer.
Wonders what he's gonna do with them?
How old are they?

 

[FredsGobblers]

$5 is a fair price. When I have lots of young roosters to butcher, I skin them. Then cut them in half just behind rib cage and boil in a large stock pot. When cooked, I remove all the meat I can and put carcass back in pot and simmer until liquid reduced in half. I freeze the meat in baggies for future meals like enchiladas, chick noodle, chick salad sandwiches, etc. The broth I then can for future use.

 

[hysop]

@bobbi-j — I was thinking more for boiling and making chicken stock out of him. I figured he’d get at least as big as his mom but I’ll wait til March to see if he grows more.

The primary use for my chickens is eggs. For now my “meat” birds are just roosters that get hatched.

 

[bobbi-j]

@bobbi-j — I was thinking more for boiling and making chicken stock out of him. I figured he’d get at least as big as his mom but I’ll wait til March to see if he grows more.

The primary use for my chickens is eggs. For now my “meat” birds are just roosters that get hatched.

If you're going to boil him, it won't hurt to wait. He may not get as big as the hen, though, since he's part leghorn. Home made chicken stock is great!

 

[CindyinSD]

It took us more than an hour to pluck the feathers...we are new to this, but so are you ...how much is your time worth? I’d take the $5 and be done with the hassle...but..make sure you’ve picked the best rooster first!

If you scald, the feathers come out very easily. I have a drum plucker but I wouldn’t bother using it for a few birds. I’m talking chickens and turkeys. Waterfowl are harder, or or so I hear. If you can’t afford a drum plucker, I’m not sure if you ought to spend your cash on the drill attachment for just a few birds. Look up the reviews on YouTube. You can buy both kinds on Amazon. I got a bargain drum model on Amazon with great reviews. The ones for twice as much are very much better I’m sure, but the one I got is fine and I could afford to buy it—good deal in my book.

All that considered, plucking scalded birds is easy. Get a great big bucket, like a five gallon feed bucket, and an immersion heater. Or break out your propane turkey fryer if you’ve got one. Either way, you need the water temp between 140-160 Fahrenheit. You’ll figure out the temp you prefer. Hold onto the feet and submerge the (dead) bird. Move it around in the water to get it wet through. After a minute more or less, try to pull a wing feather.

Once the wing feathers come out fairly easily, you must pull the bird out immediately; you’re done and ready to pluck. Do the job as soon as you can without burning your fingers. There’s no huge rush, but if you let it cool, the follicles will tighten up again. Doing it this way, plucking is super easy.

 

[NatJ]

I have never used a plucker, but I have butchered quite a few chickens over the years, and I did not eat any feathers

I've done any of the following:
a) Fill the biggest cooking pot with water, heat on the stove until it boils, carry it carefully outside. Dip the bird for a little while (guess how long, pull a feather to check). Pluck by hand as soon as can be done without burning the fingers.

The feathers really do come out easily--no plucker needed. Just rub your fingers over the bird in the direction the feathers grow, and they come off in big piles. For the biggest feathers, grab one or a few at a time and pull.

The biggest problem with this method is that the pot of water gets cold. It helps (after some experience) to kill 2-4 birds, then heat the water and scald/pluck them quickly, then finish the butchering.

b) Dry-pluck most of the bird, either discard the wings or cut them off and scald/pluck at the end of the butchering session. (Got tired of re-heating water hot, and after a while one gets better at plucking--so dry was genuinely easier/faster sometimes.)

c) Skin the bird. For the wings, either scald/pluck them separately at the end, or discard them.

Thinking back, I think I would butcher about 6-12 birds in a given day, with various amounts of help from my mother and sister. This happened several times each year. At one point we planned for that one person needed about one hour per bird. Some years later, we were down to about 15 minutes per bird (skinning helped, discarding wings or doing them all together at the end helped.)

The flight feathers in the wings are the only ones that I feel can NOT be removed unless it's been scalded. (They don't come off when you skin, and I never tried pulling them with pliers.)

Edit to add: I'd sell them at $5 each, rather than butchering, unless there's a reason that meat from YOUR chickens is much better than store meat for your purposes. (My family was working with some dietary restrictions that made store-bought chicken not an option.)

 

[Duckfarmer1]

If you scald, the feathers come out very easily. I have a drum plucker but I wouldn’t bother using it for a few birds. I’m talking chickens and turkeys. Waterfowl are harder, or or so I hear. If you can’t afford a drum plucker, I’m not sure if you ought to spend your cash on the drill attachment for just a few birds. Look up the reviews on YouTube. You can buy both kinds on Amazon. I got a bargain drum model on Amazon with great reviews. The ones for twice as much are very much better I’m sure, but the one I got is fine and I could afford to buy it—good deal in my book.

All that considered, plucking scalded birds is easy. Get a great big bucket, like a five gallon feed bucket, and an immersion heater. Or break out your propane turkey fryer if you’ve got one. Either way, you need the water temp between 140-160 Fahrenheit. You’ll figure out the temp you prefer. Hold onto the feet and submerge the (dead) bird. Move it around in the water to get it wet through. After a minute more or less, try to pull a wing feather.

Once the wing feathers come out fairly easily, you must pull the bird out immediately; you’re done and ready to pluck. Do the job as soon as you can without burning your fingers. There’s no huge rush, but if you let it cool, the follicles will tighten up again. Doing it this way, plucking is super easy.

Oh...so that’s why we had such a hard time...because we plucked a duck? That makes sense...everything we read was for chickens.....and yes..the cooling does let those follicles to tighten....ugh