Eating bantam roosters?

[eprouty]

I am, at this very moment, slaughtering my first chickens. I got a couple roosters in my straight run bantams that had to go. I had the idea in my head that I would be cooking them like a Cornish game hen, but now that I have one prepped it just doesn't look like it has any meat on it - it's about 11 weeks old. So, does anybody bother eating these or should I just give them a proper burial?

 

[sourland]

Cut them up as fryers or make a good soup out of them. The feisty little buggers can be tough but flavorful.

 

[MomKat]

Cook them down for soup or broth! I freeze broth to use for all kinds of things!

 

[KristyHall]

I agree with sourland and momkat. Even though they do not have much meat, they make a fantastic stock that you can then boiled own and freeze for later. My freezer is full of frozen condensed stock from birds too small to bake. Be sure to pick the shreds of meat off the bones after they have been boiled and freeze that too.

Then on a cold winter's day, you heat the stock up, throw in some veggies and noodles, and you have instant chicken noodle soup in less than thirty minutes.

 

[sourland]

What Kristy said!

 

[swift4me]

I fry them and enjoy the "toughness" of the bird. Meat doesn't have to be tender every time you eat it. They are tasty and I gladly accept babty roosters from the neighbors. They are so small, they barely make enough for a meal for me, but I really do like them.

Pete

 

[jtbrown]

I will add that I made awesome stock with my bantum roosters last year. Surprised me how rich it was compared to store bought (not sure why surprised at that, but I was).

 

[gotthefever]

great info!

 

[CrazyTalk]

I'd also suggest stock - there's just not going to be much on an 11 week old bantam.