eating RIRs and Barred Rocks after 18 months....

[pozarnsk]

I am planning on having eggs for 18months and then butchering my chickens. Are they going to be edible at that point? RIRs and Barred Rocks. I thought they were dual purpose, but reading here I'm getting worried.......

 

[greyfields]

They're great for stewing, boiling or turning into stock. As far as roasting or frying, though, don't go there. Very little meat on them and you'll be a little surprised how skinnythey look once the feathers are gone.

 

[pozarnsk]

How about slow cooking on the smoker?

 

[silkiechicken]

I've tried eating "dual" breeds after 9 months and it's a challenge after aging for a week and using a pressure cooker. Stock is the best for these guys at 18 months old.

For the meaning of dual, I think it more refers to how extra roosters can be made into things like fried chicken at 16 weeks old and you get two bits of meat vs just skin and bones. They won't be anything like what we are accustomed to as "chicken" from the store.

By all means though, you can try one and see if it works for you or not. After you smoke it and if you can't eat it, make a good smoked chicken broth!

 

[dangerouschicken]

Older chickens and roosters are good for broth. You cannot chew thru them after they are a year old or so. Yes, smoked broth would be good, too!

 

[pdpatch]

Slow cooking does work, we slow cooked a 1year old roo for 3 to 4 hours and it was tasty and tender. Depending on how you smoke the meat it may also work.

Tom

 

[tberggren]

Just wondering if anyone has tried making ground chicken with older birds and if so how did they turn out??

 

[English]

I tried grinding a few older birds I butchered this spring. Some recipes it was OK in and some I didn't care for it. I did find out that if you add some instant beef bullion to it when you are browning it that it improved things alot. I didn't think it was as good as ground turkey but it was passable. The best use we found for it was as a substitute in hamburger helper...and we all know how good that is!

I think it would do ok in chili or other similar dishes

Mike

 

[antlers]

Like others suggested, they would be best used for soups and stews but only because of age not breed. I disagree with MANY on this board about Dual use not being good meat birds. No they are not bred to be huge or have the best feed conversion ratio, but the quality of the meat is just as good as a meat bird. It is all relative. I find for people that like dark meat, that dual use have a higher percentage because they do not have such big breasts. That suits me just fine.
Roos come in 3 catagories to me. The egg layers like Leghorns are really skinny but taste fine if thats what you have. THe broilers are more like mini broadbrested turkeys to me again fine if you like that and more white meat. Inbetween are the Dual purpose. The have a home on many sustainable homesteads and will continue to do so because of their adaptability.

So.. please stop 'dissin' dual roosters for meat.

 

[SewingDiva]

This question jsut popped into my head: could an old layer be used to make pet food? Like for cats or dogs.

I don't even have a cat or dog, but I'm curious.

~Phyllis