Faced with too many roos and have some questions...

[Chicky Joy]

We have a few roos too many and really need to get rid of some of them. I had a few questions though. First, would these birds be suitable to slow-roast in the oven at this age (about 25 weeks), or would they be tough and best cooked in a pressure cooker or crock pot?

Well, I guess that is my only question at the moment, so I'll leave it at that for now.

 

[snowydiamonds]

If they are meat birds, you cannot have too many of either sex. What breed are they? Why do you think you have too many? The cockerels/roos are bigger than the pullets/hens so you get more or a bigger meal is the way I look at it If you think they are too many and bothering the girls, then separate the males so there are only males and then you will not have problems at all. Hope this helps? Possibly depends upon the breed...age...but for cornishX's, no difference in meat or temperments, just bigger or smaller birds/meals.

 

[aclee]

I imagine you ordered/hatched straight run layers and ended up with too many cockrels right? These most likely aren't actual meat birds, but are male "laying" varieties, or cockrels of a dual purpose? I think they would be okay to do in the oven...low and slow, and make sure they have some moisture in there with them. The only old bird I have cooked that was old, I quartered and put in a roasting pan and put lemon zest and juice, and orange zest and juice over it. You could add apple juice too...just make sure there is some moisture. I cooked her at 200 or 225 for maybe 3 hours. She was fabulous

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Any chicken can be a meat chicken - it just will not have as much meat as the grocery store chicken you are use to

This is a great article, talks about how to tell fryer from roaster, stew chicken etc - not the "meat" cornish crosses, but the old fashioned backyard chicken - dual purpose/heritage - plus cooking tips.

www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf


Do not be afraid or ashamed to eat your chickens.

 

[Chicky Joy]

There were supposed to be 3 buff orpington males, and there are. The problem was I also ordered 2 araucana females, but they are males. Our freebie mystery chick also turned out to be a male. One of my BO roos is not really roo-like so he's not an issue at the moment (he's very lovey dovey and more of a pet). That leaves us with two or three extra roos that we just can't keep. Our laying hens don't need that much trouble.

 

[Megs]

well im in a similar boat, but i expected to have lots of dp roos to grow and eat, so far my oldest are just 12 weeks so havent proccessed them yet, last year i did one around 5 months old and he was tasty, made an awsome chicken vegtable soup.

 

[dancingbear]

Yeah, the free mystery chicks are always male. So you get to see exotic breed roos before you eat them.

I agree with all the others. Low temp, slow roasting works great for excess roos in that age range. I do it all the time, they're yummy. Remember, if it's not tender, it's not done yet. Put the lid back on, stick it back in the oven. When the leg joints move easily, and meat is easy to pull off with a fork, they're done. Depending on age, gender, and breed of the bird, it can take anywhere from 3 hours to 6. (The temp range can be anywhere from 200 to 300, remember, the slower it's cooked, the more tender it will be) If it isn't brown at that point, you can take the lid off, increase the temp, (pour off the broth/drippings) and let it brown for about 15-20 minutes.

Make gravy with the drippings/broth in the pan. If there's no liquid to speak of in the pan, you can add some water, and let it sit while the oven gets hotter, to loosen the browned bits in the bottom of the pan, and get that flavor into the liquid.

In case you don't know how, here's how you make broth gravy: Heat the broth to a simmer in a sauce pan. Add a little ground black pepper if desired, taste to see if the broth is too salty. If so, add a little water to dilute it. Otherwise, just mix a tablespoon or two of corn starch with just enough cold water to make a thin liquid, about like milk. Not too much water, you don't want to loose all the flavor in the broth. Stir the water/starch mixture into the simmering broth. It will thicken quickly. If too thin, mix up a little more to add, until it's the consistency you want. It's great over mashed potatoes, or to dip the meat in.

Sometimes I leave the broth as is, put it in cups, split open and toast hard rolls, make sandwiches out of the meat and have chicken-dip sandwiches, just like those delicious French dips, only with chicken instead of beef. It's very good!

With the cooking time being somewhat unpredictable, I like to start them early in the day, and then when it's done early, you can stick it in the fridge for awhile, and reheat/brown at dinnertime. Or some or plan, just so you won't have hungry people breathing down your neck when it isn't done yet.

 

[Chicken411]

Quote:

Wow, I want to come and eat some chicken at your house. You are making it sound so yummy!

 

[HeatherLynn]

I will tell you this from my experience last year. The backyard chicken is a dang tasty chicken. We had an all male issue last year so the hubby learned to process real fast and I had some yummy birds in the freezer. I made chicken soup with one and I swear you could smell chicken outside our front door. No need for bullion cubes. Soo much flavor. We processed at 18 weeks. I would wait longer than that though.

 

[Tala]

I had a black sexlink at about 30 weeks. He was the best chicken that I've ever eaten!!! I BBQ'd the leg/thighs

I did rest him in the cooler for 3 days, and marinate him in the fridge for like 2 more days (because I ran out of time to cook one night....) so he got LOTS of "resting" before cooking.