Feeding Dual Purpose Cockerels

[Mosey2003]

I've searched quite a bit and haven't really found what I'm after. Does anyone have a really good feeding method/program for DP cockerels growing out to be butchered? Seen higher protein mentioned, seen corn or oats mentioned, but never any followup/conclusion.

I'm going to stagger some hatches the next time it warms up and I get enough eggs and plan from the start to butcher the males. I have a nice heritage Barred Rock rooster over mostly hatchery hens at the moment, so while they won't get as big as pure heritage/SOP birds, but they should do. I'll have good heavy SOP birds laying next year.

And does anyone know roughly the percentage carcass you get vs. live weight? Not sure what weight I should be letting them get to, planning sometime between 16 and 20 weeks.

I know they're not the same as the Cornish Cross or free ranging meat birds, but I like the idea of hatching my own and selling started pullets.

 

[Maeschak]

I've searched quite a bit and haven't really found what I'm after. Does anyone have a really good feeding method/program for DP cockerels growing out to be butchered? Seen higher protein mentioned, seen corn or oats mentioned, but never any followup/conclusion.

I'm going to stagger some hatches the next time it warms up and I get enough eggs and plan from the start to butcher the males. I have a nice heritage Barred Rock rooster over mostly hatchery hens at the moment, so while they won't get as big as pure heritage/SOP birds, but they should do. I'll have good heavy SOP birds laying next year.

And does anyone know roughly the percentage carcass you get vs. live weight? Not sure what weight I should be letting them get to, planning sometime between 16 and 20 weeks.

I know they're not the same as the Cornish Cross or free ranging meat birds, but I like the idea of hatching my own and selling started pullets.

In larger (older) DP chickens I aim for a 5lb live bird and get a 3.5 lb carcass (no neck no legs etc).
I tried DP cockerels at 22% protein start to finish and confined them to their coop for the last 2 weeks. These guys ended up extremely lean - but I'm not sure if that was from the high protein or the cold temperatures as I didn't butcher them until winter. (And they lived in a hoop coop so they spent a lot of energy keeping warm.)
This year I will lower the protein near the end to try to give them a bit of fat. And FYI, even after confining them they were stil very firm (about 20 weeks old)... But someone told me to try cooking them at like 240-250 degrees in a tight fitting lidded roaster.
Now, however, I think I'm hooked on the 14 week old cockerels. I'll feed them 19-22% protein until about 12 weeks then add more corn to get a bit of fat and confine them for the last week or two.
Hope that helps some

 

[Maeschak]

PS- at least in my birds there isn't enough difference between the 14 and 16 week olds to make it worth feeding them 2 more weeks. So I like the 14 week olds or 20 week olds (and not much between)... But that very well just be my particular birds.

 

[Mosey2003]

That does help, thanks. I plan to cook them in the turkey roaster at 200* probably overnight, should make them tender enough. The breeder I got my SOP eggs from does that and then pressure cans the meat with the broth and says it's tender that way.

I'm thinking I want to hatch fresh layers every year, so if I timed that for January, I'd have birds laying in spring and cockerels ready to eat in May, which is a good time for outside butchering.

 

[Maeschak]

That does help, thanks. I plan to cook them in the turkey roaster at 200* probably overnight, should make them tender enough. The breeder I got my SOP eggs from does that and then pressure cans the meat with the broth and says it's tender that way.

I'm thinking I want to hatch fresh layers every year, so if I timed that for January, I'd have birds laying in spring and cockerels ready to eat in May, which is a good time for outside butchering.

That's a good plan. I also like to pressure can chicken. After butchering you can immediately cut the meat from the bone and put it into mason jars for pressure canning. It looks disgusting pressure canned but is really delicious. No need to rest the carcasses if doing it thus way. Then you still have the bones, feet, etc left for making stock.

 

[oldrooster]

I heard 2nd hand so not sure if true but if you feed lots of bread products (all breads cakes rolls pies etc etc etc) they will put on a lot of fat, but the internal organs may not be very good to eat. so take what I said with a grain of salt and do as you please.....

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you like southern fried chicken 16-20 weeks is a good age. I process most of my cockerels 12-14 weeks. 12 is better but in that range they are still grill worthy. Best age for feed to meat ratio and all round good time to thin out the k's to make space in coop/run. Save a few for fried chicken and save a few to roasting age which is 5-9 months.

There's no need to cram all the butchering into one day. It's OK to let birds grow out as long as you don't attempt to grill or broil them. The meat will have more flavor the older the bird, cost per pound will be more the longer you grow them and obviously you start to loose options of how they can be cooked. With all that in mind it's never too early to butcher! If you've a lot of birds growing out it's prudent to cull over half the K's by end of 14 weeks.