From Eggs to Meat

[Cchumley]

Hi I have a question as I am new To raising chickens, we have been raising our multipurpose rare breed mixed flock hens for eggs for a year and now we are interested in hatching our own eggs and having some raised for meat. My questions is do we have to start over with a new breed for meat and keep them seperate or can we hatch some of our own from our current flock since they are multipurpose breeds?

 

[Ridgerunner]

People have been doing that on small farms for thousands of years.

 

[Parront]

Hi I have a question as I am new To raising chickens, we have been raising our multipurpose rare breed mixed flock hens for eggs for a year and now we are interested in hatching our own eggs and having some raised for meat. My questions is do we have to start over with a new breed for meat and keep them seperate or can we hatch some of our own from our current flock since they are multipurpose breeds?

All chickens are eatable, the meat breeds just grow faster and fatter.

 

[Cchumley]

People have been doing that on small farms for thousands of

All chickens are eatable, the meat breeds just grow faster and fatter.

ok thank you. So for multipurpose breeds at what point are they usually ready?

 

[iwltfum]

It'll depend on your own opinion. Some people butcher as early as 12 weeks. Some don't butcher until a year or 18 months. Generally a younger bird will be more tender, have less gamey flavor, and less meat. An older bird will have more texture, more meat, and will be a little more flavorful. The longer you keep them, the more you will spend on feed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So for multipurpose breeds at what point are they usually ready?

That is a much harder question to answer. It depends on what you want.

Dual purpose birds are not going to grow anywhere close to as fast as a meat bird, either Cornish X or Rangers. Generally don't get as big either and the proportions of dark meat to light meat are different. Cornish X and even Rangers are typically butchered younger than the Dual Purpose (DP) so DP birds typically have more flavor and texture, especially more than the Cornish X. If you are looking to get a Cornish X or ranger you will be disappointed.

Some people butcher DP cockerels as young as 12 weeks but they get very little meat. That young they can still be grilled or fried, maybe they aren't allowed to have boys and want to get them before they start to crow, or maybe they can't stand to see the cockerels start to mate the pullets. Most of us that actually grow them for meat wait longer.

One member has developed his own variety that gets big enough for him at 14 weeks, that suits the way he likes to cook them. Many wait until 16 weeks, most DP cockerels have a decent amount of meat then. Still not a lot but not bad for a DP Cockerel. My personal preference is 23 weeks. Mine forage for a lot of their food so it's not that expensive to keep them a bit longer and it suits the way I cook them.

The older they get the more flavor and texture they develop. That accelerates when the hormones of puberty hit. Some people like that flavor but some don't. Personal preference. The older they get the more texture they develop. That affects how you can cook them. The young ones are still tender enough to be fried or grilled. But the older they get the more you need a cooking method that is slower (lower temperature) and moister.

There is no set answer, we all do it differently for our own reasons.

 

[Parront]

ok thank you. So for multipurpose breeds at what point are they usually ready?

That kind of does depend on the breed you are raising, too. Some were actually meant to be meat birds back in the old days, like Delawares. Now they just do not live up to the modern taste for large breasts, A.S.A.P.! The strain you are using can make a big difference, too. Lots of people on here complain that chickens from the hatcheries tend to be small and geared more to laying lots of eggs. New Hampshire once were a main meat bird, now not so much. I have eaten quite a few Orpington roosters in the past, and found them to be OK as fryers, but slow growers. 6 months old and the roosters were still ~ 2 pounds. The big rooster weighed ~7 pounds (live) at 3 years old, I did not eat him because he was such a good dad.

 

[Cchumley]

It'll depend on your own opinion. Some people butcher as early as 12 weeks. Some don't butcher until a year or 18 months. Generally a younger bird will be more tender, have less gamey flavor, and less meat. An older bird will have more texture, more meat, and will be a little more flavorful. The longer you keep them, the more you will spend on feed.

Thank you! So the earliest is typically 12 weeks?

 

[Parront]

Thank you! So the earliest is typically 12 weeks?

Some cockerels start to crow sooner than that, if they are too loud and annoying, sooner! Cornish Cross meat birds are processed at 4 weeks for a cornish game hen. Young Leghorn of 10 weeks is about that size and tasty fried or BBQ'd. Some think that they are too much work for too little meat at that age.

 

[iwltfum]

All based on how you like em. That's the beauty of home raised poultry. Try them out at different ages and see what suits your fancy.