Gamey sussex rooster

[LocoPollo]

I just cooked one of my speckled sussex roosters. He was about 23 weeks and the meat was nice. The dark meat was a bit gamey and strong, though. I made coq au vin with him so the sauce covered up some of that taste, but was wondering if this was par for the course. If I kill the rooster earlier would that help? I waited just so I could get a bit more meat.

 

[speckledhen]

Wonder if the oil gland was punctured. Sometimes, I hear that if you dont carefully cut out that gland, the meat tastes weird.

BTW, my cockerel we processed was 23 weeks and he tasted wonderful in the stew.