Has anyone ever processed DP roosters really early; 9-12 weeks or so?

DanIndiana

Songster
9 Years
Aug 27, 2010
156
1
101
Valparaiso, Indiana
I'm looking for the rough equivalent meat of a cornish hen. I've been trying to get an idea of what the carcass will be like with White Plymouth Rocks, Buff Orps, etc. after maybe 9-12 weeks? I've got a batch of 25 that I would like to take sooner rather than later. Has anyone tried this? I know it won't be much meat, but maybe enough for two, and more tender perhaps?
 
Yes. If you're going to cull, don't waste the meat. Twenty five birds should feed more than 2 people.

They have no body fat, so cook with that in mind. (If headed for the oven use a covered pan and baste or steam.)

If they are scrawny, sometimes I just skin them and make stew in the crock pot using LOW setting! (When I do this I cut the last part of the wings off because they are so small). I then cook for 8-10 hours, de-bone them and cook another 8-10 hours spiced however I want -Curried, Chipotle pepper recipe, traditional soup, or whatever.
 
I have a batch of 12 BO's that I was raising for meat birds and they are 14 weeks - not thinking that they will yield a lot of meat compared to the batch of 25 cornish I am raising that are almost 8 weeks and weigh 6 1/2 - 8 lbs live weight. We had one BO roo in the batch that we just sent to freezer camp - he will make a nice soup this fall. He dressed out I believe about 2 1/2 lbs (guestimate not real weight). He was crowing so he had to go but the other 11 I am letting grow longer. I think after raising the cornish and raising the BO's I will raise more cornish because of how quickly they grow and the amount of meat they yield. (unless the BO's are
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in comparison) Hope that helps
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This should be an interesting experiment. Our fry pan special included 4 breeds: the largest by far at 5 weeks, White Rock, then Barred Rock, then the Buff Orps are about tied with the Rhode Island Reds.
 
We've done 3 that were 10 weeks. Two were at least half white Rock, if not pure. The third was an EE. Both the Rock crosses were really quite meaty for that age, I was impressed. The EE wasn't bad, but still a bit on the scrawny side. We haven't eaten them yet, though.

They did have some fat on them, not a whole lot but about the same amount that an older cockerel would have, in porportion of course.
 

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