Hen/rooster meat in dual purpose breeds

[Cody brown]

This sounds really daft but Does anyone know if roosters and hens have different meat. Is the meat tender if you process them young. Do i process hens and roosters at the same age etc. Im looking into getting a dual purpose breed and was just wondering if people just eat the rossters or both roosters and excess hens.

 

[MarkJr]

This sounds really daft but Does anyone know if roosters and hens have different meat. Is the meat tender if you process them young. Do i process hens and roosters at the same age etc. Im looking into getting a dual purpose breed and was just wondering if people just eat the rossters or both roosters and excess hens.

If you’re expecting store bought texture and taste, skip dual purpose and get meat birds.

The males in dual purpose get a little more size by 16-18 weeks, but marginal. They’re tougher and way more flavorful than store bought. The older they get, the tougher they get. Cooked accordingly, I find them a very good meal.

 

[Matejka]

Yes both can be eaten

 

[Cody brown]

Thankyou, so could excess young hens be eaten aswell. Roosters will just have more meat. Thats good i dont mind the meat being tougher if theres a better taste. Plus i like the idea of a slower maturing birds that actually gets to live a happy life.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Does anyone know if roosters and hens have different meat.

Roosters and hens, definitely. Cockerels and pullets, depends on maturity/age. Once the cockerel's hormones kick in the meat pretty quickly gains texture and flavor. The texture means you need to cook it differently. Some people call that flavor "gamey" and hate it. Some of us like it. The longer you go the more the texture and flavor develop.

When do the hormones kick in? That is the big question. Some can start at 12 weeks, maybe even before. That's going by behaviors, I don't eat them that young. Most of the ones I eat at 16 weeks have started. My preferred butcher age is 23 weeks, practically all have started by then.

The girls will develop texture and flavor as they age but not nearly as fast as the boys.

Is the meat tender if you process them young.

A lot more tender than if you wait.

was just wondering if people just eat the rossters or both roosters and excess hens.

We've discussed this in another thread. Some people only eat cockerels, some eat pullets, some eat old hens, some eat old roosters. I eat them all. How you cook then is very important.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Old mature roosters make the best broth but old hens aren't far behind. Even young cockerels and pullets make good broth. There are all kinds of different broth recipes: oven, stovetop, or pressure cooker. I use a crock pot.

When I butcher I take the time to part them, cut them into serving pieces. That's how I cook them anyway. I save the back, neck, gizzard, heart, and feet for broth. Yeah, I know where those feet have been. I scald them, twist the claws and spurs out, and skin them. That gets the feet clean enough for me but many people just throw the feet away or feed them to a dog. I freeze all this in a zip-loc bag. When I cook the chicken parts I save the bones. These go into broth too.

To make broth I put a bay leaf and a dozen peppercorns in a large crock pot. Toss in a carrot and stick of celery, a rough cut onion and some garlic. I add whatever herbs I feel like, parsley, chives, oregano, basil, or thyme can work. Then I put in the chicken and bones and top off with water. I cook that overnight on low, which means 14 to 20 hours. I strain the big chunks out, de-fat it, and then strain it through cheesecloth. Lots of broth.

But I don't stop there. I then go through the big chunks and pick the meat out. Be careful there can be some small bones. It's surprising how much meat you can get, neck and back both. Some people find this meat mushy but I think it is great on chicken tacos, in a chicken salad, or in soups and stews. I like it on bread as a sandwich for lunch.

There is a twist in this. You can use the entire rooster or hen if you wish, instead of cooking the parts with another recipe. You probably want to use half a hen for each batch so you have room for water to make broth. For a big rooster you might want three batches. Some people take the breasts and legs out after 8 hours, take the meat off the bones, and put the bones back in to finish making broth. That way the meat is firmer but still well-cooked and tender.

There are so many different ways you can cook our old hens and roosters. Did anybody mention Coq au Vin, I remember seeing chicken and dumplings. With a good recipe I'd think sausage would be great. I think I said it in a different thread, but if somebody says you can't cook an old chicken they are just admitting they don't know how.

 

[Erba]

I don't usually eat the hens, just the roosters. I have LS and the last three I butchered were the best roast chicken I've had. That said, they were 5 months old, so you should eat them before they start crowing, if you want to roast them. When the hens stop laying, I tend to use them for soup. Older roosters are just not worth the hassle, so I tend to soup them too, as I don't have a slow cooker.

 

[Cody brown]

I don't usually eat the hens, just the roosters. I have LS and the last three I butchered were the best roast chicken I've had. That said, they were 5 months old, so you should eat them before they start crowing, if you want to roast them. When the hens stop laying, I tend to use them for soup. Older roosters are just not worth the hassle, so I tend to soup them too, as I don't have a slow cooker.

Thankyou , roasting is one of my favourite ways of cooking chicken

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thankyou so much. You've answered all my questions. Just wondering is there any threads with ways to cook chickens in certain ways. For example how to cook a old hen or pullets. Or a young roosters etc.

I'm not aware of any one thread that covers all this, maybe someone else is. There ae a lot of recipes scattered in the threads in this forum section but I don't know a good way to find them.

The way I cook a 16 to 23 week old cockerel or an 8 month old pullet is to cut them into parts and rinse the meat. I don't dry the meat but don't add any water to the dish either. I coat the meat in herbs, I usually use oregano and basil but sometimes use thyme or parsley. You can add garlic or onion if you wish. There are no set rules on how you flavor it. I bake it in a tightly covered dish in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3 hours. The dish needs to have a tight cover so the moisture does not evaporate and let it burn.

When you are finished carefully remove the meat with a slotted spoon. Be careful because the meat is so tender it might fall off the bone. Use a slotted spoon because you probably have about a half cup of liquid in the bottom. If you remove the fat from it that liquid is about the best chicken broth yo have ever tasted.

 

[Cody brown]

Yes both can be eaten

Thankyou