How old is too old?

[Shrader]

I have some chickens that are about 13 months old.
DP has decided there are just too many of them, so we need to... get rid of a few.
I can't eat them myself, but I'd like to offer them to someone who'll "take care" of them, but I don't know if they're just too old to eat?
Thanks.

 

[silkiechicken]

They are good for about soup and stocks now.

If they are girls, some areas do have a high demand for layers and can go for a decent amount.

 

[coffeemama]

Yeah, if they're hens, put them on Craigslist-people are constantly looking for hens there.

 

[Shrader]

Thanks. I'll try craigslist.

 

[greyfields]

A chicken is never too old to eat. You just have to get a bit creative and skilled in the kitchen as they advance in age.

I love coq au vin. And I've been told multiple times no one in France would consider serving it unless the cockrel was at least a full year old. I would love to go there into the countryside and test the theory.... and have some goose while I"m at it.

 

[chcknrs]

I have a friend from Louisiana who complained that it was so hard to find a real "stewing" chicken anymore. Some of the Cajun recipes call for it and it's not near as good with a young chicken.
Heritage recipes are as important as heritage breeds....

 

[HillCountryMomma]

Well,

From my experience I'll say I'm not real keen on tough old roosters! We butchered one of our two roosters a couple weekends ago. He was a bit over a year old, 100% free range. He had gotten really mean (kept going after my 4 year old daughter) so that was the end of him!

I let him 'rest' in the fridge for a full 24-hours. Then I boiled the stuffin' out of that bird! A regular store bought broiler would have been nothing but mush in the bottom of the pot!

His breast meat (what there was of it, he was a RIR and a lean one at that from chasing hens and kids all day) was good enough to eat straight off the bones, but his thighs and legs were so tough I gave up on them. I couldn't even get the meat off the bones without a serious tug-of-war. Decided I didn't want to even try to eat that! Threw them out to the cats and chickens (yea, that's a fitting end... the hens finally got to tear into him for a change!).

If the chickens have been kept caged they might be more tender. You could tell looking at my guy that he'd lived a good, free life. Even the 'white' breast meat was dark! Exercise = dark meat = tough meat with time! I'm sure there are recipes to deal with the effects of time, but I'm not privy to them.

Liz