how old is too tough?

[mpoland33]

I'm in the very early stages of my chicken keeping career...as in still building the coop

BUT the topic came up the other day with my wife so I was curious.

I'm going to be raising dual purpose birds. My initial plan is too keep the chickens on a 2 year cycle basically (maybe another time depending on the feedback I get here). The reason for 2 years is because I've always been told the egg production drops around that time.

Is 2 years old too old to have a meaty bird or is it too tough? I know the old the chicken the tougher and we'll always have a use for stock and stew but I'm just curious.

 

[mountainbunny]

Mine will be two in May. I haven't quite decided what to do with them once egg production drops off. They are my pets as well so I'm not sure I could eat them after giving them names. I don't know much about raising meat birds as I raised my for eggs. I do think meat birds are usually slaughtered at 6 months old. I could be wrong. I'm just curious about this too so I thought I would comment on your post.

 

[SIMZ]

I don't find the hens to really get tough, but I always cook them in a crock pot with some broth. Older hens are delicious, in my opinion. Roosters are a different story. It seems like they start getting too tough for our taste after 22-25 weeks. The sooner the better with them.

 

[Redhead Rae]

You can still eat roosters that are 1+ years old, but as others say, they get though and chewy. We boil our roosters and then dice the meat across the grain. It works really well in soups, chili, and chicken salad.

 

[SIMZ]

You can still eat roosters that are 1+ years old, but as others say, they get though and chewy. We boil our roosters and then dice the meat across the grain. It works really well in soups, chili, and chicken salad.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Redhead Rae]

Thanks for the tip!

I've also heard that you can grind the meat as well, but I've never personally tried it. @rjohns39 I think you were the one that told me about grinding old birds.

 

[Maeschak]

I'm in the very early stages of my chicken keeping career...as in still building the coop

BUT the topic came up the other day with my wife so I was curious.

I'm going to be raising dual purpose birds. My initial plan is too keep the chickens on a 2 year cycle basically (maybe another time depending on the feedback I get here). The reason for 2 years is because I've always been told the egg production drops around that time.

Is 2 years old too old to have a meaty bird or is it too tough? I know the old the chicken the tougher and we'll always have a use for stock and stew but I'm just curious.

You can also raw pack pressure can older birds. The canned meat is great for just about anything- soups, enchiladas, even chicken salad- but it does look gnarley.
And hello from Frederick County!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I butchered my layer roosters at 20/22 weeks - not my original plan but that is when it got done. They were great for everything we made, but it was all slow simmered for a couple of hours and pulled off the bone. I have 3 broilers that are going to be butchered this weekend, they are 16 weeks old. One is laying eggs, but once again, not my original plan but it got too cold too fast this fall. I butchered one of that group about a month ago and it was still very tender. I am a wimp and will not butcher when it is below freezing. My original plan was to butcher them at 8 to 10 weeks old. The broilers this summer will be butchered at 8 weeks old.
Roosters that are layer breeds are not super meaty, but mine were a "dual-purpose" hybrid called a Sagitta. Very solid, heavy birds. They had a good amount of meat, but no-where near what a broiler has.
My advice is to simmer slowely and DON"T LET IT BOIL. My experience is that too high of a temp (boil) will make it tougher.
Homemade Canned chicken is to die for. I will probably can the dark meat off the broilers that I butcher this weekend.

 

[wyoDreamer]

It also makes a difference on what type of chicken you have. Not talking breed so much as type of chicken. What was it developed for?
A layer breed - which tend to be skinny and if you pick them up, they feel light.
Dual-purpose - which are a heavier breed that will lay eggs fairly well and still produce an acceptable amount of meat.
Broiler - which grow phenomenally fast, and will not lay eggs that often.
My fatty has only laid three eggs in the last week and a half. My layer pullets of the same age have laid about 7 eggs each in that same time period.

 

[SIMZ]

You can also raw pack pressure can older birds. The canned meat is great for just about anything- soups, enchiladas, even chicken salad- but it does look gnarley.
And hello from Frederick County!

I second canning! Canned meat is so convenient so I think we'll try it with older roosters, too! I never thought about doing that - thanks!