I Can't Sell; Help Me Harvest Cockerels?

[CoopBoots]

Long story short, after nearly selling all my extra cockerels and pullets today, I've discovered I (somehow) feel better about eating them than entrusting them to strangers from Craigslist. Maybe I just got unlucky with buyer options, sigh.

I'm not excited to eat them, but it's going to be a necessity soon. What is a good minimum weight / age I can aim for so I'm prepared to do the deed at the right time (allowing that all birds are individuals and won't necessarily mature at the same rate)?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Well, after about 16 weeks, they start to get tough because of hormones and their versatility begins to become smaller and smaller

 

[Sussex19]

It depends on how you want to cook them, and also whether they are cockerels or pullet. For cockerels, I harvest mine between 18 and 22 weeks for roasting, or to cook with rice or pasta.
If you want to fry them, I would go before 14 weeks, but with pullets you could go up to 18 weeks and still have a nice fryer.
Anything over 24 weeks, and you would be looking at very slow cooking methods.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

As someone who also sells birds on CL, I feel your pain.

If you have an electronic pressure cooker, you have options...a pressure cooker can make even a 2 year old rooster incredibly tender (with enough time).

I like to try to process dual-purpose cockerels at around 5 months old. I cook them in the pressure cooker for ~45 minutes and they're perfect. Once you've had homegrown chicken, there's no going back!

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is a good minimum weight / age I can aim for so I'm prepared to do the deed at the right time (allowing that all birds are individuals and won't necessarily mature at the same rate)?

I'll assume they are dual purpose breeds. I don't go by weight because they can be so different, even if they are full brothers and the same breed. Age is a better guide but you can still have big differences between individuals. I'll talk about average ages.

Once they hit puberty and the hormones start to flow the boy's meat gains texture and flavor. The texture changes can dictate how to best cook them. Some people like that change in flavor, some consider it gamey and hate it. We are individuals too and have our own prefernces.

What are your goals with the meat. Some people butcher at 12 weeks to make sure they don't crow or so the boys don't start harassing the girls when puberty hits. There is very little meat there but it is tender enough to be fried or grilled. Not much flavor either, a lot like store chicken.

For many people 16 weeks is a good time. This is when they typically have a reasonable amount of meat and the flavor isn't all that strong. For most people used to the Cornish X from the store that is butchered at 6 to 8 weeks of age 16 weeks is a bit late for frying and grilling, you may need to consider an alternate cooking method.

Personally I like to butcher at 23 weeks. Generally they have hit the end of rapid growth. The flavor increase is noticeable but not overpowering to me. They will continue to gain weight but at a slower pace. I like to bake these.

I don't know how many you have this year or what you may have in the future. And I do not know your experience level butchering. I generally suggest you experiment, butcher at different ages so you gain experience in how they suit your purposes at a certain age. Find the sweet spot for you that comes closest to meeting your preferences under your feeding and management methods for your breeds.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't eat my cockerels, but feed them to to my dog who gets raw store chicken also. I remove the head, then wait for the rooster to be still, after the rooster is still, I remove the wings and the feet. (Once the heart stops beating there is not much blood.) I take off the feathers with the skin, it comes off like a coat. I then press the legs from the sockets, and cut them off as close to the back as I can keeping all the meat. Then, I cut off the shoulder blades, from the back and keep the ribcage with breast meat as one unit. (Cutting through some of the smaller ribs that connect the ribcage to the back. I don't gut, I let all the organs remain connected to the back. I remove the liver and the heart for the dog, then toss the back and all the guts (untouched) as one unit.