I know you get asked this alot but..(weight/age/maturity at slaughter)

[phoenix_rising]

I've got some birds and this is our second season of butchering birds. Last year we had cornish crosses and we were so worried that we were going to butcher too early that we ended up waiting too long and they were REALLY fatty!! (even though they were pasture raised. Lazy birds..)
This year we've got barred rocks, whyndottes and light brahmas. We got them as day olds straight run and we've got ALOT of roos. They're all about 11 weeks old now and we've got crowing "wars" lol!! It's annoying.
I've read that as soon as they start crowing it's time for the butchering to start but as I feel the flesh of our birds none seem to have much breast. Do they need more time or is this a breed issue? They're the same height as our year old layers, but they're definitly not as chubby. I brought in one of my larger looking light brahmas to see how much he weighed and he was just under 4 lbs.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Judy]

We did most of our extra roos between 14 and 18 weeks, after some reading here. They were tender and tasty. Not full size, but we wanted good flavor and tenderness, too.

 

[Bossroo]

Save your sanity ... off mit their heads. One can now personally see the difference of size/ weight for age and morning seranades between the types. Not to even mention the costs of the Feed Conversion Rates and extra time to grow out. I found this to be true many years ago and still do. So I raise the Cornish X and butcher at 42 days for game hens at dressed weights of 1-2 lbs. , 6 weeks for 3.5-4.5 lbs , 8 weeks for 6-8 lbs or 12 weeks for 9-12 lbs. of dressed meat. Too, the roos are still immature enough to not crow yet.

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
for dual purpose roosters, you have to give them time to grow(about 20 weeks) before that they will be just bones, not much meat, if you want a broad breasted dual purpose breed you can´t beat the dark cornish....

 

[Crickett]

I was interested in this post because I have much the same question. My dual purpose birds were bought as straightruns the week of Easter. They won't be twenty weeks until the second week of August. There are a few of the roos that look as tall as anything I've seen, but when I pick them up, they still feel a bit boney to me. Is it because they are free-ranging? They only get fed starter and scratch feed once a day. Do I need to up their portions? Or will they fill out as they get older?

 

[Nikki28]

Quote:
for dual purpose roosters, you have to give them time to grow(about 20 weeks) before that they will be just bones, not much meat, if you want a broad breasted dual purpose breed you can´t beat the dark cornish....

Really I was thinking of getting dark cornish... good to know.

 

[knittychickadee]

You need to be feeding them a high protein broiler feed to get size on them. No scratch, or minimal, since it is even lower protein then non broiler feed and will slow their growth. Free ranging won't hurt them if you've got good forage. What do they weigh now?

 

[Crickett]

Quote:
Maybe 3-4 lbs? I bought some layer pellets for my hens, would that put the weight on them? Or should I just go ahead and get some broiler feed?

 

[Nikki28]

Quote:
Maybe 3-4 lbs? I bought some layer pellets for my hens, would that put the weight on them? Or should I just go ahead and get some broiler feed?

Layer pellets are usually 16% protein I believe you need 20 -22% for broliers.

Correct me if i'm mistaken

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Maybe 3-4 lbs? I bought some layer pellets for my hens, would that put the weight on them? Or should I just go ahead and get some broiler feed?

Layer pellets are usually 16% protein I believe you need 20 -22% for broliers.

Correct me if i'm mistaken

You are correct.