Last 3 CX's Going to freezer camp @ 9 weeks! What do you think?

[dwyer360]

Dont think i shoould have to do anything different with these birds cause they are older. I have 1 good sized roo that i will kinda miss. He always follows me around when I am freshing up there tractor. Wont miss the smell of them tho. My runt cx as I refer to him is still small but getting around ok, he wont just walk he flaps his wings and kinda runs where he wants to go. I think he will be ok to eat? What do you think?

 

[Winsor Woods]

Your last three should be just fine for eating. I've let CX's get as old as 12 weeks. I don't think I'll ever go beyond that. I had one rooster that dressed out at 12 pounds and some hens that dressed out at 9. It's hard to store birds that large. Normally, I start processing the largest ones first and give the slow pokes an extra week or two to catch up. I processed 6 yesterday. They were 8.5 weeks old. I just took a scale and 5 gallon bucket out to the tractor. I put the empty bucket on the scale and zeroed it out. Then I used the bucket to hold the bird and put it on the scale. I separated the first 6 birds that were over 8 pounds and left the rest to grow some more.

Dan

 

[dancingbear]

They should be fine. 9 weeks is still very tender.

They don't really start to toughen up at all, until they get to maybe 10 or even 12 weeks. Even then it's not a lot, many folks keep them that long to use as roasters, you just lower to cooking temp a tad, and roast a little longer. Say 325F instead of 350-375F, and wait until the leg feels loose when you wiggle it. (If it still feels very firm, or stiff, it's not done yet.) I roast in a clay chicken cooker with the lid on so they don't dry out, and once they're tender, take off the lid and raise the temp to crisp up and brown the skin. Yummy!