lavender Orps for meat?

[lindseyloo]

Is it wrong? Any reason I shouldn't? Their legs are black.. but I'm pretty sure the rest of their skin is not... Any input on this? I tried searching to see if anyone else has butchered these birds but couldn't find anything. The only reason I ask is because I know they are a rare breed. I just don't need 2 Roos! I actually had 3, but butchered the Buff Orpington yesterday! First time for me, and it went really well!
Any input is greatly appreciated!


This was last month, and they have grown considerably

 

[StarLover21]

I would say just sell them- lavender orpingtons are really rare, and those are some beautiful birds! I can't imagine eating them

 

[lindseyloo]

I tried putting them on Craigslist a couple different times, because I feel the same way. But I haven't had any luck.

 

[Kevin565]

Yes they are indeed very pretty but pretty animals get eaten all of the time. I don't see any reason you could not butcher them. However, depending on your area you might be able to sell them to someone who's looking to breed in the lavender gene to their flocks. Lavender roos go for around 25 down here.

 

[Kevin565]

I tried putting them on Craigslist a couple different times, because I feel the same way. But I haven't had any luck.

Once you have 20 posts you can put them in the Buy Sell Trade section of BYC. You may get some hits that way.

 

[suki'smom]

Orps are very good meat birds. Just because they are lavender shouldn't keep you from eating them. I butcher pretty roos all the time, not because I want to, but I hatch a lot of birds and you just can't keep all of the boys.

 

[lindseyloo]

thanks for the input, i'll let them get a bit bigger and most likely process.

 

[AinaWGSD]

There's no good reason not to. Pretty birds taste just the same as ugly birds when cooked properly. And while they may be rare, that alone is no reason to keep them. In fact, IMO most breeds would benefit greatly if more people would eat the "pretty" birds that just don't fit the standard (or at least get them closer to fitting the standard) instead of breeding them just because they are a "rare" color. In fact, we are looking at getting some orpingtons to try as meat birds soon and I am specifically avoiding the lavender color because they are a project bird and still have a bit of work to be done with them before they are at the same level conformation wise as the more common, already established colors. I don't really have the time to put into a project like that right now. Color alone is not what makes the bird, it's just the icing on the cake. I'd let them grow out a little more, especially since orpingtons are known for being a little slower to mature and can often be late bloomers, and then keep the one that is closest to the breed standard and eat the other one.

As for the legs, the shank color may be dark but the rest of the skin should be white. Last weekend we processed a bunch of blue and black ameraucana mixes. More than half of them had dark shanks, but all of them had white skin once we plucked them. And speaking from personal experience, dark shanks make just as good a broth as light shanks.