Orpington Dual Purpose Meat/Eggs Project

[MomJones]

Just processed 4- 16 week old Lavender Orpington Cockerels this past weekend. Results were roughly 3 lbs dressed. Not impressed. It’s making me rethink my whole Orpington as a meat bird. Leg meat was tough obviously due to them being so much more active compared to meat birds. Breast meat was great but really not that much of it. My recommendation as I have learned from others would be the wait closer to the 24 week mark before processing. Good luck!

We started with 12 buff orphingtons, similar experience. Except we waited until they were two years old because they were good layers. Results: lots of fat, chewy meat.
We're now switching over to Brahmas because they are a heritage meat bird.

 

[LilyD]

We started with 12 buff orphingtons, similar experience. Except we waited until they were two years old because they were good layers. Results: lots of fat, chewy meat.
We're now switching over to Brahmas because they are a heritage meat bird.

I've done Brahmas and found that they tend to grow lots of bone and height first so they seem heavy when you pick them up but they have very little meat on their bones until close to a year old then they tend to fill out. Love love love the fact that they like to raise their own babies like orps and they were very friendly. My rooster I kept for the breeding project was close to 15 lbs and was so gorgeous. The kids that come over to the house to play with the horses and chickens could pick him up, feed him treats and just love on him and he was wonderful.

At 2 years you will get chew in the meat unless you cook it low and slow and if you live up north like I do you get a decent 2 inch or more fat layer on your birds or they won't make it through winter without assistance. The trick is to change how you cook the birds and that makes the meat softer and easier to eat. I will use a 2 year old birds as a stewing bird making stew, soup, chicken and dumplings, enchiladas or any other meal like that. Let it cook in the crock pot all day until if falls of the bones and the bones start to break down (usually 12 hours) Then pull out the meat and bones and strain the broth into a pot on the stove. Add corn starch or flour to the broth and then stir until it thickens and then add the deboned meat back in with whatever veg you want added and it makes amazing one pot meals.

If you want a bird for frying or roasting you have to go with one under 6 months because fast cooking methods such as frying or roasting often will cause the meat to be tougher. I also would use lower cook temps and increase the time cooking say at 225 rather than 375 and cook until the internal temp is at 165 for the bird.

This was my brahma roo

 

[MomJones]

I've done Brahmas and found that they tend to grow lots of bone and height first so they seem heavy when you pick them up but they have very little meat on their bones until close to a year old then they tend to fill out. Love love love the fact that they like to raise their own babies like orps and they were very friendly. My rooster I kept for the breeding project was close to 15 lbs and was so gorgeous. The kids that come over to the house to play with the horses and chickens could pick him up, feed him treats and just love on him and he was wonderful.

At 2 years you will get chew in the meat unless you cook it low and slow and if you live up north like I do you get a decent 2 inch or more fat layer on your birds or they won't make it through winter without assistance. The trick is to change how you cook the birds and that makes the meat softer and easier to eat. I will use a 2 year old birds as a stewing bird making stew, soup, chicken and dumplings, enchiladas or any other meal like that. Let it cook in the crock pot all day until if falls of the bones and the bones start to break down (usually 12 hours) Then pull out the meat and bones and strain the broth into a pot on the stove. Add corn starch or flour to the broth and then stir until it thickens and then add the deboned meat back in with whatever veg you want added and it makes amazing one pot meals.

If you want a bird for frying or roasting you have to go with one under 6 months because fast cooking methods such as frying or roasting often will cause the meat to be tougher. I also would use lower cook temps and increase the time cooking say at 225 rather than 375 and cook until the internal temp is at 165 for the bird. View attachment 1866688

This was my brahma roo