Orpingtons as meat birds/skin color question?

[themenagerie]

I have a huge black Orp roo, easily over ten pounds. I will be breeding for new layers this year and was considering using the cockerels as meat birds. The hens are a mix of Orps, Barred Rocks, Speckled Sussex & Wyandotte. I have done lots of reading and know they won't be as big as traditional meat birds and that I may have to harvest them at a later age due to their slower growth. I have an odd question though..and I hope it's not stupid......I have read that white birds are desired as meat birds because of the lighter skin, something to do with the feathers leaving marks on the dark skin?. Does that mean you can only use dark colored birds in stews & crockpot cooking with the skin removed or can they be served roasted? What exactly does a dark skinned bird look like roasted? is it unappealing? Thanks for your replies.

 

[Judy]

It's a matter of personal preference only. Do a search on Silkies; they have black skin and bones, and yes, people roast them. All those breeds are considered dual purpose, meaning for meat or eggs. We have eaten most or all of them. Cleaning a Barred Rock is a llttle more time consuming because I prefer to get those "black spots" out, but they do come out easily enough, we just scratched them out.

 

[Oregon Blues]

You will learn, when eating home raised food, to not be demanding traditional colors for anything. Nor for meat, not for eggs, not for veggies, not for fruit.

Home grown is delicious and if the skin is a bit grayish, it will cook up so delicious that you won't care.

My dark feathered birds have light skin. The commercial issue is that sometimes pinfeathers leak a tiny bit of dark fluid as they are pulled. It will make a tiny dark spot on the skin.

Seriously, just ignore it and cook and enjoy your bird. You won't even notice it after the bird is cooked and it is 100% safe to eat with no flavor to it at all.

If you don't point it out, your family won't even see it.

 

[4-H chicken mom]