Pics of "Before/After" Dual Purpose meat birds?

[stuckinthecity]

Does anyone have pictures of their dual purpose birds (preferably roosters), before they killed/cleaned them...and then a picture of the bird fully cleaned and ready to be frozen? I would love to hear the weights as well. The reason I ask, is I'm trying to envision what my rooster would look like if I butchered him and just how much meat I would be getting (not like he's going in the pot anytime soon though).

ETA:I'm not planning on eating Buster! I just wanted to see how much meat a rooster of his size might carry. He's much too old now.

 

[Wild Trapper]

You say in your sig that the roo is illegal, if he is very old, you might be better to either rehome him or even give him away. Old roosters do not make the most tender eating. Even some we have butchered that are about a year old are tough. We don't take pictures of the butchering process, it ain't pretty. We do ours around six months or less.

 

[stuckinthecity]

I could never kill my rooster! haha. I just wanted to see pictures for future reference.

 

[MomMommyMamma]

The only picture I have is of a fairly young rooster after butchering. He looks like you could put him on a popsicle stick for a snack. I can say that our RIRs were not very good eats. They were much tougher than what we were used to with store bought chicken. Our orpingtons were much larger and were much better to us. I have been marinating our birds in an acid marinade for 24 hrs before cooking and this seems to tenderize the meat significantly. They are every bit as tender as the store bought. I have been using this recipe with good results, http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001816354. I have heard that roosters become tougher once they become fertile. I can't say for sure though as we have not butchered any birds that old yet (judging by a lack of "fertile legs" and mating). We have not butchered hens yet either.

 

[ultasol]

If you think the bird might be tough, first let it age a day or two more, second suggestion would be to crockpot cook it on low overnight, let cool, then shred. Makes great tamales, fajitas, bbq chicken, enchiladas, etc.

 

[Wild Trapper]

For the really tough old birds, we use a pressure cooker, the meat falls off the bones when done. Not your ordinary fryers.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Buckeyes.... 16 weeks before and after.

 

[aka Rachel]

These guys varried in ages by a few weeks, the oldest being no more then 20 weeks and the youngest had just started crowing so probably about 16 weeks or so. I was happy with the results, the largest was just over 5lbs and the other three were just over 4lbs.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Thank you so much guys!!! (for the info...and the pics!)

That's just what I was looking for.

Both sets of birds look absolutely GREAT; I thought I would have to wait like 8 or so months before getting good sized birds to eat...I guess it all depends on if the birds are made to be more 'layer type' or 'meat type'.

Btw, that recipe sounds great too.

And one more question to Rachel & Jeff: How did you fix your birds when you cooked them? Were these roasters or can you use birds of that age for more then just roasters, shredded meat, ect. (meaning would they be too tough to fry or oven bake or something) ?

 

[western edge]

Quote:
Are those sex link cockerels? Nice heavy birds.