Picture of my BR rooster (cooked)

[criker99]

So ... did he taste as good as you expected? Compare to the grocery store chicken cooked the same way .... Were you happy with your method of cooking and do you think that impacted his tenderness? Although I suppose at his age it wouldn't have mattered? We're trying to figure out whether to continue with processing the cockerals of our own hatched dual purpose or to actually purchase meat birds ...

 

[Denninmi]

Now you need to learn to raise barbecue sauce!

 

[jgervais]

What was the cost for someone else to process just 1-3 birds? I know the satisfaction comes from raising your own bird and not necessarily saving any money, but curious if you think it was worth it for just a few small birds....

 

[arenea74]

My chicken had a much smaller amount of breast meat compared to a grocery store chicken. There was a good amount of meat on the legs and thighs, though. I was still afraid of having tough meat so I let it sit in the fridge for 3 days then put it in a brine for 3 hours before baking. The meat still seemed a little "stringy" but not really tough. The flavor was so clean and yummy. I plan on grilling the next one whole and maybe cutting up the third for frying.

I was considering a meatie breed next time simply for more breast meat. Seems like they would have more and I'm a fan of white meat

 

[criker99]

Excellent information ... I believe our first home grown barred rock will be tonight's dinner (slaughtered Saturday). I really appreciate the information on the breast vs. leg/thigh because I actually don't like breast meat ... so this helps ALOT! A 4 pound breast on a 6 pound bird is likely to disappoint me ... although perhaps I'll like the breast on home grown more. Who knows.

 

[arenea74]

Oh, yeah! I even ate the dark meat on this bird because it didn't have that gamey flavor!

 

[Bossroo]

Almost a 2 pound carcass at 16 weeks ( 112 days) ... I process my straight run Cornish X at 5 weeks (35 days [30-37 days, varies on my available time]) and average dressed at 2+ ( 1 1/2 - 3) pound Game Hens. I save lots of time and tons of feed then enjoy a very tender and TASTEY roasted or BBQ ed meal.

 

[KenK]

That is a delicious looking bird, arenea.

I've got some young roosters that need eating also. I'll be lucky to get half as much meat as you did out of these little game chickens I have. I'm going to go ahead and expense about $1,500 dollars on this first one so that the ones that follow will be a bit more cost effective.