Poussin?

[LeenaB]

Has anyone had poussin? It's apparently young chicken/spring chicken or 28 day old chicken. I was thinking of doing this, as a recent hatch had a lot of roosters in it. I've listed them on craigslist with very little luck. So I was planning to raise them for meat. My partner suggested having them as poussin instead. Apparently a more common thing in England where he's from.

I found a recipe for it here. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10395/lemon-roast-poussin-with-spring-vegetables


Does anyone have any favorite ones?

 

[Bossroo]

Have you ever heard of a " Cornish Game Hen " ? or seen the ready to eat cooked small whole chicken at many grocery stores ? Millions of them are eaten here in the USA. Well, that is a Cornish X chicken processed at 32 days of age that weighs dressed between 1 1/2 - 2 lbs. If your recently hatched roosters are of some Heritage variety, good luck with gleaning that amount of dressed weight in that length of time. Sorry , as it ain't gonna happen.

 

[LeenaB]

They're RIRs and RIR mixed with Plymouth/Barred Rocks.

Poussin technically fall into the 12-20 oz size range dressed.

Quail generally 5 up to 10 oz.

I just did some quail that were 7 oz.

I guess I'll have to weigh them and see where they fall alive and calculate down to see what their dressed weight would be.

Right now I have a set of chicks that are coming up on 7 weeks old so, another set that's 3 weeks.

Out comes the scale.

 

[Elke Beck]

Just because the chicken is small does not mean it will not be good eating. A lot of game birds are tiny, but that just means that you get to eat more than one.

I say give it a try, and please post back to let us know about your experience.

 

[LeenaB]

I dressed one out today. I was a good 14 ounces (not including neck, gizzard and other innards). His leg & thighs alone amounted to 8 ounces. He still has 3 friends who will be done in a couple weeks. I'll get the review from the taste testers tonight as the little guy is marinating now.

 

[knittychickadee]

I've had very good luck butchering Buckeyes at around 8 weeks for 'game hen' sized carcasses. They are great just split up the back and flattened down for grilling or oven.

 

[popsicle]

I've had very good luck butchering Buckeyes at around 8 weeks for 'game hen' sized carcasses. They are great just split up the back and flattened down for grilling or oven.

Spatchcock--that's the only way I cook whole fowl and one of my favorite words.

I like to just put salt, pepper, caraway and oil--with occasional basting while cooking.

 

[pipemum]

I wiki'd the term. Poussins are processed at an even smaller size than cornish game hens. Great news for me! I have a bunch of "packing peanuts" that will make great poussins. So many extras that I've been fretting since ordered what I had room for, and didn't expect 7 extra chickens!

LeenaB, according to wiki, 14 oz is the perfect size for poussin!

 

[eggthenoodle]

Hi there,

Thanks for the thread!

So is a poussin just a small bird? There is no special breed?
And if I understand from the thread they take approx 30 days before butchering?

A question, can they be free ranged? If so are they better eating than non free range?

Regards

Mike

 

[LindaB220]

Hi there,

Thanks for the thread!

So is a poussin just a small bird? There is no special breed?
And if I understand from the thread they take approx 30 days before butchering?

A question, can they be free ranged? If so are they better eating than non free range?

Regards

Mike

Mike, any chicken can be free ranged. But the hawks would be out in a hurry.