Processing The Runt - Should I Eat Him?

[Moonstream27]

Hola! Looking for opinions on whether it’s safe to eat our runt rooster.

We have a flock of 6 that we picked up at tractor supply back in April. Turns out two are roosters. One of them has grown great and is quite magnificent. The other, not so much. He didn’t grow very big and his feathers are all scraggly to the point where I’m not sure what breed he even was.

As we aren’t allowed to have roosters, we’ve dispatched the runt and I’m planning to process in between newborn naps.

My question is, should I eat him? We didn’t observe any other signs of illness but my husband is convinced he’s diseased based on his small size/scraggly feathers. I’m breastfeeding so want to be extra careful, but I also don’t want to waste the chicken’s life. What would you do?

 

[Isadora]

I don't feel that a small size and scraggly feathers by themselves would stop me from eating him. Since he was probably not top rooster, it's very likely the other rooster either kept him from eating enough to be vibrant and large, or he got picked on so his feathers were scraggly. Why don't you process him and see how his insides look? That will give you a good indication of how healthy he was.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So...

I process and eat my smallest birds all the time. Basically weekly. Assuming there is no external evidence of disease, go ahead and cull him with the thought of putting him on the table. Particularly as he's hatchery stock (I have some myself, from Hoovers, by way of TSC...) its not uncommon to find a bird that really fails to live up to breed expectations - and since you aren't certain of breed - you don't even know what those expectations are. Could be as simple as an employee putting a bantam in the stock tank with the full sized birds. Or not.

You can post a picture, ask for help identifying.

Back tot he original thought, I need more coffee. Once you've culled, that's an excellent opportunity to get your hands into the bird and look for any internal evidence if illness or injury that might cause you to dispose of the carcass, rather than cook it. Pay particular attention to the heart and liver, as well as the fatty layers around internal organs and under skin (if any). Again, pictures and we can possibly offer some insights. Lesions and splotchy marks suggest something may be (or is) wrong, while goood consistent color shouldreduce your anxciety some.

The internal exam with culling is part of my management methods - a way of seeing how the flock is performing on its feed, beyond simple behavior observations.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Personally at five months old I'd eat him unless I saw something odd when processing him. It's not at all unusual to have a pretty big difference in size between cockerels that age, even the same breed and from the same hatchery. They mature at different rates. Some never get as big as others. The scraggly feathers could just be a juvenile molt, where they outgrow their feathers and need to replace them. A grown chicken would look pretty silly if they still had the feathers of a 5 week old chick.

I don't know how much experience you have processing cockerels. One thing I'd expect if he is late maturing is that his male sex organs will be tiny compared to a "normal" cockerel that age. To me that would not be a sign that he is unhealthy, just that he is late maturing.

But I'm not a nursing mother, if anything makes you uncomfortable don't do it. While I appreciate the desire to not waste a life, you and your baby are not worth a risk.

 

[Moonstream27]

Thank you all for the responses! I attempted to process and it didn’t go so well. It was my first time and thankfully had some good takeaways for next time but dang.

I’ve never plucked before but some of his feathers broke or emitted clear or blood tinged liquid from the skin after they were removed. Is that normal?

My knife was not sharp enough so in my ineptitude I ended up cutting the esophagus (or crop?) and spilling half eaten food.

Once I got to opening his abdominal cavity I immediately smelled rotten eggs so suspected I punctured intestine as well but they did look intact so I wasn’t sure. At this point I acknowledged I was in over my head. I contemplated continuing but my hand was too large for the cavity to begin with and I kept losing my nerve envisioning pulling out diseased insides.

Now I know I’ll need to intern or something before I try to process again. Holy cow what a learning curve. I’m quite demoralized about the whole endeavor. It will take a lot of work before I’m willing to try again for sure.

 

[Huntmaster]

I ended up cutting the esophagus (or crop?) and spilling half eaten food.

I always remove feed from birds to be processed the night before or 24 hours before processing as to purge the birds of feed in crop and all feed/waste in system. That should help with that problem in your next adventures in processing.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you all for the responses! I attempted to process and it didn’t go so well. It was my first time and thankfully had some good takeaways for next time but dang.

I’ve never plucked before but some of his feathers broke or emitted clear or blood tinged liquid from the skin after they were removed. Is that normal?

My knife was not sharp enough so in my ineptitude I ended up cutting the esophagus (or crop?) and spilling half eaten food.

Once I got to opening his abdominal cavity I immediately smelled rotten eggs so suspected I punctured intestine as well but they did look intact so I wasn’t sure. At this point I acknowledged I was in over my head. I contemplated continuing but my hand was too large for the cavity to begin with and I kept losing my nerve envisioning pulling out diseased insides.

Now I know I’ll need to intern or something before I try to process again. Holy cow what a learning curve. I’m quite demoralized about the whole endeavor. It will take a lot of work before I’m willing to try again for sure.

I don't use this method, but its how I started out - maybe it helps you too.

I find that after I've made the slit at the @$$ end, I can gently lift up on the breast bone while pulling down on the legs, and get the spine to open up, then I can get my hand in there.

Trust your nose - you did good.

and some people withhold feed for a day to avoid the crop issue - I don't, but I do keep plenty of running water handy. A sharp knife, plus pinching the skin first to pull it away from the crop helps ensure against accidents. Without seeing the carcass, I couldn't tell you on the feather blood. Its a definitely *likely* normal. Getting the scald just right takes practice. A good thermometer helps.

---and I'm headed out to butcher at least one now. Just finished setting up. Now a quick clean and a swift cut...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once I got to opening his abdominal cavity I immediately smelled rotten eggs so suspected I punctured intestine as well but they did look intact so I wasn’t sure.

That smell was not from a punctured intestine. Something else was going on. So you did good abandoning the project. I never withhold food and I never get that kind of a smell no matter what gets punctured.

There is a learning curve involved in butchering. Mentoring is a great idea but there are also videos on here that can help.

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you all for the responses! I attempted to process and it didn’t go so well. It was my first time and thankfully had some good takeaways for next time but dang.

I’ve never plucked before but some of his feathers broke or emitted clear or blood tinged liquid from the skin after they were removed. Is that normal?

My knife was not sharp enough so in my ineptitude I ended up cutting the esophagus (or crop?) and spilling half eaten food.

Once I got to opening his abdominal cavity I immediately smelled rotten eggs so suspected I punctured intestine as well but they did look intact so I wasn’t sure. At this point I acknowledged I was in over my head. I contemplated continuing but my hand was too large for the cavity to begin with and I kept losing my nerve envisioning pulling out diseased insides.

Now I know I’ll need to intern or something before I try to process again. Holy cow what a learning curve. I’m quite demoralized about the whole endeavor. It will take a lot of work before I’m willing to try again for sure.

I applaud your willingness to make the attempt and your judgement in knowing when you were both a bit over your head and getting suspicious results.

I'm sure that you learned a good bit about chicken anatomy and how to approach things from this attempt, but if you can find a mentor it will be very useful.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and for future reference, this is what you are looking for (one of my runts I just culled, 4.96# live weight, 3.52# processed). "Small Barred" died for science - and my table.

Disrobed, organs still in place (though I've carefully cut around so that all the internals will come out at once, using the inner cavity wall as a guide) - you can see some subcutaneous fat at the keel, along the edge of the thigh, etc - plus a small amount around the organs. Good yellow color from diet. No large masses of fat or hard fatty clumps -

Yup, its a boy! (My main Breeders were starting to chase this guy around to keep him from the hens - he's still not fully mature, but definitely starting to get his hormones. Late development and small size are why he was selected for culling). Insides still need some scooping after a cold water flush.

Heart liver and gizzard, removed. Note the small line of fat on the heart and gizzard, this is what you want to see. A heart wrapped in fat is a slowly dying, overweight bird. Now look at the liver - its not huge, its got good color, and the color is completely uniform - no pale sections, extremely dark sections, or mottling. Also firm and glossy.

Ready to wet age in yellow curry powder, garlic, onion, salt, and a bit of yogurt.

Hope this helps!!!