Processing young cockerels

[popsicle]

I have a 10-week old EE cockerel that's already driving me nuts with his crowing. Would you say he's too young to process? I'd say he's still smaller than my small production laying hens. I haven't weighed him.

 

[my sunwolf]

At 12 weeks I usually get 1-2lb carcasses, after processing. By 16 weeks, it goes up to 2-3lbs. At 20 weeks, it's 3-4 lbs. This all depends on the breed, of course. I usually work with EE's, and they tend to be lighter than something like a Wyandotte. When I process before 16 weeks, I often skin and then do meat cuts. Or, you can have "personal sized" roasters. At 10 weeks, he may be very small but he will be very tender.

Edited to add: I just processed 4 EE cockerels today, and when I went to check the calendar turns out they were 10 weeks. I weighed them and got a range of 0.5-1lbs after gut removal, but these were a particularly skinny batch of birds. Of course, I ended up just skinning (MUCH easier and doesn't require a scald) and then making meat cuts of the breast, wings, thighs, and legs.

Good luck

 

[popsicle]

At 12 weeks I usually get 1-2lb carcasses, after processing. By 16 weeks, it goes up to 2-3lbs. At 20 weeks, it's 3-4 lbs. This all depends on the breed, of course. I usually work with EE's, and they tend to be lighter than something like a Wyandotte. When I process before 16 weeks, I often skin and then do meat cuts. Or, you can have "personal sized" roasters. At 10 weeks, he may be very small but he will be very tender.

Edited to add: I just processed 4 EE cockerels today, and when I went to check the calendar turns out they were 10 weeks. I weighed them and got a range of 0.5-1lbs after gut removal, but these were a particularly skinny batch of birds. Of course, I ended up just skinning (MUCH easier and doesn't require a scald) and then making meat cuts of the breast, wings, thighs, and legs.

Good luck

Thanks much! That's exactly what I was thinking I would do. I don't want to bother with scalding/plucking one small fella. A bit of meat is better than no meat.