Questions about 12 week polish cross cockrels

[Alliesan648]

I hatched these out on May 28 so they’re about 12 weeks. Every single one that I hatched is a roo.. sigh

Would they be worth it to process? They aren’t very big.
Are they going to be tough eating at this stage? Or are they young enough still?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sorry you have not gotten any answers to your post. I am not familiar with processing, but now your post will go back to the top. Hopefully someone knowlegdable will answer!

 

[AgnesGray]

They're worth it. 12 weeks is very young for a non-meatbird. I process heritage birds at around 16 weeks usually. They will be smaller, but I try to never waste a life/bird.

 

[3KillerBs]

People butcher quail, which are even smaller.

If nothing else, you can make some delicious chicken and dumplings or arroz con pollo.

 

[Alliesan648]

They're worth it. 12 weeks is very young for a non-meatbird. I process heritage birds at around 16 weeks usually. They will be smaller, but I try to never waste a life/bird.

They’re all crowing and just gererally being jerks, otherwise I’d wait.. but i figure it’s probably not worth the feed for a few couple extra pounds.

People butcher quail, which are even smaller.

If nothing else, you can make some delicious chicken and dumplings or arroz con pollo.

very good point about the quail haha
Well, I’ll be doing them tomorrow!

thanks all for the input

 

[Teneniel]

I do quail! The spent hens make very nice stock and dumplings, bony meat for dogs and cats, or stock plus shredded meat! If you’re trying to work through that many, you can always skin them to make it go faster.

 

[Finnie]

How did it go? Did they have much meat on them?