Rooster Culling and Broiler Size

[Perry17]

Hey everyone, I have a few different questions that hopefully y'all can help me out with. I have never butchered my own chickens to eat. I hunt and have put down wounded or sick chickens, so I think I will be okay about the killing part (I made myself not get attatched to these).

I bought 6 Cornish rocks from TSC, they are all alive and doing great at 4 weeks old. I only feed them in the mornings, rather than letting them have feed free choice like my other chicks. So they are always hungry in the mornings.

I have been told by family members that "Cornish Crosses are those tiny chickens, only 2 lbs each, they are great but only enough for one person to eat". Though I have only ever seen large heavy weight broilers, and I was pretty sure that's what my Cornish rocks would be? I thought maybe the family member was thinking about Cornish hens? How big are Cornish Rocks at butcher time around 9 weeks?

Another question was about culling roosters? I have two Wyandotte Cross roosters that I hatched out about 6 months ago. They are driving me crazy roosting in my eggs boxes and picking on my hens. I thought about butchering them, so atleast I would have practice for when my broilers get old enough. My main problem with that is, I saw A roundworm in their poop a few weeks ago. And that kind of grosses me out to even think of eating roosters with parasites. Does it change the meat? Just feed them to the dogs? What would y'all do? I know if I work them, I would have to wait until the wormer is out of their system before I butcher, and I don't really want to keep them that long.

-on another note, how do you worm your entire flock? I have never had a problem, but I have started to get dirty eggs, and now that I saw a worm I think it is time for a good worming-

Thank you!!

 

[duluthralphie]

Worming time...wait to process.

 

[Perry17]

When mine get wormy, I have used apple cider vinegar in their water, and DE in their feed for about a week straight. That has always worked for me, and clears up the poopy eggs.

But the more I look into it, the more I hear that DE doesn't even work? I know it's probably a huge discussion with reasons on both sides, but do any of you use it? Or do you feel DE doesn't do anything, and I need to use an actual wormer? I'll research it more, but at least from my Goat experience, I have found that google and the dose on the bottle isn't always right. Would rather know for sure from someone who has tried it.

 

[Perry17]

And to make it less confusing since I had so much in the first post, I don't think the chicks are wormy. They are kept separate in a brooder/grow out cage off the ground, so I'm not worried about eating them.

My adult flock are the wormy ones that I'm not so sure about.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m not going to get into the DE argument other than to mention that how industry uses it and handles it is different than how most people on here that use it use it and handle it. Do as you will with DE.

A Cornish Game hen is a Cornish Rock butchered about 4 weeks of age. A Cornish Rock butchered later, often around 8 weeks, is the broiler you buy at the store. Same chicken just different butcher size.

There is a YUK! factor for sure but roundworms do not change the meat. You can safely eat those cockerels without worming them. With cockerels they will stay in the digestive track. Pullets and hens have different internal plumbing because they lay eggs. It’s possible in the females for a roundworm to crawl up into the egg-laying part of the plumbing but males are built differently so that cannot happen.

 

[Hawgfan]

Any chicken you see for sale in the grocery store is almost certainly the same bird, only processed at different ages. Your's are probably "Cornish game hen" size, at four weeks. Butcher them at whatever age they best suit your need. You could also do a few at different ages for frying, grilling, or roasting. Unless you are wanting very large roasters, 8-9 weeks is probably when you'll need to be prepared to butcher them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Use a dewormer not vinegar or DE. Find the withdrawal time for meat and eggs with the product you use. With all pest treatments you reapply to kill the emerging eggs that survived first treatment 7-10 days later.

 

[rebrascora]

I am going to perhaps be a little controversial and say that a low level of internal parasites is normal in any animal that lives outside. The fact that you saw one in a bird's poop does not mean that you have an infestation. When they die, they will usually come out in the poop. Birds can and do tolerate a low level worm burden and it may be less healthy dosing them with wormers often enough to keep them worm free, than allowing them to tolerate a low level. Their bodies should naturally build up a resistance to worms but as with everything there is a balance and sometimes things get out of kilter and chemicals are needed to put things back on an even keel.
As others have said a worm in your cockerel's poop does not mean you cannot butcher him for meat or that it will affect the quality of the meat..... have you checked the poops of all the animals you have hunted and eaten??? .... of course not! Do you examine the contents of their intestines each time you gut them to look for parasites before you eat their meat.... probably not.
I understand the yuck factor but this is all part of raising our own food and being exposed to the things that are not as pleasant as out supermarket packed food lets us believe..... fruit and vegetables grown in the garden get caterpillars and slugs and grubs etc in them and don't grow to the perfect shape and size..... this is normal..... the perfect fruit and veg we see in stores is not actually natural.

I would go ahead with butchering your Wyandotte crosses before you worm the flock and once you have eviscerated them and packed them, go back and check the contents of the digestive tract for parasites..... this may give you a better indication of whether you need to worm your flock than seeing a single worm in a poop. I routinely examine the digestive tract contents for worms, of any birds that die unexpectedly or I cull due to sickness or for butchering.
If doing such an examination offends you, you can have a vet run a faecal float test to check for worm eggs, if you are concerned that your birds have an infestation of roundworms, or some private labs provide the service mail order, for a small fee....about £10 here in the UK. They will usually advise what is a level at which you need to use medication to treat them.

Regards

Barbara

PS. Don't be too disappointed with how scrawny your cockerels are when you get them plucked. There is a reason why Cornish X are commercially raised for meat. Your surplus Wyandottes will look emaciated by comparison and they will taste different, so be prepared for that. It doesn't mean they are any less healthy.

 

[rebrascora]

PPS. I'm no expert on raising meat birds but I would think it might be best to feed them twice a day rather than just in the morning, otherwise they will be going to bed with an almost empty crop, which is the time that it should be full. Placing the food and water stations at opposite ends of their run is a good idea to encourage them to move about more frequently.

 

[duluthralphie]

Actually once a day is best, free range them, otherwise they will over eat. When I raise CX's I only feed 15-20 minutes every morning after about 2 weeks of age.