Should we butcher our rooster?

[Svyetii]

Hi everyone!

We just found out we have a rooster and we can’t keep him since we live in the city. He is a beautiful 13 week old cuckoo Maran. We are brand new to chickens in general, and are not huge meat eaters, but we do enjoy chicken from time to time. Given the breed, should we try to fatten him up and butcher him, or would the quality of the meat not be worth the effort of butchering? (I also know nothing about the process, so that will be my next area of research).

Thanks!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I don't give my for sale boys away.

Sometimes I sell a random male for $5 to someone who wants a male for whatever reason.

The desirable breed/color males go for the same price as the pullets and my proven flockmaster went for $20.

I only ever sold a male once they tried chewing me down because they said they where gonna eat him my price was $20 for a splash wyandotte cockerel....they paid $20 as i was not lowering my price as if i was suppose to lower it knowing they where gonna eat it anyways, now i process extra males. I did give one male away last year as he was to nice to eat but those owners said he was getting a bunch of sex link ladies so if they ate him thats on them they did offer to pay for him but i said nah I cant forsee buying a male when theres so many free on cl. So i seldomly give away or sell males as most dont wanna pay for males and I cant see giving away free meat.

 

[Sussex19]

All our chicken that we eat comes from dual purpose breeds, if you keep them until around 18 weeks there's plenty of meat on them, but even now there should be enough to make it worthwhile.
People say that it can be tough, but that has not been my experience.

 

[Molpet]

Different ages are cooked differently.

Make sure to rest in refrigerator or on ice a couple days

 

[3KillerBs]

Nothing you do will result in meat like a Cornish X from the grocery store. Dual-purpose birds just don't have the genetics for it.

I *personally* give all my boys a chance on Craigslist, especially males of desirable breeds/colors who might be worth more than a good pot of chicken and dumplings. But if they don't sell, even the skinny ones are tasty when done up in the crockpot for soup, etc.

 

[3KillerBs]

I only ever sold a male once they tried chewing me down because they said they where gonna eat him my price was $20 for a splash wyandotte cockerel....they paid $20 as i was not lowering my price as if i was suppose to lower it knowing they where gonna eat it anyways, now i process extra males. I did give one male away last year as he was to nice to eat but those owners said he was getting a bunch of sex link ladies so if they ate him thats on them they did offer to pay for him but i said nah I cant forsee buying a male when theres so many free on cl. So i seldomly give away or sell males as most dont wanna pay for males and I cant see giving away free meat.

I understand.

I figure that if someone *really* wants to pay my "desirable breed" or even "proven flockmaster" price for a chicken dinner that's not my problem.

But once I set my price I don't negotiate.

 

[CedarLane]

Our family is definitely attached to the roo. I think Id probably have to do it in secret and then not tell them that we ate him until years later, lol. But if the process is reasonable, I may consider it. If I can find him a happy home with a good flock of ladies to live out his years with though, I may sell him.

Brings back memories from my childhood and the first time my dad raised chickens to butcher. The first mistake he made was in only buying 4 (Guess he wanted to see how it would go before he got more. He was raised on a farm so I'm surprised he was so cautious about it.) We children made the next mistake by giving each of them names. I won't describe how badly butchering day went but all 4 did make it to the freezer. For a long time after that every time we had chicken for supper, my brother and I would wonder, "Is this ----- or is it -----?", etc. It wasn't until years later that my mom told me that we never ate those 4 chickens until looooooong after my brother and I stopped asking, "Is this -----" She couldn't bear to serve it while were were still wondering. The next year Dad bought 25 chickens...and took them to a poultry processor to butcher. With 25 they never got names and we never got attached.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Hi everyone!

We just found out we have a rooster and we can’t keep him since we live in the city. He is a beautiful 13 week old cuckoo Maran. We are brand new to chickens in general, and are not huge meat eaters, but we do enjoy chicken from time to time. Given the breed, should we try to fatten him up and butcher him, or would the quality of the meat not be worth the effort of butchering? (I also know nothing about the process, so that will be my next area of research).

Thanks!

If you feel comfortable butchering him I’d fatten him up and butcher him, like @Sussex19 dual purpose will be just fine to eat, or you could put him on Craigslist, the only down side is it could take weeks to sell him.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I would just process it if you list him on cl someone else will take him to eat. Thats why Id rather feed my family with them as the cost to feed males for about 18 weeks is pretty pricey these days for me to just give it away

 

[3KillerBs]

I would just process it if you list him on cl someone else will take him to eat. Thats why Id rather feed my family with them as the cost to feed males for about 18 weeks is pretty pricey these days for me to just give it away

I don't give my for sale boys away.

Sometimes I sell a random male for $5 to someone who wants a male for whatever reason.

The desirable breed/color males go for the same price as the pullets and my proven flockmaster went for $20.