Store Bought chicken Meat vs. Backyard Chicken Meat?

OldMcAndy

In the Brooder
7 Years
Apr 12, 2012
13
0
22
Inverness FL
Hello all!

Recently, my wife and I slaughtered our first chicken - a big ol' 2 year old rooster.

We stewed the chicken in the crocpot all day and the meat came out very dark and tough.

Was it the age of the rooster? Was it the way we cooked it? Why was the meat so dark?

Can you think of any other differences between farm raised and store-bought chicken meat?

Any help appreciated - we're noobies!!!

-Old McAndy
 
I have eaten quite a few roosters now, but none as old as 2. I've been told to let them "rest" for quite a while in the fridge, and even to soak in brine. When I butchered a buck I shot (so many years ago....) my husband let it hang in a cool dark shed for nearly 2 weeks, so the meat would start to break down and get tender. I'm not sure how long to let a stringy old rooster sit, but a week isn't very long. Makes me wonder how old store bought chickens are.....
 
Store bought chicken is butchered at not even two months old. There's a big difference between two months and two years!

I don't think there's a lot you can do to make a two year old bird tender... maybe a pressure cooker?


In general, the more they use the muscle, the darker the meat will be. That's why legs and thighs are dark and the breast meat is light. (Walking or running around vs. flying, which they don't do much of.) A two year old rooster has probably done a lot of walking and flapping.

Congrats on processing and eating your first bird! Maybe try a younger one next time :D

-Wendy
 
Store bought chicken is butchered at not even two months old. There's a big difference between two months and two years!

Oh yeah... true!

The last rooster I stewed, I soaked it in brine for 3 days, then stewed low and slow all day, until the meat fell off. If I recall, I may have stewed it one day, then put it back on the heat the next day, all day. Some old folks around here tell me stories of how they kept a kettle on the fire, stewing whatever got shot. The pot never cooled down and meat sat for days in the broth. Don't give up! Good luck!
 
This is all really great stuff, thanks guys. What a surprise it was for us to see this old rooster completely dark and not tender.

So we'll brine and stew it next time!
 
Two different breed at two seriously different ages. Store bought broilers are Cornish x Rocks and are 6 weeks old - that's right, 42 days old! Your back yard roo was not a CX and was 700+ days old. No comparison.

If you want to raise meat birds, don't look at a 2 year old roo as the baseline!
 
How old are they when its time to eat them?

I'm starting to understand why people buy those "meat chickens." There isn't much meat on our 3 month old chickens!
 
With Cornish Cross you can start harvesting 2.5 to 3 pound birds at 6 weeks. At 8 weeks we have birds ranging from 5 to 6.5 pounds dressed.

If you're going to raise roosters, you need from 16-18 weeks and a similar amount of feed to make a very tall, very leggy, all dark-meat rooster that dresses out at 3 pounds. But, oh that dark meat! Lots of folks pressure cook the roo then fry it. I like the suggestion to brine it. Certainly rest it in the fridge for at least a few days. A week wouldn't hurt. If one left a deer to hang for 2 weeks the venison would be amazing but you would probably have to scrape off a green layer to get to it. Not sure you want that with your rooster.
 
I am starting with turkeys this year and the hatchery websites you buy the turkey poults from say harvesting should happen by 24 weeks which would be 6 months. Personally I will be harvesting sooner than that because I want my turkeys to be only between 15 - 20 pounds when dressed out and the chart shows that at 24 weeks they will be between 40 and 50 pounds. Way to big for my oven lol.

It's up to you how long you want to go but I would process before 6 months.
 

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