To grow cornish hens what age do I butcher and when can I give them grower?

[stonneeeee]

I have Cornish cross, 25 to 30 at a time, I usually let them eat starter for 100 lbs of feed, then switch to a meat bird type food.
Weighed one today at 7 weeks old today, 9 1/2 lbs
Butchering this week as soon as I run out of meat bird feed, Friday
Chicken plucker is ready to go

 

[stonneeeee]

Butchered 8 cornish cross today, 51 days old, average weight was 6 lbs cleaned. In the freezer

 

[Molpet]

Butchered 8 cornish cross today, 51 days old, average weight was 6 lbs cleaned. In the freezer

You didn't rest until rigor mortis passed,? You can do that after they thaw also.

 

[affacat]

You can butcher them at any age.

If this is your first time, I would suggest you butcher them at several different ages, and see what you prefer. For example, you might start at 8 weeks and do one every week or every other week. People have widely different opinions about the "best" age, and they all have good reasons for those opinions, so it really comes down to what YOU like.

Does breed affect this? We have white Cornish meat birds bought as chicks, and were told to butcher them at 7-9 weeks. Is this still just preference? Or something specific to these chickens that clearly are breed to grow fast? I was planning on doing roasters tomorrow but a chart early on in this thread suggests a significant wait I was completely unaware of

 

[affacat]

You didn't rest until rigor mortis passed,? You can do that after they thaw also.

Uh oh?

 

[Molpet]

Does breed affect this? We have white Cornish meat birds bought as chicks, and were told to butcher them at 7-9 weeks. Is this still just preference? Or something specific to these chickens that clearly are breed to grow fast? I was planning on doing roasters tomorrow but a chart early on in this thread suggests a significant wait I was completely unaware of

Yes CX are harvested 6 to 10 weeks depending on how big a bird you want to cook.

Chart earlier was for heritage chickens

Rigor mortis passes in a day or two in refrigerator or cooler. Otherwise most people think they are tough

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is this still just preference? Or something specific to these chickens that clearly are breed to grow fast?

There is something specific to the Cornish X meat birds bred to grow fast. They put on weight so fast their internal organs can have problems keeping up, mainly the heart but they can have other issues. Also, their skeleton and joints have trouble keeping up with that weight gain so they can break down, especially legs. Many people restrict feed after 3 weeks or so to help them get to Molpet's target range without suffering too many losses.

As with anything there are exceptions. Some people can go longer than 8 weeks, but that usually involves more restricting feed and often getting them to exercise by training them to forage on pasture. That exercise might make the meat a bit tougher but they can get bigger. And the Cornish X often don't handle heat or high altitude that well. It's not just preference, there are specific challenges. But they do produce a lot of meat.

 

[affacat]

Slaughtered and butchered 12 specially bred meat Cornish at 8 weeks this past week. They were huge. Ridiculous, kinda sad. One was clearly breathing heavy when I carried her, but generally all seemed fine given their weight.

I found them quite.... dirty, for lack of a better word (belly has few feathers and they sat in their own poop a lot despite having a run). I ended up wasting some meat and butchered them for cuts (legs, breasts, tenders) instead of roasters because the thought of eating their skin (usually my favorite part) put me off.

Iirc, my wife weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 40 lbs of cuts from the 12 as she froze them. I Felt bad wasting some meat, but overall that's still a lot of meat. Can't say it was a fun day, tho.

Not sure I'd go with meat breeds again.

 

[raingarden]

I've been wondering. if you grow CX at home, do they have the same bland taste of the store-bought chickens?

 

[CNJ]

I found them quite.... dirty, for lack of a better word (belly has few feathers and they sat in their own poop a lot despite having a run).

The ones I raised in a wire floor pen were cleaner than the ones I raised on the ground. The only problem with the wire floor pen is they need to be processed at 8 weeks or when they reach a certain weight because the underside of their shanks will start to show abrasion.