We have several young Roos

[FaerieChicken]

Hi there, we have obtained several young roos, they are not necessarily meat birds. Here are thier breeds that I was told:
2- Old English Game
3- Ayam Cemani (culls due to coloring)
1- Barred Rock (but he has tuffed cheeks and is thin, not like a barred at all, also he has dark legs)

Well, we want to process them, they are all about 6 tp 8 months old. We have them all together in a 6x6x4tall kennel, as we had them roaming around the for free range but they started fighting with our other roos, and mounting our females and stressed them out, then they would roost in the trees at night.

How can we get more meat on them. The black ones, Ayam Cemani, are really small, and the Old English are nice sized but just not plump, then this "Barred Rock" is just slender and odd looking. Don't think we are going to get much meat off any of them, maybe should just process all of them at the same time and make enchiladas or something! I had been giving them lots of scratch and BOSS and leftover table scraps along with the Non-GMO starter (non-medicated) for extra vitamins and protien.

Any other thoughts of what else I might be able to give them and for how long?

thanks in advance

 

[Mutt Farm]

You might want to switch to turkey grower and wait a few more weeks.

 

[FaerieChicken]

Quote:
Interesting, ok I do have 2 turkeys, but I just got them and not feeding them the grower as they are already 6 months old and ready to be processed I think. I guess I will have to buy some grower feed for both perhaps as the turkeys have just been free ranging and also eating the layer and scratch, I also have some starter available for the younguns (pullets) that are transitioning!

 

[junebuggena]

They won't be 'plump' like meat birds, no matter how much you feed them. Gamebirds especially are lean, lanky birds.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Quote: Scratch is ok for but is very low protein. Turkey grower or game bird feed should get a little more "good" weight on them if you wanted to try it.

 

[FaerieChicken]

I realized that they wont get super big and that they might make it to 5 lbs if I am lucky, but I guess I imagined 5 lbs being bigger LOL! Im just hungry, oh and they are mean to the young pullets I have, they don't try to mate too much with the older ones as they like to tourment my 4 young pullets! I almost thought that those game birds were going to kill one of the pullets the way he was whipping her around by her neck feathers. Hence why they are now caged and no longer free ranging! That and fighting with my other roos, and amongst themselves!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is not a barred rock the way you describe him and the other two are not that large of breeds. They are just not bred to pack on weight. I imagine you know that your Cemani will have black meat. Some people will be turned off by that but to some people that is a delicacy. Thinking on the presentation of that black meat, enchiladas might be a good way to go.

Cockerels mature at different rates but they normally grow pretty fast until they are around five months old then the growth rate slows dramatically. They will continue to put on some weight, especially if you feed them a high protein diet, but they are pretty inefficient at converting expensive feed to meat. It’s going to be expensive for not much weight gain.

When you free range them where they get a lot of what they eat by foraging your costs are way down but what you feed them has a lot less effect since it is only a part of their diet. They are just not going to pack on the weight ranging as they will confined and fed well.

That kind of behavior is pretty common for adolescent cockerels as you probably know, but Games are especially known to be a risk for fighting. Some Games used to be bred for cockfighting so that fighting instinct was built into them. Not all Games come from cockfighting lines so not all have that instinct but some do.

Because they are past their growth spurt age I think you will be better off making the enchiladas now instead of later.

 

[FaerieChicken]

Quote:
Thank you for the info, I am aware of the Cemai having the black meat. I am not worried about it. I understand that they may not pack on the weight or beef up like a meat bird would, but I don't want a bunch of skin and bones either, lol. I have them all (6) in a 6Lx6Wx4H chain link enclosure. I feed them regularly a diet of the non-GMO starter (20% protien) Table Scraps (veggies-raw, meat, beans, rice-all cooked), non-GMO scratch and BOSS. My husband seems to think that if he catches some lizards that perhaps that will help. I was thinking meal worms, they are like 50% protien..... I know that the Game birds were used for fighting back in the day, but I didn't think that they would still be genetically predisposed. I have another Roo that has the same/similar feather colorings but has a huge rose(?) shaped comb and is super meaty feeling in his legs and back and he is just much bigger, not as lean looking as these 2. I figured he is not a barred rock, he has the feathering, but also, he was getting mounted by a roo, so I was wondering if he was a she, until I saw and heard him crow! also he has the long tail feathers, but not so much saddle feathers. I am not sure what he is. He has dark legs. I was thinking he was part Ameraucana perhaps, that got mixed up with a barred? Either way, I don't have enough hens to support the 3 roos we want to keep, so he has to go!

 

[donrae]

Just for reference, these are carcass pics of hatchery barred Rock/Easter egger mixes (mostly, there might have been some other breeds in there). I didn't weigh any of them. Each bird, pressure cooked and the meat pulled, yields about 3 cups of meat....about enough for a pan of enchiladas here

. They were raised on all-in-one, I think it's 19 or 20% protein. Not free ranged, raised in a decent sized grow out pen and got lots of exercise running away from the lead rooster

.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Meal worms are great. Expensive though.