Weight to achieve before butchering?

[JediJinx]

Ok, I have CX pullets that are just over 7 weeks old. I want to process 3 of them soon, but wondered if there was a weight range they should be before processing. I weighed the largest one last night and she was 4.8 lbs - should I wait or is she about the right size for female CX??

I have been careful about not letting these overeat too much because of the heat and I didn't have very many (6) and didn't want any to die (one died). But their growth seems to have slowed (possibly because of the heat).

 

[Sabz]

It depends on the weight you want after butchering. Or the chicken size if I'd say.

I can't find my other post, but I calculated the weight before and after processing and if I am correct, you must remove 20% to get the final weight.

So you'd get about 3.8 pounds of meat for your chickens at that weight.

Oh I found my post!


Here are the weights before and after processing (in pounds and oz).

8.10 -> 6.40

7.12 -> 5.90

7.32 -> 4.12

7.13 -> 5.10

8.17 -> 5.81

7.14 -> 5.11

8.26 -> 5.13



Sunday:

9.50 -> 6.17

8.10 -> 6.35

7.87 -> 5.75 (the only female)



And two ducks (which I didn't consider in the chicken average weight calculations):

8.70 -> 3.10

N-A -> 3.15

I found the duck weight difference very big!! Is it because of all the thick feathers? I don't know.



Anyhow, so the chicken weight was 7.87 in average, for a "cleaned" average weight of 5.58.

There was an average of 2.29 pounds lost in the processing, which is around 30% of weight.

 

[JediJinx]

Wow your weights are impressive. What age were they? Also were they all males or some females? I deliberately wanted to keep the growth a tad slower so I didn't have broken legs etc. and I wanted to keep some back to breed. I have been feeding a 22% meat bird starter rather than the recommended 20% not sure what difference it really makes.

There are two birds (of 5) that look pretty close to the 4.8 lbs. I am keeping two of the smaller for breeders. My biggest fear is that the big ones will die before I get a chance to process them and be turned before I get home and find them dead.

It has been a million years since I bought a whole chicken at the store... what is the normal weight? I know, clueless...

 

[Sabz]

Hum, that was last year. They were...3 month old I think. All males except one that was not sexed properly.

I had only one leg problem. It was some kind of injury thought, it was blue, inflamed, warm.. like he had bumped his leg on something.

This year it's really hot so I will process way before those weights. For the final weight, someone that looked very experienced (raising 75 chickens at a time.. gee) he said that people usually prefer 4 pounds chickens as it is one meal only, no leftovers. But if you keep the chicken for yourself, I guess its your decision

My thinking is that the processing takes the same time regardless of the weight (well, maybe even more when the bird is small because it's harder to put your hand in it to clean it). So since I'm processing anyway, I like to get more meat for my time I'm trying to be self-sufficient, so because of those two reasons, I try to get the biggest bird possible. But they free range a lot when I'm at home so I guess they are usually in good shape so they can get to those weights without problems.

As for taste, I don't think that between 8, 12 or 15 weeks there is a big difference!

 

[JediJinx]

I plan to process one CX on Monday along with one of my heritage birds for comparison. I''ll let you know what the results are!