What age do you slaughter?

[Southern Chickens]

What age do you slaughter? I have heavy breeds, do I just go untill I like the size or when they atart crowing? They are 5 weeks old. I have Jersey Giants, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, any a few other breeds. Do I wait longer on the giants cause they get bigger?

 

[Southern Chickens]

I was raised on a farm so we ate all the animal that we raised. I don't see why the food animals can't be loved too. You do have to have a tough skin, but I have one. They can taste good and be spoiled in their lives.

 

[wynedot55]

i for 1 am a meat eater.an i have no problem eating what i raise.i mean you get meat an eggs out of the store.an they all started out on a farm somewhere.im not ranting.but people need to realize where there food comes from.

 

[Parront]

6 to 8 weeks...?

Really?

I know this is old but I was reading this and...wow. Maybe some of that is the 'medicated feed' (steroids).

To answer your question, YES, 6 weeks = 42 days, to slaughter for the bird in the store. 10 weeks is very old for a Cornish-X meat bird. No steroids or anything except how they are bred.

 

[Llysse]

I just have to say that I love this board for threads like this. We all love chickens; we all recognize that they have individual, wonderful personalities and we all want to spoil them. None of us who have posted here so far appear to be vegetarians (although I certainly respect that choice), and although some of us confess we couldn't bring ourselves to raise for meat, there's no judgment on those who do... only support because we also recognize what a wonderful life their chickens are having in comparison to those suffering in commercial operations.

How nice it is to know all of you.

 

[cfgroen]

i for 1 am a meat eater.an i have no problem eating what i raise.i mean you get meat an eggs out of the store.an they all started out on a farm somewhere.im not ranting.but people need to realize where there food comes from.

I agree completely! I shutter every time I think of all the people that will tell me (online, I haven't ran into one since I left Colorado) just how mean I am for hunting or raising my own animals to butcher and eat and why didn't I just go and buy my meat at the store, where it's made!
I swear, those people are out there! They haven't a clue as to where their food comes from! Here in Iowa, thankfully, most people understand where their food comes from. They believe in know your farmer, know your food. No farmer, no food!

 

[Welllaidacres]

To answer your question, YES, 6 weeks = 42 days, to slaughter for the bird in the store. 10 weeks is very old for a Cornish-X meat bird. No steroids or anything except how they are bred.

To add to this, there are 0 approved hormones or steroids approved for use in poultry production. When you see a hormone/steroid free label at the grocery store it’s a crock of .... they’re all hormone and steroid free.

 

[alcmaeon]

I had a friend tell me that she understood how I could go out and catch a salmon, kill it and eat it but the thought of raising a chicken or rabbit to butchering weight, killing and eating them disturbed her greatly. This from an educated, meat eating (and for that matter she loves to cook and is great at it) basically average American.

This I don't get, how one can dissociate oneself from your food supply to the point that the though of not buying it from Safeway is disturbing.

 

[potatoesgonnapotate]

I know this is an old post but I've seen the question a lot. I butchered Cornish crosses at 7 weeks, and I think my next batch in line (currently about 3 weeks old) I'll try to hold off until 8 weeks to get some bigger carcasses. Once two of them began having the heart/liver issues I butchered them all to prevent any suffering or premature deaths. I also have a batch of red rangers, barred rocks, and sagittas that I just picked up yesterday, and I plan to butcher them somewhere around 12 weeks or so. If they need more time I'll let them go a bit longer, seeing as the barred rocks and sagittas are dual purpose and will take a while to be full size.

 

[nao57]

I think Jersey Giants don't actually make very good meat birds (that is, raised strictly for meat, to be slaughtered at a young age) because they take so long to develop to size. If you want to raise birds strictly for meat, you'd be better off going with Cornish or Cornish Rock crosses. Those I believe are slaughtered commercially at around 6 or 8 weeks old.

Orpingtons, Barred Rocks and so forth are considered dual purpose birds because they lay well, and after their "useful" life as layers, they are large enough to still have good table qualities, whereas birds like Leghorns that are strictly layers don't really have any meat to them at all (although they may be good for soup).

6 to 8 weeks...?

Really?

I know this is old but I was reading this and...wow. Maybe some of that is the 'medicated feed' (steroids).