What age should we butcher our cockerels?

[Young MacDonald]

I bought six Barred Rock "pullets" from an apparently dishonest woman. (I'm a novice). They were approximately 6 weeks old at the time. It looks like four of them were actually cockerels.

So we're going to eat them. My book on chickens talks about what age to eat meat birds, but it doesn't say when is the best age for dual purpose birds.

What is the best age to butcher them? They're about 9 weeks now. My husband says they're too small, but I worry that the meat will be too tough if we wait too long.

What's the ideal age?

Thanks in advance!

edited for spellling

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'd say between 16-20 weeks. Depends on how big they get by that age. I've done standard & mixed-breed roos even up to 24 weeks and they taste just fine. I keep mine confined to a tractor (I have a pen I made from our old trampoline) so they don't get a lot of exercise. Make sure to let them rest 1-3 days in the refrigerator before cooking, you could even brine them in salt water or buttermilk. And I cook my birds slowly with a lot of liquid, and they always turn out tasty.

Barred rock roos are delicious, I hope you enjoy yours!

 

[Young MacDonald]

Thanks for the information!

 

[Mel509Gorge]

Im just curious, do you believe the woman was dishonest because you ended up with Roosters? With all do respect, accurately sexing chickens is extremely difficult and even a PROFESSIONAL chicken sexer is only averaging a 75% accuracy rate. When ever you get chickens, it does not matter whether you bought them from a breeder, ordered them from an online company or buy them at a local petshop there is always a liklihood that you will get a rooster or two. We did a bulk order with a friend of 27 (sexed) chicks. We randomly split them up us taking 13, we ended up with about 3 or 4 cockerel each. Shortly after, my friend had to get rid of hers that were 4 weeks younger. She bought 5 (sexed) peeps from a local farm supply and ended up with 1 barred rock rooster. I currently have 17 chickens-> 3 potentially 4 cockerel in the bunch. They are 4 months old. From my understanding you want to snuff the rooster within the first year or they get really tough. Mine are rather large, 2/3 the size of the chickens that our friend kept of the bunch and there is a rooster out there that is really obnoxious with his crowing and I think he is going to go first. If 16-20 weeks is the way to go then they are probably about ready.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

You are correct, it is difficult to completely guarantee the accuracy of sexing chicks, even the big hatcheries with the highly-trained professional sexers guarantee only 90%. I think it's wise to always have a good Plan B for any unwanted roosters, no matter where you buy your chicks, and to wait before naming or getting emotionally attached to baby chicks until you're certain you'll be keeping them.

My kids have learned to say "well, IF that one is a hen we're going to keep, then we'll name her..."

We don't know what this seller told the OP 3 years ago during this transaction. Perhaps she was intentionally being dishonest, or maybe just overly confident in her ability to sex chicks. Now I think that I could begin to at least make a good guess about a Barred Rock's sex at 6 weeks, but if I were selling them at that age I would let my buyers know that it was still not certain.

Enjoy your home-grown chicken, no matter what their age they can be tender & tasty as long as you cook them slowly with lots of moisture.