when are my Duel purpose roos old enough to process

[Pepper Landis]

I'm new to raising chicks. I bought 3 different breeds from an online hatchery. Delaware, Silverlaced Wyndott & Jersey Giant Blacks. They are about 5mos. now. I have as many Roster as Hens 12 of each. I know its too early for the giants because I read that they have to be atleast 9 months before butching them. But what about the Delaware & Wyndott?? There is too many rosters for the enought of hen and they won't leave them alone. Need to do something fast before they kill the hens. I have them freeranged on a half acre fenced in lot, so I think they have enough room to run. I was also wondering if I'm feeding them enough. For 24 chicks I use 50 lbs for feed a week.

Thanks Pepper

 

[onedozenphyllises]

You can technically process them anytime. It depends on how big you want them! As they get older, they will get firmer in texture (and eventually tougher) and develop more flavor. We just processed a bunch of roos that were about 14 weeks old - some Barred Rocks, a Wyandotte, a couple of Australorps and a Dark Cornish. For reference, they all dressed out between 2 and 3 pounds, with the average being about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds. At five months, they'd be more of a "roasting" size.

As for feed, it depends on how much forage they get, I think. We feed a bit less than that, but we have a mix of bigger and smaller ones, and tons of forage. Are they eating it all? Do they look healthy?