When should I butcher my rooster?

[Chaerie]

I think he's 6 months old. Also best way to cook him? With my hens (not pictured) I'm planning on canning the flesh and also making stock and canning that. Is that a good way to cook him also or would be be good roasted? Thanks!!!

 

[rjohns39]

You can roast him, can him, make stock. Best if you use an old time roasting pan as they were design for roasting our kinds of chickens. Make sure you let him rest for 24-48 hours in the fridge before preparing. If you roast him, you can still make a stock from the left over carcass and his feet. Or you can de-bone him, can the meat with stock made from the bones.

Edited to add: Roast at 275-325 slow is your friend. Make sure you add some stock to the roaster.

 

[Maeschak]

Many many people will roast their 6 month old cockerels (at very low temps in a roasting pan w tight fitting lid) but my friends won't eat my 6 month old cockerels like that. The flavor is fantastic but the meat never gets soft enough for their liking. (They only want/like those mushy soft store birds). I like the older roasters just fine but since no one else will eat them roasted at that age, I just pressure can all of my birds after about 18 weeks... Debone after butchering (no need to rest if pressure canning), pressure can meat asap, and then make stock with the bones.
Since you have hens to can maybe give the roasting a try to see if you like it? As a tester?

 

[Chaerie]

I haven't had fresh farm chicken since I was a girl, and I thoroughly remember the time we couldn't even bite into the dang thing. So I'm thinking maybe I'll test out my pressure canner instead. I've never done meat but I've heard it's easier. And then I can just skin him instead of plucking. Plus that's what I'm gonna do with my girls so it'll be a good test run.

 

[Maeschak]

I started pressure canning meat about a year ago and am so happy I did. This is how I do chicken if you are pouring over pressure canning recipes/instructions:

(Note, I live near sea level and use a cheap weighted pressure canner/cooker from Walmart with zero bells or whistles)
-butcher and skin chickens (keep skin for schmaltz if you like it)
-cut meat off of chicken carcass (not as easy as you might think but just get it off the bone in any way it comes off)
-place chicken meat directly into clean pint jars as you take it off the carcass, don't worry about a bit of fat etc going in the jar too (I can only fit 14 oz of meat in each jar but some say they can fit 1 lb)
-add 1 tsp of salt and 2 TB of water/stock to each pint jar (many people say you don't need to add any water/stock but I do)
-leave about 1.25 inch head space (I often do 1.5 as well)
-Process according to your pressure cooker's instructions and for the time and weight your altitude requires. For me doing boneless chicken is 10lbs of pressure (weighted guage, not dial) for 75 minutes.

Once you get this down you will be looking for meat in the freezer to thaw out and start canning! It is so unbelievably convenient to have pre-cooked and ready to use meat that is already at room temperature around the house.

By the way, you may want to try putting white meat only in a few jars because the dark meat turns all of the meat in the jar dark. It tastes great either way, but if you are making a quick chicken salad the dark meat looks very unappetizing. Still tastes fantastic, but looks like dog food.

 

[varidgerunner]

Letting him age in the fridge for more like a week instead of just 48 hours will help him immensely.