When to butcher a Buuf Orpington

[redhotlama]

We have a Buff Rooster that we got as a chick in early March. He now crows all the time. We want to get rid of him/eat him before we piss off all the neighbors. Is it too soon?

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Well it depends if you want more meat or if you want to tick off your neighbors. I would wait until his at least 5 months old but if the neighbors start complaining better kill him then.

 

[redhotlama]

My big worry is that we are going on vacation next week ,so the coop will be open all night whcih means he will be crowing early. With the coop closed up he crows around 7. With it open, its like 6.

 

[Life is Good!]

Any chance one of your neighbors would be willing to come lock him up at night/open it up in the am again - so they get more sleep?

If he doesn't start until 6am, be glad! Our 1+ yr old rooster started 15min before sunrise (4:30am!) - THAT's why we insulated the coop - sound barrier as well as weather barrier! Our Freedom Ranger flock we got on Good Friday starts early as well, but they're not so loud yet (think trombone with a mute in!), so it's going to be cute when it's not 17 of 'em. 2 are in Camp Frigadaire...17 more to join 'em and 8 pullets who don't say peep!

Good luck! I too would wait until the BO was older, he's not likely to have much meat on him at this point. But people before pets....your choice.

 

[LilyD]

Personally the earliest I would process a BO roo would be 20 weeks. It wouldn't have as much breast meat but would be very tasty. That's about 5 months. I have gone as long as 8 or 9 months with really small birds but that makes the dark meat a little tougher than a younger bird.

My rule of thumb here is if they are mean they go early, if they are irritating the neighbors they go early. Just a thought though, the neighbors might not even be hearing them crowing in the morning during the day. I had a neighbor ask me if I had "done in my roosters" cause he hadn't heard them crow in a while. The funny thing was I had 9 roosters at that time instead of my normal 3 rooster lol and they were crowing all day long he just couldn't hear them from his house. I can't really hear them well from inside my house either and they are within 50 feet of my back door.