When to process/ dispatch sex link roosters?

[BillysFlock]

I have 14 sexlink chickens 9 hens and 5 roosters(FREE) They are now 9 weeks old are they too young to cull? They look big enough but I am afraid they will be too small after I pluck them. I was going to wait a few more weeks to cull them, but fights are starting to erupt in the coop and run between the roosters some have to go or they will most likely cull themselves...

 

[SJ]

Your intuition is correct, they will cull themselves if you don't do something. It sounds like you have a overcrowding issue. Most sex linked breed's roos are ready to butcher around 16-20 weeks of age or when they weigh 5-7lbs live weight. If you got 7lbs sexlinks in 9 weeks I got to know what your doin!LOL If you give the boys enough room most "fights" are just chest bumping with the looser running off...if he has the room to get away that is. I raise dual purpose fowl and breed my own sex links 10 weeks is too young/small for my sex links to yield a respectable meat carcass.
If you can't give them more room it is time to cull the boys regardless of age/size.

 

[ChickenJerk]

The best time to "dispatch" egg type sex link cockerels is day old.

At no point do they have more value as a meat bird than what went into them.

As meat chickens free they certainly are not.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

I had 9 production red packing peanuts (free). They free ranged for 18-20 weeks and then I just skinned them and kept the breast fillets and the leg/thigh as one for grilling. They are still tender and basically cost me nothing since most of their food was foraged. I did a couple of the bigger ones at 18 weeks and then the skinnier ones at 20.

SJ has a point in that they need more space and to be away from the ladies if you want to keep them to the point they are big enough for a meal.

 

[Elke Beck]

Last year I did two red sexlink cockerels and a production RIR at about 16 weeks, and they were small but definitely worth it. As others have said, if you can pen them away from the girls they will calm down a bit. Without girls to impress it usually does not go beyond flaring and bumping chests whenever they catch each other's eyes.

 

[SJ]

The best time to "dispatch" egg type sex link cockerels is day old.

At no point do they have more value as a meat bird than what went into them.

As meat chickens free they certainly are not.

Truth is that we mainly exploit sex link genetics because it allows to discard the unwanted portion(Males) of a hatch at the time of hatch. As mentioned above almost all sex-link males are dispatched the day they hatch.

This is because the increase in laying ability due to hybrid vigor is the more profitable/easier venture. Or simply the sex-link pullet makes a commercially viable option as a layer hen while the cockerels make a poor option at best for the modern mass production model of commercial broilers. Under the overcrowded conditions of growing sheds that house billions of CornishX broilers in the US the sex-link males would likely kill each other before reaching market weight.

As stated by SD Lady Bird it is possible to get a decent meat animal from sex-link males. If your production model is such that the cost of production is lessened by foraging feed enough a profit can be made on sex-link cockerels.

There are several issues with the sex-link cockerel as a meat bird but the one I find to be the greatest is variability. There are just too many "Sex linked" crosses to generalize. Practically put any gold/red rooster over any silver hen and you got sex-links.
What does BillysFlock have? A production RIR roo over a white Leghorn hen? Likely, because most Sex-links are bred as layers not meaties. Which is why ChickenJerk is right to add "egg type" in his post.

My sex-links aren't bred to be "egg types" rather they are bred as "dual purpose". A WLR Cornish roo over: White Rock, Delawares, RIW, Silver Kraienkoppe, and SLW. They dont lay like a battery hen or grow like a cornish cross but both the males and females make a superb free ranging animal. Both egg and meat utility is what my production model calls for.

What type of chicken do your production goals call for?

Checkout this awesome thread for alot of useful info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information