When to process?

[SegiDream]

So I finally accepted that we wound up with 2 cornish cross chickens, not leghorns even though they were sold to me as leghorns. There's one hen and one roo. The hen is a sweetie and my daughter is upset at the thought of processing her because I told her we would be keeping the hens for eggs until they were unproductive *sigh*. The roo is a meanie and he was going to be processed anyways but the timeline for that has now moved up.

I've noticed over the past couple days that the roo sits 90% of the time, but he can still walk and hop up just seems to prefer to sit and every now and then he gets motivated by something but immediately sits after moving. Then hen is mobile but I can tell she waddles, is not as fast as the other chickens, sits more often, and her legs are slightly splayed. I've had them for 7 weeks, they were maybe 2-3 days old when I got them. Should I process him now, or wait a couple days or a week to gain weight?

About the hen. I was going to wait a little longer for her (a week or two?) while I work with my daughter on accepting the fact that it's probably more humane to give her an easier death now than later given the fact that she already shows some issues...

 

[AltonaAcres]

He looks more than ready to process. I'm sorry about this sad situation! I can only imagine your daughter is upset........The hen is probably also ready to process if she's the same age as the roo. Cornish X are such sweeties! i feel so bad for you

 

[SegiDream]

He looks more than ready to process. I'm sorry about this sad situation! I can only imagine your daughter is upset........The hen is probably also ready to process if she's the same age as the roo. Cornish X are such sweeties! i feel so bad for you

Thank you. The roo will be our first to process. I think we'll do him and decide from there about the hen. It's gonna be hard but hopefully it will become a bit easier with time and experience. We raise rats for feeders (for daughters pet snake, was also hard to start but she helps with that now) so I think she just needs a little time to let it sink in. I broke the news to her yesterday, let her spend all day outside yesterday watching the chickens and pampering them with wild strawberries. At the end of the day she said she saw what I was talking about in regards to their health and behavior. She has her own spoiled rotten "pet" pullet a columbian wyandotte, I've told her since the beginning that's her hen she'll never be processed but not to get attached to any of the others.

So I think the appropriate steps are... feed them tonight cause that's how I get them back in the coop. Let their feed run out tomorrow and process the roo on Friday? They'll probably eat a little grass/bugs in the run during the day tomorrow is that going to be ok? I don't want to separate him and stress him out the day before...

 

[Chicken_girl17]

Yep I have to say that they are definitely ready for processing we had a turkey that we didn’t realize was a broad breasted we all got really connected with him and then he started getting too heavy to be able to stand we thought he was depressed before we realized our mistake and he was a meat bird

 

[Molpet]

Processing empty is cleaner. but after keeping heritage cockerels locked up all day and things kept coming up and I starved them for no good reason.... I have started just grabbing and butchering. I am a little more careful but if I oops I just wash fecal matter off.
The crop contents I don't worry about as much.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The sooner the better. The longer you have CornishX, the more you get attached. Plus the fact that they are fully grown.
Make sure to rest the meat a few days before cooking or freezing.

 

[SegiDream]

Well another reason for waiting is there's not much room in the freezer or fridge for both birds. We'll try to make it a short waiting period between the two. Thank you for the tip on resting the meat. We were going to blanch them (not sure if that is the right term) to remove feathers but we don't have a large stock pot yet. So we'll skin them. I've watched several videos about it before now. Me and hubby will watch them again and first one will be tomorrow instead of Friday. We have a post for tying, string, bucket, table, cooler for ice water, very sharp blade..

 

[AltonaAcres]

And if you are too sad to eat them yourself, they make a great meal/treat for dogs. Except the bones. Those are great for broth however.

 

[Katie386]

I almost bought some Cornish crosses because I wanted to “save a life” but I was told that they were made to be killed young and would suffer if I kept them alive. i was unhappy with that knowledge.

 

[Katie386]

You can always donate the meat to the homeless and “save a life”