When to slaughter?

We just did one at twelve weeks, he gave us about two pounds of meat...not much but he was becoming aggressive with my blind orpington, so he had to go. I've heard the longer you wait, the tougher they are. We haven't eaten him yet but I think he will be tasty enough in a soup.

 

I've started on the five RIR roos I have here. They are right around 12 weeks. I grilled some of the breast meat the other night and it was great. I probably could let them go a little longer but I don't want them to get tough.

 

We cull our standards at 16 to 24 weeks or whenever they won't shut up and
crow too much. I have processed a few 12 weekers but the extra time really
fattens them up. Plus, not that I'm a softie, the extra time they have to chase
hens and eat bugs makes it a little easier on me too.

 

Quote:We have roughly 32 roos waiting to be dinner they're 8 wks and begin practicing crowing starting around 430am. Being they are closest to DD's bedroom she's for sure they are already saying "cut my head off".
Nope she's not a chicken fan, so the ideal of cutting their heads off doesn't bother her in the least. I'm hoping she'll get fed up with them and be willing to do the deed. lol.

 

I have to cull some roosters as well. I've tried to give them away, to no avail. So...into the pot they shall go. My question is, how long do you wait for a bantam to be ready? The majority of the roos that have to go are bantam cochins. Any ideas/help, I appreciate it. This is the first year I will be doing this. I don't remember who said it in another post, but basically it was, why get rid of roo's then go buy chicken meat at the store? So...dh has seven days off starting tomorrow. Hopefully i will have something to report by the end of it!

Rachel

 

15+ weeks on roosters and then only if you get them on broiler feed ASAP. It makes a huge difference.

But still, they're gonna be skinny compared to what you're used to. The upside is that you can learn to make coq au vin. :0