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Offline Jerrymac

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How old to eat
« on: July 03, 2008, 10:14:03 pm »
How old do the chickens need to be before making a meal out of them? I think I have too many roosters. 7 males to 6 females.

But I got 25 females on order (some are different breeds) 90% accuracy. But they will be little chicks and take a few months to catch up.
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Offline doak

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2008, 10:48:43 pm »
Depends on the breed.
For heavy breeds,' B, Rocks, R,  Red's, 2 &1/2 to 3lbs. for fryers.
If you have light weight layers like White leghorns, Cook these down and strip down to use in stew or the like. Light weight and game type, "bantams and fighting breeds" are not the best eating as for frying.
If you plan to keep hens for laying, the second year is when you get your bonus. You raise a new batch and after your old ones molt and start back to laying, then you can cull the old ones. These are your  (bakers and roasters).
Some may say, why butcher a layer? you want tenderness. You will not get this in a molting hen.
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2008, 11:03:48 pm »
If you plan to keep hens for laying, the second year is when you get your bonus. You raise a new batch and after your old ones molt and start back to laying, then you can cull the old ones. These are your  (bakers and roasters).

I haven't a clue what you mean here. Can you elaborate?
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2008, 11:06:40 pm »
Depends on the breed.
For heavy breeds,' B, Rocks, R,  Red's, 2 &1/2 to 3lbs. for fryers.

Right now I have Rhode Island reds. About nine - ten weeks old. How do you weigh a chicken?
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Offline doak

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2008, 11:13:40 pm »
If they did well you have 2 to 3 lb. birds now.
After some experience lifting things of different weight you can get close.
You can use a hanging scale, just tie the legs together with twine and hang, there is the trick to keeping them calm, but it can be done.
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Offline poka-bee

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2008, 11:35:05 pm »
  Reds are a med breed so can be used for both eggs & meat.  I don't butcher mine, I give the roosters away but if you don't want em, they should be OK to do now, or 1 @ a time whenever you want fried or roasted chix, the later ones will just be a little bigger is all.  Mine are huge now, 14 weeks.  I'm amazed @ how big the Danish Brown Leghorns are compared to my  white leghorn!  When could you tell you had roosters?  None of mine are making that sickly attempt @ crowing & no leg spur buds growing..what luck if I got all hens! :-D    Make sure you post pics of your new little chicks!  Jody
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2008, 12:12:45 am »
All the boys have a nice red comb on top and on each side (below what would be human cheeks.) And the girls have small not quite red... sort of light orangey red...  top comb and nothing on each side.

I will try to remember to get my daughters camera tomorrow and take a few pics of these and then when the others get here.... about the 24th - 25th I'll try to get pictures.
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Offline SgtMaj

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2008, 07:56:55 am »
Right now I have Rhode Island reds. About nine - ten weeks old. How do you weigh a chicken?

Do this at dusk...
pick them up and turn them over, then grab them by the feet and weight them upside down on a hanging fish scale.  If it's nearly dark or dark out, they won't put up a fuss at all.  If you're going to slaughter them for eating you'll want to get familiar with that technique, as to slaughter them you'll repeat that, only tie their feet hanging upside down from a tree of post or something, then slit their artery and let them bleed out overnight to get rid of most of the blood.  Then you can finish processing them.  Oh, and do this in the fall when the nighttime temps are kinda a bit nippy.

Offline randydrivesabus

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2008, 08:13:36 am »
to weigh chickens pick them up and stand on a bathroom scale and then check your weight without holding the chicken. do the math.

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2008, 09:11:42 am »
to weigh chickens pick them up and stand on a bathroom scale and then check your weight without holding the chicken. do the math.

I have thought of that but..... I ain't never seen no bathroom scale that was accurate. I step on, step off, step on, step off, step on, step off and I have three different weights. That would be the weight of a chicken. I would come up with a bird that weighed anywhere from nothing up to six or more pounds.  :shock: 
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2008, 09:13:12 am »
I think this got over looked so I brought it down.

If you plan to keep hens for laying, the second year is when you get your bonus. You raise a new batch and after your old ones molt and start back to laying, then you can cull the old ones. These are your  (bakers and roasters).

I haven't a clue what you mean here. Can you elaborate?
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Offline randydrivesabus

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2008, 01:21:45 pm »
i think he's saying that you eat the layers in the second year. i would eat the roosters way before that when they reach fryer weight unless you caponize them when they are chicks. once they start crowing their meat gets pretty tough. crowing=time to get the ax.

Offline SgtMaj

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #12 on: July 04, 2008, 01:45:59 pm »
I have thought of that but..... I ain't never seen no bathroom scale that was accurate. I step on, step off, step on, step off, step on, step off and I have three different weights. That would be the weight of a chicken. I would come up with a bird that weighed anywhere from nothing up to six or more pounds.  :shock: 

So pretty much, only one time that you weighed yourself it was incorrect?

Think about it... the scale starts at 0, so that's the first weight... then you step on for the first time and that's the second weight... then you step off and that's the same as the first weight, so it doesn't count... then you step on for the second time and that's the third weight... then you step off and it's the same as the first weight again, so it doesn't count... then you step on again, but you've already had three weights, so this time it has to equal one of the other two times you weighed yourself.   :-D

Offline JP

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2008, 01:58:29 pm »
I have thought of that but..... I ain't never seen no bathroom scale that was accurate. I step on, step off, step on, step off, step on, step off and I have three different weights. That would be the weight of a chicken. I would come up with a bird that weighed anywhere from nothing up to six or more pounds.  :shock: 

So pretty much, only one time that you weighed yourself it was incorrect?

Think about it... the scale starts at 0, so that's the first weight... then you step on for the first time and that's the second weight... then you step off and that's the same as the first weight, so it doesn't count... then you step on for the second time and that's the third weight... then you step off and it's the same as the first weight again, so it doesn't count... then you step on again, but you've already had three weights, so this time it has to equal one of the other two times you weighed yourself.   :-D

Must be all the extra hot air! :-D


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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2008, 02:07:40 pm »
Think about it... the scale starts at 0, so that's the first weight... then you step on for the first time and that's the second weight... then you step off and that's the same as the first weight, so it doesn't count... then you step on for the second time and that's the third weight... then you step off and it's the same as the first weight again, so it doesn't count... then you step on again, but you've already had three weights, so this time it has to equal one of the other two times you weighed yourself.   :-D

Let is say the first weigh was 180. The second 179 and the third 181. So now if I take the first weight and grab a two pound bird and the weight comes to 181.5 I would have to guess I got a 1.5 pound bird. OR if I take the third weight and the same two pound bird and I get a weight of 181.5 then I guess I got a half pound bird. OR of I take the middle weight and the same bird and I get 183.5 then I guess I have a 4.5 pound bird.

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Offline doak

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #15 on: July 04, 2008, 02:24:43 pm »
Pick the chinken/rooster up and feel, if it feels ripe, do it. :roll:
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #16 on: July 04, 2008, 02:54:02 pm »
So you thump it like a melon  :-D
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Offline doak

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Re: How old to eat
« Reply #17 on: July 04, 2008, 06:27:23 pm »
Check out the breast and drum stick. if the breast feels like the edge of a table knife and the drum stick is no bigger than a pencil, then it's not ripe. :? :)doak