idea age

Abba · **Joined:** Sun May 01, 2011 8:14 am **Posts:** 2

As someone new to self producing food I was wondering at what age do you process a hen for eating. Is there an idea age or do you go on weight

Sebducks · **Joined:** Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 812

It depends on the breed of chook really, some bred solely for meat ie meat birds are processed in a matter of weeks as they grow so fast and leaving them any longer is actually cruel to them. If you are talking about your own surplus then a few months at most, we've processed roosters that were just a year old and they were tough.

Rhode Red · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2011 9:52 am

As a general rule for free range birds not being force fed is:
Pullets are at their peak, in terms of weight just prior to laying (average 6/7 months) depending on the breed. You can slaughter your older hens 2-3 years, generally they are good for soups and stews i.e slow cooking. I possible try to cull the older hens prior to them starting to moult (Feb/Mar/April) or you will have to wait until they have finished in 8-10 weeks (July).
Cockerels: once a cockerel starts "working" (I am talking large breeds here) they are ready to be slaughtered, you just need to ensure they don't have too many pin (baby) feathers. The age can vary between breeds again around the 6-8 months of age. In the days gone by they were called "broilers". Unfortunately as with most other animals the males only get tougher as they get older. Yes a 12 month old cockerel can be tough.

Weight of the birds can vary greatly depending on the breed you have.

Note with ducks you can slaughter at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. This is generally based on them limited pin feather at these ages. The duck is generally full grown at 24 weeks. This is my general rules from experience.

It must be remembered that home grown "free range" birds will always be tougher that the chickens you buy a the supermarket (these are only 8-10 weeks old), but will have so much more flavour and their meat will be slightly darker (as a result of exercise).

Hope this helps.
Rhode Red.

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

I've just been looking at past posts & came across this one.

I feel Rhode Red has given some wonderful information regarding the ideal age for those who are interested in raising their own meat chickens .

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

LOOLOO · **Posted:** Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:43 am

Yes worth a bump back up, very good info

LooLoo

Abba · **Joined:** Sun May 01, 2011 8:14 am **Posts:** 2

Got an email saying a reply has come a very nice surprise. Sorry I did not thank you sooner Rhode Red I was quite ill soon after with the flue. Your help and advice was very helpful and all is going well here

Carol NZ · **Posted:** Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:00 am

Better late than never :-D

ChickenPox · **Posted:** Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:18 pm

Abba wrote:

Got an email saying a reply has come a very nice surprise. Sorry I did not thank you sooner Rhode Red I was quite ill soon after with the flue. Your help and advice was very helpful and all is going well here

That would be your notify when you get a reply, I use that its great

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