Really stupid question inside...so dumb I wont put it in subject lol.

[gmendoza]

an older chicken should be, after killed,gutted,and butchered,placed in the fridge for about 3-5 days wrapped so the meat can be tender.If you finish an old bird and just toss it in the freezer,or you want to cook it right then,be prepared to be eating shoe leather.They are tough birds when older.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

All the chickens in your tag line are dual purpose, therefore traditionally used for both meat and eggs. Turkens were the only one I was unsure of.

 

[wannabchick]

tell your hubby .. to please take my roosters too.. LOL

hehehehe

 

[FMAFarms]

There are no such things as stupid questions!

That being said, as long as you properly clean and dress a bird, any bird can be a dual purpose bird, although some may not have as much meat on their bones as others! I agree with a PP about Silkies, although these are a delicacy in Asia? Then again, so is a lot of stuff I'd never consider eating.

I would suggest stewing and pressure-cooking the older birds. A friend has a meat-chicken farm nearby, and she takes her birds to slaughter at 9 weeks.

I think you need to work on your DH and get more than two more chicks!

 

[Mak]

Any chicken can be eaten if processed properly. As noted above, you should let the carcass rest in the fridge for a few days after processing. And if any of the non-meat birds don't look like (or weigh out to) enough meat for a roast chicken, you can always make soup or stew, or the best chicken stock you ever had. And the stock freezes very well! We make a big pot full in a low oven over night, then freeze it in small containers for future use. The older the bird, the tougher the meat will be, but long slow cooking will fix that for you.

 

[Noncentzter]

I recently butchered two roosters that were 7 months old...they tasted fine and were cooked in a slow cooker.

 

[chickened]

Other than Cornish cross super chickens most other types would be disappointing when you butchered them but would have some varying degrees of meat to bone ratio. I raise Dark Cornish and they lay fairly well and have a good carcass at butcher time and also cross them to dual purpose birds and get a cornish cross of my own design that do very well and they are fair layers(4 to 5 eggs a week).

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

This is a fantastic article that talks about cooking dual purpose chickens - from young fryer to older adults (NOT cornish rock crosses) www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[angelinthemorning]

I am glad you posted this question. I am getting my first ever chicks in 2 weeks. Hens for eggs. But hubby has been talking about raising some for meat. I think it is better to go slow, but everything I read it is quick to raise meat birds- we'll see.

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

I was given 3 bantam hens and 2 bantam roosters last summer. The roosters turned out to be extremely aggressive and started attacking me and flying at my kids' faces every time we even stepped outside. So... we ate them. They were roughly 2 years old and had very little meat on them and were tough. I ate wild-type chicken in Africa, so knew what to expect. If you think you'll get a succulent meaty bird, you're likely to be disappointed. But any chicken can be eaten if you prepare it right. I used their thighs and breast meat only. (I skinned them rather than plucking feathers, I need a sharper knife for skinning if I'm going to try this again.) I cut the raw meat into thin strips across the grain and sauteed it mixing it into a creamy pasta dish. No problem!