Roosters....what to do?

So, this has been a year of learning immense amounts of knowledge, and Roosters is the latest thing we have learned. Alays get your hatch as early in the year as possible so your roosters can grow enough to send to freezer camp before they close for the winter....but here is the thing; We have 19 roosters out there, 4 are a good size 24 weeks from Barnevelder and Delaware breeds, the rest are 15 wks, and no where near a good size as they are BLRW and BCM. They are going through extraordinary amounts of food, and i am either looking at keeping them over the winter, or sending them off early to freezer camp which could happen next week. So, what would you-all do?

Ship em. I am in the same boat. I have bunch young aussies that wont be aq good size but I dont want to keep feeding them. They will be good for soup.

Keep the best one (judged on the day) of each breed. WIll cost alot less to feed 4 instead of the gang you have now. That way you have a rooster to fall back on in case you lose something over winter

I just spoke with a breeder the other day and he recommended never keeping stock from the same breeder because you can never be assured there would be no inbreeding/line breeding.  I had originally thought i would keep roosters of the varieties that i liked, but now with all these roosters think the way to go is to pay extra for pullets. I should add that at this time we are so new to chickens i don't think it prudent to start breeding them. We are just after the nice eggs; of varying colours....and need the hens to lay them

I get in trouble every time I say this but...chop heads and toss in bush.

To eat, I raise meat birds. The spare mutt roosters ...they live good lives, eating and pecking for bugs and grass and bothering the ladies until it is time to thin them then off with the head, throw in the bush to become part of the cycle of WILD food.

No, it does not attract predators. The predators already know I'm here.

You can process and eat birds that may be less than pleasing to you out of some sense of guilt. Or you can chop and toss knowing that to the bird, it does not matter if it died for food or died for tossing, either way it makes no difference to the bird. Since I do not care to eat these roosters, I let them live a good life and then guilt free, throw them to the use of other animals who also feel hunger.

I just post a ad and normally the first person to reply takes them all ............last time I gave away 25 , she was very happy to take them all ...........large family  to feed so a lot of soup chickens for free .........felt good

I butcher the extra roosters. Some I will be making sausage with this year, some are regular eaters. The ones I will be using for sausage, I use the best meat and the rest goes into the stock pot for soup this winter. I fed them, they feed me all in all a fair trade. I find the non meat bird roosters have more flavour but can be firmer meat, not to be mistaken with being tough.

Big Rock, sometimes I have a few late-hatched roosters so I know your dilemma. If I don't have the room or inclination to grow them out to a good processing size, we will sometimes do a quick butcher job on them. Off with the head, open the skin enough to take the breasts and thighs. No plucking, gutting etc. That is where the most meat will be and its very nice tender young meat, too.
Its sort of a modified version of the "Uno chop and toss" method, but at least you do get something back from what you have put into raising them this far.

KathyS, I like your idea. Might be something to consider from now on.

Soup is always good. If you can do as KathyS says, you can do it at your convenience and when they've put on some weight, for the cost of your time.

I would come help in return for a couple of carcasses, if that worked for you. Or a few invites for turkey fajitas or soup.  

Been away since Thursday, got back yesterday. So. Where were we? Smiling. This is the age old dilemma for sure, what to do with extra cockerels, that are young, knowing full well that the time for bugs and such is diminishing and we are feeding more. the abattoir only processes until a certain time of year, I think their window is closing. I too am in the same boat, I have a good many cockerels that are 22 weeks old, they need to go, but I surely would like to raise them "just a little bit longer". These are cochins and I found last time that I processed 5 of them that they could have been just a little bigger. At 24 weeks old, they dressed to about 4 pounds, I would like them closer to 5. At 24 weeks my buff orpingtons dress nigh to 5 pounds, cochins take, clearly, a little longer. But, sigh....the processor window is closing. I know that I will have a decent carcass, 4 pounds is not bad in my eyes and that pleases me. I would just like a little bigger.

dog food. I dont' know. It costs $7 a bird at the abattoir we both have been using. That is a very expensive dog meal, or is it? I don't know, I don't feed raw meat to my dogs, should I know, but could you deem a small cockerel a decent meal for the dogs? Worthwhile, or too expensive. You tell me, cause I don't know. I would be tempted to process the birds at Andrea's and bring them home. the soups that come from our own homegrown (and you feed that organic, so have spent a lot of money on food) food is fabulous to grace our table. As Kathy said she did, she does them herself and plucks out the breast meat and discards all else. Woudl that work for you and yours? Can you lop heads yourself? No need to gut, just take the best meat, and use that? You have choices to make and they are tough ones. For me. I will take to processor. I am pleased enough with the size of the carcass.

A little story. I just got back from the coast from a family reunion. I took the last of the 5 cockerels in the freezer that were processed last fall, October 2012. They were about 4.3 pounds each. Encouragement from my Sister to cook two for dinner the night before the party. We cooked two. She broke apart those beauties, put the hunks on plates, pulled off the meat off the breast and left just a skeleton of breast bone and body on the counter. Not a speck of meat was left after the vultures began. The oohs and ahs and the sucking of the bones was clear to see   . the family was so pleased with the taste and the succulent tender meat, that was clear to hear. Praise be to the homegrown. My family will attest that you can't get anything better in the store. I was pleased my work had been so recognized with the raising of the stock.

I think that you could do the same with the young males that I think you should pay for and get them processed. They might be small, but they are mighty. Might take 3 to feed you and yours, but this is what you have worked on, feeding, caring, loving. BigRock, it can't get any better than that. You know what you are eating.
Was this what you were asking for? Did I help to ease any uncertainty in your mind?

If you only want eggs, then for surely, next year, spend the extra bucks and get pullets. Or....if you want to grow out cockerels, you surely do need to think about the timing for the processing in fall, to get those grown before it is too late for the processor. also, if you want to have a decent carcass, you would need to get a breed that is known for a better meat body. Or....get meat birds, then for surely you know that you will have good carcass size. so many questions, so many answers should be coming your way. But for sure, this is an age old question, the extra males. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM wrote: It costs $7 a bird at the abattoir we both have been using.

$7...?????
That's an insane price for rooster processing.
I'd pull an Uno, before I paid that

i donate extra unwanted birds that i cant even give away to the raptor shelter where they humanly euthanize them then they go for hawk/ owl/ eagle etc dinner, if they are to small to butcher and no one wants them they go here, instead of feeding them for months to still give them away, the hawks have to eat as well so i feel good i am helping a organization who rehabilitates these birds ... http://www.raptorshelter.org/

What a great thing to do, Janet!

$7 to process a bird? Wow, that is more than I thought. Depending what you drive, add gas money to that. I think I'd pull an Uno too!

That's crazy ... I think here, they are $3.85 to process. I will probably still do them myself, for $3.85 and a 90 minute round trip drive.

This is our first time growing roosters for meat. It didn't dawn on me that there might be a problem with the late hatches until I looked at the calendar and started to calculate the ages of all the chicks. We will be ready to process November, december and January. It doesn't get as cold here as some other places but it still doesn't feel like a good time to be butchering birds. We may break down and take them somewhere for processing. All our chicks are hatched by broody hens so we don't have much control over the timing. They sure are costing a lot to feed right now and not many eggs. We figure our eggs are costing us between 15 and 20 dollars a dozen at the moment.LOL.

$7 is high but if the place I took the ducks which were $8 each but more work. Thats crazy...

We are going to grow our boys out til spring and pick the best.... Just getting started here and want a good rooster or two in EVERY colour...... the rest will be going into the pot.

yup, great thoughts here. Just found out there are processors that are stationary and thus run year round. Pritchard, and Kelowna. I think i will wait until they are all about 24 weeks, and get them all done. Will makes lots of soup, stews etc. I had envisioned such delicious meals with these birds and so far we are a little disappointed; unsure if it is because they are not as large a bird as yours are Cynthia...they are a little tough. Farmchick- i have some in the freezer and you are welcome to a couple if you like...will try and sort out a meal for you at some point....
definitely do it different next year...

I enjoy my cockerel soups and stews...I roast up 3 or 4 in a big roasting pan, slow cooked. Then a meal or two of roast chicken. Then clean all the carcasses and set the meat aside. Then broth with the bones and veggies. Then strain and put most of the broth in the freezer for later, but I keep enough out for two big batches of soup/stew. I have two very large stock pots (3 -4 gallons each) , and always make two big batches at a time. The meat goes in last, as does any leafier veg. Then freeze for my lunches and this is also my lazy meals for fast food. I also share with my elderly friend, and with my busy single mom friend who never makes herself good lunches at work. The cockerel meat holds together and doesn't go all stringy. And that broth is the best.

Oh boy, what tangled webs we weave, smiling....meaning this has become a very good subject. Bigrock. Before you get ready for using the processors, you must verify when they close for time off. I think Peggy's in Kelowna closes end of December. She takes her employees for a vacation to somewhere hot, smiling...Leslie in Pritchard closes soon, maybe end of October, until about April or May, I think. Verify before you get your hopes up. Or, you could employ Uno's Husband, he loves to process birds, especially on cold January days, and Uno loves to get her hands frozen right off in the cold water cleaning the pinfeathers     . Goshing here of course.
I don't think that $7 a bird is really outrageous. I know exactly waht goes into processing a bird from start to finish. I like that I can drop my say, 10, roosters, off in the morning, in the afternoon I have a government inspected, chilled to 4 degrees centrigrade bird, bagged, weighed and my name put on the label, plus other pertinent information, like "pasture raised, organic, free range, etc", whatever you choose to have on that label. This allows you to legally sell that bird, if you so choose, as the government inspection has been present and the designation number of said inspection. I don't know. It seems more than I would LIKE to pay, but it is what it is. It is 20 minutes from my home to processor farm and I feel good about getting my birds back in such nice and perfect order. It is a dollar less if I travel about 1.5 hours, each way, but then time and gas, the other way, about 1.5 hours to kelowna to another, and I don't know this year what she is charging, I like to go there too, cause sometimes I can spend the day in Kelowna or thereabouts, doing things, like Costco, smiling. I think for the ease of me having a bird from feather to carcass is worth $7 and I don't mind one little bit. To each his own, eh? Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Bigrock, make sure you really 'rest' these heritage birds well. It has to be done after butcher or if you freeze right away, after thaw. I like to do mine for at least 3 days in the fridge before freezing. You can do less or more, people usually find what works best for them.
This may help with some of the toughness as they have to go thru rigour and come out the other side to be good.
I have also found cockerels that have not been breeding do have a better meat texture. I also confine mine to a smaller area (no free range) for a month or so right before butcher. I personally like the taste of a corn feed bird so when I confine mine I start to add corn to their diet. But like I say, you have to experiment a bit and see what you like.

Oh my Gordon, Coopslave you made me fall right out of my chair and convulse on the floor. I would never, NEVER let raw poultry sit in my fridge for three days before cooking it! Will never happen here! I think if you have to risk food poisoning in order to render your bird edible, if decomposition has to set in before you can chew that puppy, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't decomposing in the fridge. A figure of speech. Still however, my outer limit for raw chicken in the fridge is a day. One day.

When we do our own processing we take great pains to make sure everything is bleached and washed and soapy/bleachy water is at hand, clean towels for wiping hands. Those birds are COOLED immediately and then into the freezer pronto! This may not allow for 'resting' as some feel is required. But after a day of butchering the only ones who need a rest are me and Hub! Our aim is to make sure there is no time for any bacteria to start growing/spreading, and to do that you make those birds COLD as quickly as possible. Freezer cold, not fridge cold. In my mind fridge cold is too high risk for more than a day.

So, Coop, you can see where I am concerned for your impending doom, eating such old, uncooked chicken. GACK!

CynthiaM, I appreciate the compliment. I think HUb is a pretty darn careful and skilled butcherer of chickens. And I am much more able feather picking and table sanitizing assistant when my hands are frozen solid. When you have to stick your hand inside dead chickens to warm them up...it's too cold to be butchering!

Side note, this same neighbour who decided to raise meat birds in the dead of winter, decided this year to dip his toe into keeping pigs. We went and viewed his set up when the wieners were just weeks old. So cute. He had this flimsy little wire fence that was several inches off the ground and the little pigs were already poking their noses under it, pushing. As we left Hub muttered, those pigs will be out of that pen in about 2 weeks. I guess they spent most of the summer, loose. Two weeks ago he invited us to an upcoming pig roast. We graciously accepted the invitation but added, for clarity WE ARE NOT HELPING YOU KILL ANY PIGS! No, he had some other dummy roped into that. Whew, dodged a bullet. Hub can process pigs, he just won't.

Uno, you make me laugh!  
Do you think the chicken you buy in the store was butchered the morning you bought it?  Never happened.  What about the beef you get.  Do you realise how long they hang that in a cool room?
We have been taught to be afraid of chicken.  That is because of how it is processed in the factory processing units.  Have you seen the big tubs of sh*tty water they are dunked in.  You do have to be careful with it and cook it fully, but home killed bird is safe to go thru rigor in your fridge, if your fridge is working correctly of course.

It takes 48 to 60 hours for rigor to dissipate.  I think it starts 2 or 3 hours and is full blown in 12 hours.
I have heard you complain about heritage birds being tough and uneatable, this is why you have trouble.
If 3 days makes you uncomfortable, at least think about doing 2. A store bought chicken would take at least a day to get to the store and then another to get into the meat section at the store. Who knows how long it sits there before you buy it, but it would be at least 24 hours. At least in your own fridge you can monitor it and it is not passed about before it gets into your hands.