Cockerals for meat

[Jan]

Hi
I am new to having chickens as utility birds, i have had warrens in the past for eggs got over run and we moved, so the chickens went. I am doing this now from a new angle. I bought 2 Barnvelders, 2 light Sussex one of which is a cockerel and 2 Maran's , Oh and 2 cream leg bar X Maran cockerels. At 8 weeks they all live in a large shed with areas for perching and i have a large run which i walk the chickens in and out of. Sorry for rabbiting on. What i am trying to say is how do i get meat on the cockerels as i do intend to put them in the freezer, once i know exactly how to dispatch and dress them. the killing doesn't bother me its the plucking etc. As have never done this before. Also i am thinking of worming said birds as they are free range to a point.
I know this might sound very green horn and amateurish however i hope i can learn form people who have been doing this alot longer than i.

Thanks
PS the Cockerels got thrown in as the man i got them off was told of my intentions.

 

[chrismahon]

Ours are just fed on rearer pellets Jan. To a large extent it is the breed that determines the weight gain relative to the feed intake. The breed also determines the texture and taste. You would need to avoid free ranging for the meat cockerels, because the legs get too tough and the weight gain poor. Their movement needs to be deliberately restricted. We start to despatch as they start fighting or being bullied, which is about 18 weeks. You can avoid the early fighting by putting an older 'peacekeeper' cockerel in with them, but they will challenge him at 26 weeks so he needs to be pulled out. Ideally you keep them in a large shed so they don't need worming, but if outside worm at 18 weeks. Any older than 26 weeks an the meat gets noticeably tougher. There are specific meat breeds like the Hubbard. They can be free ranged to give texture to the meat, rather than the sticky mush of supermarket chicken (which is slaughtered at 5 ½ weeks) and then slaughtered around 12 weeks.

We despatch, then pluck and dress immediately. Plucking takes ages and I've never found an easy method. Dressing needs a bit of skill and very sharp knives -I use a curved bladed surgical scalpel for the tricky bit around the vent. We decided on TNN's for our utility breed -far less feathers.

 

[dinosaw]

I Agree with what Chris says, of course it depends on how you like your chicken, I always stew them so the toughness isn't an issue for me and I like the extra darkness in the meat from them being a bit older. You are best plucking immediately as the feathers come out more easily while the carcass is warm, start with the wing and tail feathers which are the hardest to pluck and then move to the breast and back which come out quite easily I find. The easiest way to dress a cockerel is to spatchcock it, basically you cut along the backbone with a sharp pair of scissors and then pull the gut pile out, there will be plenty of videos on you tube showing you how. Nearly forgot, don't feed them on the day that you are despatching as you want an empty crop and gut which decreases the chance of you contaminating the meat.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Jan, had you considered going on a course to learn how to kill, pluck and dress a cockerel? Such as http://smallholding-skills.co.uk/chicken-courses/kill-pluck-gut-and-bone-a-chicken.php
This one is in Hampshire, near Basingstoke, but if you Google Courses on killing chickens you may find entries nearer to you.

 

[dinosaw]

Don't know if it just me Marigold but the link doesn't seem to work properly, it seems to show a course in Wales. £75 does seem a hell of a lot of money to charge for something that is actually easily learned from some good you tube vids.

 

[Margaid]

Depending on how you intend to cook the birds you could skin them which saves having to pluck them. It does mean you don't get any nice crisp skin if they're roasted

 

[dinosaw]

That works particularly well if you take them at around 8-10 weeks, the skin comes off very easily in one piece, I tend to then glaze them before putting them in the oven to make up for lack of skin.