Debb11 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Hi All Firstly please don't hate me for this, but i am very seriously thinking of having my Welsummer Cockerel Jack for dinner! He has been hatched and raised along with his 3 other sisters since last July and the past few months his crow has developed and got louder to the extreme of he is crowing in the hen house 5, 6,7 O'clock in the morning even though its still DARK! It is even waking me up early in the morning so i dread to think about if the neighbours can hear him that early! So here is the bit you wont like, i want to know what i can fatten him up with as you can still feel his breast bone along with my ex-batts i rescued a year ago (no they are not to be dinner) who are my main and only at the moment egg laying chickens. All 8 of my chickens ( 3 ex batts, 3 welsummer hens + 1 welsummer cockerel and 1 dutch bantam) free range and there is no way i can split them up to feed them differently so they would all have to eat the same, so i don't mind if my ex-batts stop laying it will give them a break, so what do any of you recommend to fatten my chickens up but only for one to be eaten? I could give him away to a farmer but Jack would only be eaten then by someone else and i would prefer if i ate him. I wouldn't be wanting to get rid of him if it wasn't for his crowing very early, so I'm wanting to do something now before the neighbours start complaining and contact the council. Many Thanks Debb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Mm, not sure if Welsummers are really a bird you can fatten up to eat We just ate the breast meat off ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 my book says a welsummer cock should weigh about 7lbs. my christmas dinner bird got to 6lbs he was a welsummer maran cross he dressed out to 4lb 4 oz oven ready at 6 months old I got about 4 meals off him. all I fed him on was garvo starter pelletts and wheat as treats plus the old cabbage and apples the plan was to give him extra cabbage for the last month but the big freeze put pay to that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debb11 Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Thanks abswco and sjp for the reply I would like to try and weigh Jack, he would'nt keep still , I will try and find that brand (garvo starter pelletts) , i have a GLW Feeds just up the road from me, so i don't know if they would have anything suitable, but i also have to bear in mind that all my chickens will be all eating the same food, so if my ex-batts stop laying it don't matter. i was thinking of corn or even cat food,is it just the extra protein needed? Debb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 growers pelletts/mash will do the job what you need is a high % of protien nothing medicated through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 growers pelletts/mash will do the job what you need is a high % of protien nothing medicated through That what I would suggest too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I used growers (as finishers, I believe they are not dissimilar) and wheat/corn. I feel your pain! I would love to keep a cockerel, but the ones I had were crowing inside the Eglu, crowing horizontally whilst perched on a stick across the Eglu run, and crowing in the dark. Nothing stopped them from crowing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 We keep our Dinner Chickens on growers, and give them corn as a daily treat. This has worked really well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I've done the same. Growers with corn as an added. They were a big breed but they got to a very good healthy weight on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi All Firstly please don't hate me for this, but i am very seriously thinking of having my Welsummer Cockerel Jack for dinner! He has been hatched and raised along with his 3 other sisters since last July and the past few months his crow has developed and got louder to the extreme of he is crowing in the hen house 5, 6,7 O'clock in the morning even though its still DARK! Many Thanks Debb You should eat him. I have a Vorwerk cockerel and he is really loud. I couldn't eat mine as he is a pet and we are moving anyway so he lives in our undercroft at night and even there he starts crowing at 4am and it's PITCH dark. We snaffle him from the cube after dark and he has now taken to hiding under the hens................ but we get him any way!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
