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Kirstie

Raising birds for the table

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Hi,

 

I have three 5 week old obvious boys! And whilst I hadn't planned on raising for the table (the plan was to get 3 girls! :roll: ) they are a breed that I wouldn't want a cockeral from but they are a breed that would (i think) make a good table bird (rhode island red x dorking) and I think it would be nice (ok and quite emotional and tough) to know I had given them a nice life before the end, which you can't always say with shop bought chicken.

 

I understand it's not for everyone, so I apologise to anyone that this offends.

 

I have a few questions as I've never raised birds for the table. Do I at 6 weeks move them over to growers food and then move them over to finisher pellets at the age you would put pullets onto layers pellets? What else can they eat to make them taste nice? They will be free ranging. What is appropriate age/size? I'm guessing, rightly or wrongly, that because they are a dorking cross they will develop slowly so would Christmas be what I'm aiming for? I was thinking around 25-30 weeks? As you can tell I have NO clues what I'm doing now :oops:

 

Someone on here had read that when cockerals first crow is when they are ready - but surely some crow from really early on and table birds should be a lot older? I think there was mention of hormones spoiling the meat? Ive never heard of this in chickens, I know it can spoil pork if you keep pigs on past 5 or 6 months. Do hormones affect the taste of chicken meat?

 

Do I also need to take their food away for the 24 hours before the deed is done and do they need to be plucked, drawn and hung ASAP? Sorry if this is too much info for anyone :silenced:

 

Thank you and sorry for asking questions about the other side of raising chicks x

 

Kirstie x

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I hatched and raised boys for the table.

 

Your crosses, especially with Dorking in them, will be ideal table birds! Dorkings are a traditional utility breed: They are a slower growing breed so if you could keep them even longer than 6/7 months you'd get an even bigger bird out of it. If your space doesn't allow or the crowing will be a problem (it was for us) then you can dispatch a bit earlier, but you'll notice the difference in size.

 

the hormone thing is a new one on me - i've never heard that. You can dispatch a cock bird at any age but the older they are the tougher so you'd end up with a stewing bird (coq au vin) rather than a roasting one.

 

A group of omleteers attended a dispatching and dressing course. We were advised to pluck while still warm (as the skin tears after that) and then 'hang' the bird in the fridge for 24 hours or so before dressing. Many omleteers have found the plucking taking too long and now skin birds rather than doing that.

 

We kept ours on growers but for the week before dispatch fed mostly on mixed corn. Then stop feeding for the night before dispatch so the crop is empty when you do so.

 

I think you are being very sensible and responsible in dealing with the boys from your hatch - so many people go into it living in a dream world that they'll find homes for the unwanted boys.... they won't.

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I also raised two cockerels for the table last year. I had not heard anything about hormones before, my boys started crowing at about week 8/10 and we dispatched them at week 19/23ish (a practice run and Christmas dinner), and they are the best roast chickens I have had to date :)

 

After 6 weeks the boys went on growers pellets and in the two weeks running up to dispatch date they had half growers to half mixed corn (which did make their skin slightly yellow). I used a great guide on how to dress the birds, I'll add it later if I can find it again. It also had a section on dispatching, but I recommend you get someone with experience to talk you through this to make sure you are doing it correctly so everything is as stress free as possible for you and the bird. We have a small fridge, which is normally packed, but in December there was snow on the ground so we kept them hung in an outside building, wrapped in newspaper, overnight between plucking and dressing (probably colder than the fridge anyway :lol: )

 

It really is a great experience, and it was great to know the boys had had a wonderful free range life, with about 3 times longer life than a shop bought chicken. I did get a little teary at the first dispatch, but I have no regrets and it's definitely something I would do again :) Good luck, and if you have any more questions, I'm no expert, but feel free to PM me :)

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Thanks Penny. I was thinking how on earth am I going to hang 3 birds (or even one at a time) in my fridge :shock: I'm going to hope for cold weather!

 

I'm sure the simple fact they have lived longer and not been forced to grow too quickly makes them taste better!

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if you can find a dispach pluck and dress course near you they are really worth attending

as for feeding a few folk on practical poultry forum recommend marriages cockerel fatting pellets for table birds sadley no one stocks it near me.I tend to take my birds at about the 26 weeks mark but that depends on how each bird grows and their temperment the maran crosses go a bit earlier as they get a bit mean after about 18 weeks

I pluck mine after resting them for 15mins or so after culling about the time it takes to make and drink a coffee. plucking take me about an hour a bird.then I hang them for 2 days then dress them then rest them in the fridge for about 5 days. i.e i dispatchand pluck on a Saturday morning dress them on the Monday then they are ready for the following Sunday

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I've raised a couple of cockerels for the table and have been thinking about getting some County Gold table birds but will be after my broodies have left their chicks, so I have the room.

I kept mine on growers for most of the time past 6 weeks as its higher protein, then mixed corn later on. Not heard about hormones but when to cull for me depended on crowing, I had 3 LF cockerels in an eglu and they'd crow early in the mornings competing against each other ( :roll: ).

 

I went on the Dispatch & Dress course too and thought it was invaluable.

 

I dispatched and plucked straight away, then dressed them the next day and would have left it a couple days before eating but in my case I froze the first one so we forgot who it was when we ate it...

Hanging can mean upside down from their legs which is best as blood pools in the neck and meat relaxes, but if you don't have room they can lie on the shelf in the fridge.

 

Well done for being responsible + dealing with them :)

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I think it was me who mentioned how the increase in testosterone can spoil meat. I tried to find a reference to it, but the site i saw it on evades me im afraid - it was, however, a legit and knowledgeable site. If i recall, testosterone increases muscle strength and therefore makes the meat tougher if it is present. Testosterone starts being pumped into the bloodstream at about the time they start crowing.

 

There's no reason why you couldnt grow them on further, they just might need to be cooked slightly differently - slower and longer.

 

For the same reason its better to do the deed out of the sight of other cockerels that you are about to dispatch. Other cockerels can get quite agitated, pumping testosterone around the body. If the muscles are full of testosterone it can toughen the meat, and make it taste different.

 

I havent taken a bird to the table yet, but the above makes sense to me.

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Thank you all for your replies. I'm feeling more confident about it now!

 

Mark and Charlene - Sorry I couldn't remember who it was who had mentioned the testosterone taint. Ive not raised meat for the table before so have no clues on anything :lol: but I agree with you that if an animal is stressed before it is culled it will taint the meat in some way - i also think its possibly a taste and texture that most people nowadays are used to with animals being culled in such large quantities and with considerable distances to travel to abboitoires - I imagine supermarket chickens will be stressed from being packeged up for the long joirney to the abbotoire and then waiting for their turn - not what they would have been exposed to before that point. So I will be trying to keep it as calm as possible - for the boys sake xx

 

I'm not looking forward to 3 hours of plucking though!

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don't plan on dealing with all 3 at the same time - the latter ones would cool too quickly by the time you've plucked the first. You can dispatch and pluck one after the other but then you'll still be at it for hours so put the time aside...

how about dispatching one a week earlier to get used to it and learn from the process then dispatch the other two the following week - they'll keep each other company in intervening period.

 

Mine crowed from 8 weeks and we kept them until 26 and the crowing was getting louder and more competitive!

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Thanks for starting this thread Kirstie - it's a great source of information!

 

Does anyone know the optimum time to despatch a Maran cockerel for the table? I see someone mentioned 18 weeks for a Maran cross - would this apply to a pure bred Maran too or will it depend on the bird itself? I have two five week old chicks - one boy, one girl and am going to stick to my guns and bring the boy on for the table regardless of the children's protests!!

 

Thanks!

 

Isabel

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both the 2 marans I've done so far were about 26 weeks old but as I said above the one I've got at the moment will have to go before that as he's starting to get a bit mean spirited he's had a couple of pecks at me that have draw blood I think it's because he's got knocked of the top spot I've noticed he's been backing away from the number 2 boy a few times this last few days number 2 is smaller than the maran

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I've got a couple fo boys in my first hatch too. I don't think they'll be a lot of meat though as they are Araucana and Leghorn. They are only 5 weeks and DP says he thinks he heard one trying to crow this morning. How loud they are and wether they crow first thing in the morning will decide how long they last. If they need to go sooner rather than later I'll take them back to where I got the eggs from as it seems pointless to kill them really young when they won't have any meat.

 

I'm now thinking about a second incubation or even day old chicks. I've read the Hubbards can be despatched before crowing which seems favourable. Does anyone know if I can buy just 1/2 a dozen of them or would I be expected to buy more? Does anyone have any idfea how much they cost? I assume P&P would be the expensive part. I could buy Ixworths locally but I'm guessing I'd have to keep them until about 26 weeks by which time they would have upset the neighbours.

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Simon at Poulet Anglais sells hybrid table bird eggs

 

I wouldnt get Hubbard but would get the next quickest maturing usually for 'free range' farms

 

Hubbards go 'off their legs' if they gain too much weight too quickly and are not a nice bird to own, there is really no pleasure in watching something eat itself to death

 

The next maturing ones will be ready in a matter of weeks too but can be kept a little longer without going off their legs, this gives you the opportunity to cull over a few weeks and still before they really get going on the crowing

 

Whatever table bird you get remember they have been bred to eat and stay still so try to strengthen their legs and put food and water a distance apart so they have to walk between the dishes, when you go in to the run get them to walk around a bit too just to keep them on the move

 

I feed my table birds (we have had all sorts from bantam pure breeds to hybrid table birds) on growers pellets and wheat throughout then add some barley towards the end and put the birds in a smaller pen for the last week or so as this makes the meat nice and moist

 

I have had some over a year before culling and never experienced a taint of the meat

 

With regards to the Maran I think 20-26 weeks would be the maturing time for that one

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