Minimalist Poultry Processing Equipment

[miss_thenorth]

We just had a 6 month old rooster for supper last night, and he was quite tender. I did slowcook him, however. And--not eating roosters???!?!?!?! Please! Aside form my top roos, as soon as they crow, they go..... (into the pot, that is)

 

[patandchickens]

someone actually told me last night that NO ONE EATS ROOSTERS. Um, ok, is that true?

What do they think the coq in coq au vin is, then?

I have been told that roos who have reached *full* maturity, like a year and older, can be somewhat gamey tasting, but have not yet tried one myself. Although I have to say I've got one who is reaaaaalllly tempting fate and may in fact become curry before the New Year :/

I've eaten my spare cockerels as old as 5 months and they were fine, though, excellent taste and not tough (not mushy-soft like some grocery chicken, but, certainly not tough)

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

They are not gamey as in venison etc gamey, but older roos and hens for that matter definitely have more "flavour". They make the best soups and stews. I will never turn down an older bird, because their flavour is so good. You just have to slow cook them with lotsa liquid.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

What do they think the coq in coq au vin is, then?

Pat, I wish you had been with me last night. That would have been fun to have retorted that! How could I have forgotten about coq au vin?

I had thought about making vindaloo if I ever got a tough chicken. Wouldn't marinating in a curry based vinegar sauce fix up a tough chicken?

Thanks you all!

 

[Beekissed]

I need to catch up on what others have written here, but . . . someone actually told me last night that NO ONE EATS ROOSTERS. Um, ok, is that true? I would assume at the very least you could get some good broth out of it. These roosters are just about 6 months old and someone else had advised me they would still be tender.

I don't know who told you that, but we wouldn't have many chickens to eat if we didn't eat roos. We like to butcher around 4-5 months, so you aren't too far off the mark. Some folks butcher as early as 3 mo.

The last batch I did that were 6 months, I marinated them in red wine vinegar, garlic salt, olive oil and a little BBQ sauce. Brushed them again with a little of the marinade and grilled them on my special really redneck grill and they were the hit of my party.

Actually, I only got one piece and folks were begging me to let them take the meat home so their "husband can taste it".....now, I'm not that great a cook, so the meat did all the work. Those roos were the tastiest chickens I've ever cooked here at my house, I kid you not.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Bee . . . that sounds really tasty to me!

The guy who told me that bit of misinformation grew up on a farm, so I didn't want to completely dismiss him. But since I have never eaten a rooster, that I know of, I didn't know what to say.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I think they say 'nobody eats rooster' because some people have the misconception that a 'rooster' is not a 'chicken'.

Many people think a 'chicken' is a 'hen'. Like a 'cow' is a 'cow', but a 'bull' is not a cow?

My father actually argued with me when I cooked a rooster that most people just eat 'chickens' and I argued that a rooster was a 'chicken'. LOL

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

now y'all i have me lookin funny at that one extra rooster.... hum.....

actually its pretty funny. we got the red rangers meaties (the least creepy breed of meat chicken) this summer and it worked out great.

except.

we have this one 'frankenchicken' - for the longest time we thought it was a hen. it had the weird leg thing (1 out of the 15 that we ordered)... so we called it "Legs."

well one day Legs crowed. frankly he was too freaky to butcher and we kinda figured it would just drop over dead one day. not a chance. he's still out there. but here's the thing - he's HUGE! we cant believe he's lasted this long! we also kept 2 of the smallest hens and they are laying so we are kind of holding out hope that we can get some meaty mixes in the spring.

but now all this talk about dressing roosters.... humm... that Legs would really fill a pot... hum......

 

[miss_thenorth]

Was legs a ranger? and the two hens are laying? Interesting......

(the wheels are turning, ,,,)

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yeah! we got them from Ideal - i want to say it was their red broilers...oh here:

https://secuservices.com/ideal/newideal/selectproduct.aspx?qty=1&ID=RBS&Product=402

we got the straight run. we were really hesitant about the whole thing but they were GREAT! mostly they lived up to their red ranger name - they really loved being outside and pip-popping around. good free rangers, honestly. we finished them on our goat milk and corn. they dressed out beautifully. very very very meaty - mostly in the quarters but the breasts were a really nice size.

so far they have bucked all the negatives i've heard - none of them flopped over dead at 9 weeks, including Legs. the ladies are laying and they just look like a red-mutt-mix hen. and they werent too stinky and gross - they were actually pretty vigorous even in the heat. we'll definitely get them again. unless we can get these to give us a hatch this spring.

we have two big light brahma roosters and a welsumer. the welsummer throws smallish chicks but wow we hit the jackpot with our big guys crossed with these red broiler ladies. hoping that this will work!