They were around 11 weeks old, which is four weeks older than their meat bird brethren.
I probably could have waited a few more weeks to let them get to 100% of their mature weight, but they were going through the feed like gangbusters, so I got tired of waiting for them to "flesh out" a little more and just took them in.
And like I said, wow.
What an extreme difference between the meat birds and these layer-breed cockarels.
Have a look.....
The layer-breed cockarel is the skinny one on the right, and again, he was about a month older than the meatie on the left.
The meat birds have been bred to reach mature weight very rapidly, and that mature weight is almost all breast meat and meaty legs.
Though the peanuts looked fairly close in size to the meaties when I took them in, they looked NOTHING alike once they were dressed.
Or should I say undressed.
I haven't tried cooking them yet, but my plan is to throw one or two in a soup pot. If the meat cooks tender enough to eat in the soup, then great. If not, I'll just use the meat for dog food, and keep the broth for future cookin'.
No harm, no fowl.
Get it?
Gotta love that chicken humor.....
************
Read it.
Like it?
Follow it.
Please?
Thanks.
(Follow my blog by adding yourself as a follower with Google Friends Connect in my sidebar!)
***************************
How do you make a hard-workin' farm girl happy?
Throw her a vote of course!
Just a quick little one-click-of-the-brown-button-and-you're-done vote.
Right here, right now.
Thanks!
***************
Look in my sidebar to see who I'm linking up with thoday, and come join the fun!
****************
Rudeness disclaimer:
I love all your comments,
I read every one!
But I can't hit 'reply',
I've no time for fun.
Please don't judge me,
Please don't hate.
If you have a question that just can't wait,
Send me an email at farmbeachgal@yahoo.com,
And I'll answer right back because I'm, you know, the Mom.
Did the butcher intentionally pose him to look like an elf on the shelf?
ReplyDeleteBwahaha! You are so right! I was thinking he looked like was freezing, but Elf. That's what he looks like! Thanks for the laugh!
DeleteOh my gosh - that is crazy! I learned something new today about chickens.
ReplyDeleteWow, that really is a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteIt is a big difference and the end was punny, I mean funny. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing the way we've been able to breed our animals this way. Who would imagine this is the difference?
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I was amazed when I went to pick them up and saw they looked like this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, everyone!
xoxoxx
Can you tell us the "breed" of the meat bird? That is one beautifully undressed bird!
ReplyDeleteCornish-Rock crosses!
DeleteReally? They are beautiful, if you can call a bare bird that =). I am hoping my RIR once we start will be that meaty. Thanks Anne and have a very blessed Christmas!
DeleteWow, we have some Rhode Island Red males that we just sold because we didn't want to butcher them. Now I'm glad we didn't bother.
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas!
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
Yeah, I don't think the RIRs will amount to much...
ReplyDeleteI have raised both cornish x and layer cockerels...so I know what you mean! I have decided that I will always buy the cornish x for meat birds.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't find them to be very tender, you might want to cook them in a pressure cooker. That will do the trick :)
That is crazy the difference in size! Your blog is wonderful. Come join my blog hop at http://www.growingpatch.com/blog-hop/ I would love to have you!
ReplyDeleteGarrett @TheGrowingPatch
Thanks for the invite, Garrett!
ReplyDeleteHi there! New follower from the Blog Hop. You can find me at http://theresmagicoutthere.blogspot.com/ Happy Holidays!
ReplyDelete