Growing out birds question

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Jaye
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Growing out birds question

Post by Jaye » Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:12 pm

Newbie question here. I have never grown out birds for consumption before and so have no idea of what age they should be before they are dispatched. In the past I have been able to re-home birds that turned out to be male. Now I am faced with an overpopulation of boys, and nowhere for them to go. One of them is a lovely Splash Ameraucana, but sadly has a lot of red leakage, so is pet quality and wouldn't likely be of interest to anyone breeding Ameraucanas. For him, the decision has been made to grow him out for freezer camp. Not doing Kijiji for him because he will likely wind up on someone else's dinner plate.
What is the optimal age for this to happen?
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RIP Scooby, AKA Awesome Dog. Too well loved to ever be forgotten. "Sometime in June", 2005 - January 24, 2017.
"Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France

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Killerbunny
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Re: Growing out birds question

Post by Killerbunny » Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:35 pm

I ususally go 24 weeks with heritage type birds
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:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

User avatar
Jaye
Poultry Guru - chick level
Posts: 2954
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 9:14 am
Answers: 3
Location: E Ontario
x 2995

Re: Growing out birds question

Post by Jaye » Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:20 pm

Thanks, @Killerbunny . He's 13 weeks old now. Hope his crow remains low volume and infrequent for the next 11 weeks.
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RIP Scooby, AKA Awesome Dog. Too well loved to ever be forgotten. "Sometime in June", 2005 - January 24, 2017.
"Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France

User avatar
Killerbunny
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Posts: 7869
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:04 pm
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Location: Brockville
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Re: Growing out birds question

Post by Killerbunny » Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:33 pm

I found my ameraucana males needed the extra time because they were a bit skinny (tasty though) The Barred rocks went 4 - 4.5lbs at 24 weeks.
1
:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

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