Slaughter of older hens/roosters?

[Linzie2]

We're going to be moving soon and would like to reduce the number in our flock.  So our plan is to slaughter and freezer quite a few of the chickens.

If they are all destined to be soup chickens d/t toughness I'm fine with that but is there anything I can do to "plump" them up?  I figured now is the best time to do it as they've been free-ranging and enjoying grass and bugs all summer.  But could there be something specific or extra to give them?  I also thought I'd separate a rooster (we have a few) with a bunch of hens into a pen so they aren't "working" so much.  Any other ideas?  Thanks in advance mamas!

~Linzie

darkstarfarm.wordpress.com

[Abarat]

If it were me, I wouldn't bother to plump up soup/stock chickens.  Not worth the effort or price in extra feed in my opinion.

But you could always give them more scraps, bread, etc.  

I think putting them in a smaller space so they'd eat more commercial feed to beef them up may work as well.  If they don't usually eat commercial feed I wouldn't switch them to a confined space with just feed overnight, maybe give them some free range as well as feed.  Any laying crumble and cracked corn or scratch grains would be good.  I'd probably just give them a mix of half crumble/pellets, half corn/scratch.

[Linzie2]

No, I meant could I plump them enough to be good as something other than soup/stock?  Like to roast?  They're between 2-3 years old.

[Abarat]

Oh, I see!

Well, any hen I've had that long has been tough no matter what.  Seems roosters get tough faster in my opinion.  We did have some great plump older hens, but that plumpness turned into fat.  Granted, it was that great homegrown chicken fat but still fat and tough meat.

I hope someone posts to prove me wrong, I'd love to learn something new!

[SweetSilver]

Be careful "plumping up" your hens.  If they are still laying eggs now and then and they get fat, they could become egg bound.  It is a painful condition, and fatal too if uncorrected.  Of course you'd be slaughtering them, but still.  You'd want to keep a careful eye on them as some will fatten up faster than others (try feeding them grower mash instead of layer).

I actually prefer stewed chicken, though some chicken seems to be better than others.  The broth is  superior to the broth made any other way, and yes, some extra fat on their bodies helps.  Stew it until the body falls apart when you remove it.

[FarmerBeth]

I'd just find some delectable stew and crock pot recipes, personally.  I don't think plumping up would make much difference.

[hildare]

yeah... i don't know that you can really do any kind of magical feed-lot style thing to make it that much better, but if you were going to try, i'd pen them in the coop and try to keep them from using muscles much and giving them extra food.. but that doesn't really appeal to me.

slow cooking is the key.. and with our other meat that's tougher, jerk style seasoning is a plus.  i think with chicken, i'd cook with or in water, stewing it that way, and shredding it in the food processor. 

we made some really good (bad bad bad) party dip out of our roosters that was basically a "hot wing dip" with the shredded chicken in the bottom with homemade hot wing sauce (and ranch dressing and sour cream) which was a humongous party hit but probably not something you'd want to actually feed your family ;)