Chickens can live for six or more years under natural conditions. However those used in intensive farming will commonly be slaughtered before they reach six weeks old. Free-range broilers will usually be slaughtered at 8 weeks old and organic broilers at around 12 weeks old.
When Should I Butcher My Roosters? The best time to harvest roosters is when they are newly matured. For most breeds, this happens around five months of age, depending on the species. However, it's only six to eight weeks for the increasingly popular Jumbo Cornish X Rocks (also called cornish cross broiler).
We cannot know for sure if chickens are aware they are going to be slaughtered, but we can be certain that they experience fear and pain as they are shackled upside down and surrounded by the smell of death.
Male chicks are considered an unwanted byproduct of egg production and are killed and disposed of shortly after chick sexing at just one day old.
Processing/slaughter
Chickens are stunned (rendered unconscious) before slaughter. In Australia, stunning occurs either by electrical waterbath stunning or controlled atmosphere (gas) stunning). Chickens have to be removed from their crates and be consciously shackled for the electrical stunning process.
Unlike the case for the egg industry, where only hens are required to lay the eggs that are sold for human consumption, both male and female meat chickens can be and are grown for meat and are equally valued by the chicken meat industry.
Roosters can be eaten, but they are not commonly found in the marketplace. The meat is much more challenging than hens because it hasn't been bred to grow fast and heavy like broilers or fryers. If you decide that rooster sounds tasty, make sure you cook them low-and-slow for best results! What is this?
The age of chickens used for meat can vary from 6 weeks to 1 ½ years old.
There really is no such thing as a bird that is too old to eat. Resting for a longer time and brining, combined with slow, low cooking will make even the oldest bird tasty!
Before broiler chickens are shipped to the processing plant, feed is withdrawn on-farm to assist in emptying the birds' digestive tracts and reduce the chances that the carcasses will be contaminated during processing.
A grieving hen avoids interacting with the flock and sits in a corner with puffed-up feathers like a chicken that feels ill. Some mourn only temporarily, but others never seem to recover from the loss of a flockmate.
Slaughterhouses “process” many animals a day, so its operation is similar to an assembly line. Cows and pigs, animals of great weight, are lifted from the floor by their rear legs, causing them tears and breaks. After that, they are slaughtered by the killers, their trembling bodies can be extended endless minutes.
Hens that are at the end of their laying life are considered a by-product of the egg industry, unlike broilers that are reared for meat and are a valuable food product. If spent hens do go into the human food chain, they are generally used in products such as soups, stock or stews.
Culling by Individual Inspection
In the small laying flock the hens should be culled about eight to ten weeks after being placed in the laying house.
At home, immediately place chicken in a refrigerator that maintains a temperature of 40°F or below. Use it within 1 or 2 days, or freeze it at 0 °F. If kept frozen continuously, it will be safe indefinitely.
Chill poultry carcasses in ice and water to lower carcass temperature to 40 F before packing. You can chill smaller birds in a couple of hours. Turkeys and large capons or roasters will need to chill a few hours before reaching this temperature. Remove the chilled carcasses from the ice water.
A capon is a male chicken that is gelded, or castrated, at a young age, and then fed a rich diet of milk or porridge. Larger than a chicken, a bit smaller than a turkey, but more flavorful than either, capons are full breasted with tender, juicy, flavorful meat that is well suited to roasting.
As you've probably guessed, roosters taste like chicken. However, most people find rooster meat to be far more intense than hen meat — akin to dark meat turkey. This is due to the rooster's dense collection of muscle fibers.
Table and kitchen scraps can be a terrific addition to the diets of your chickens. Being omnivores, they will eat just about anything; however, care must be taken on just what (and how much) is given in the way of scraps.
Although chicken manure is too strong to be used raw on your flowers or vegetables, it can be composted and converted to “black gold.” If used without composting, it could damage roots and possibly kill your plants.
Burying is another option, but may not be legal in some places. If legal in your area, bury dead hens several hundred feet from the coop. Dig a hole at least two feet deep, place the dead hen at the bottom and pack the soil tightly to make it unlikely that a neighbor's dog, raccoon, or other animal will dig it up.