So I let my chickens out this morning and they all come running and flapping out like they do every morning. The Buff Orpington rooster takes off chasing one of the hens, and as I was watching it stopped mid stride and laid down on the road and started flapping like he was taking a dust bath but it was wet mud.

I walked up and he was taking his last gasp, then no more.

It had to have been a heart attack. Has anyone ever heard of this before ? He was a big fellow about a year and a half old.

Luckily I hatched some chicks and have a young rooster that stepped right up to the job.

I was also wondering can a rooster be eaten ? and if not why ? and what age do they need to be to get a good eating bird?

Thanks

He's playing possum trying to get the hens to crowd around him.

Moosetrot

I dont know about the heart attack,maybe do an autopsy on it(check the innards),and if its clean(no obvious disease) make a stew.

most people raise Cockrells for meat...so Yes.

Theres an old joke about buzzards that comes to mind

That's what I thought at first. He always tried to trick the hens into thinking he found food so they would come close for him for the dirty deed....

Not really exited to eat him ,but wondering if he would be good, I might, I have others that are about of age too.

This is no spring chicken. Its a year and a half old, does it matter ?

I butchered 4 roosters once and ate a couple bites of one. Nasty! They look nasty and taste nasty. Never again. Roosters walk my yard now. If they die, they die.

Thanks that settles that lol

Was it tough or gamey ?

In my 'Cowboy Poetry writing days' I wrote a poem about "Brewster the Rooster" that describes that very event.



Charlie

nope...roast him if you're worried he'd be tough.

Oh Ok Thanks
I have a pressure cooker that will make him tender if needed. As long as it don't stink I am good. I cant eat rutted meat.

It was like rubber. And before we cooked it the body reminded me of those yellow rubber chickens you see once in awhile sitting in a store or something. Hardly had any breast meat on it.

i remember brewster the rooster too. you guys must be old farts too?

I butchered a rooster once..... the horor that was the toughest, thickest, nastiest skin I’ve ever seen on Gods green earth! Yet I still cooked it... tastedlike it looked

age shouldent matter i had a jersey giant live to be 8 years old and he could have probaly lived longer if my moms dog did not get him. would i eat him probaly not you dont no what he could have got into exspecily if he was free range. i would cut him open and check. somthing dont seam right.

What Jurassic I guess is talking about is that adult layer breed roosters don't look like cornish cross meat birds. As he said, compared to a cornish cross grocery store chicken, there is very little meat on them. About like comparing a wild turkey to a 20lb thanksgiving bird. And yes, if you don't slow or pressure cook them, they will be tough.. just like a 4 year old squirrel lol. Make them into soup or stew, or pressure cook them and they actually have better flavor than store bought birds though!

That said.... I don't like eating anything that I don't know what it died of.

I have seen 2 roosters and 1 transsexual rooster die of apparent heart attacks. The first two were cornish rock crosses around 8 months old and a year old. Both rolled over on their backs with their legs more or less straight up and turned blue. The third looked like a brahma hen and likely laid eggs and then at around 18 months old it started to look like a rooster. I saw it jump up on a bunk of wood, crow and fall over dead. It was the first and only time I saw it crow.

Old hens and roosters have more flavor. Most Asian, African, Hispanic and Middle Eastern immigrants greatly prefer the flavor of old fowl, especially old roosters.

I like the flavor of old roosters. They are good when cooked slow, with lots of water and become very tender. They make good chicken and noodles. Since I can sell old roosters for 5 or 6 times what I can buy a processed chicken for, I usually sell them and buy the chicken I eat instead.

Now is a great time to buy old hens. Most of the big free range egg farms are dumping their old birds. You can get them for 25 cents each if you buy thousands. They are $2.00 each in smaller numbers. I just killed 100 tonight and they weighed 4.34 pounds on average, live weight. They'll end up as pet food.

Keith

Thanks guys.
I honestly believe it was a heart attack. I cant imagine anything coming on that fast. It has a lot of meat on the breast ,very fat and healthy rooster ,not skinny at all. I eat wild geese that are probably 15 years old.

I will chop it up for the dogs since I cant be sure, but good to know I can eat them. I have a few more coming of age but will butcher them before they get old. Glad I had a couple roosters hatched this spring or I would be out of luck, no other chickens here for fertilized eggs.

Man I wish I could get them for two dollars a bird, that's cheaper than shells for hunting geese.

And JP I can picture you cooking your rubber chicken in the pot lol