When will my rooster be ready for 'the pot'?

It's me again...the newbie. I have two roosters and 5 hens. Obviously I can't keep both roosters and have decided that the one that is more 'rooster' than the other has got to go, or rather, become dinner. Here is the current situation:

New chickens are currently in quarantine for the next 10 days and all of my birds are being given the proper dosage of Tetracycline Hydrochloride daily. Discarding the eggs at present.

The rooster in question was born right around April 1st. he is an Ameracauna [sp].

So am looking for info on when he can be harvested; is he mature enough, etc... I know that I need to wait several days post antibiotics to do so, but do I need to wait any longer than that for any particular reasons? Thanks again to the other Chicken owners here for all of the great info you have given me thus far. If you need additional info, ask and I will edit. Be well!

PS: My husband is a hunter and we have 'processed' grouse and small game birds many a time, so the how of that part I have covered :)

?2012-06-13T08:27:22Z

Favorite Answer

Best to butcher at 16-24 weeks we butchered 200 chickens when they were that old and they were good!

Chickenfarmer2012-06-13T13:05:39Z

There is no waiting period is terms of "maturity" for processing a bird (in fact, maturity in terms of a rooster is a bad thing). A male chicken who has reached maturity isn't going to be as good in the "pot" as a young rooster (there's a reason capons are popular). Ameracaunas are not meat chickens so he's never going to be huge to begin with.

Anonymous2012-06-13T12:47:50Z

Easy.......how big is it?
"Mature" has nothing to do w/anything....& old birds just get tough.

Rasool Rahimi2012-06-13T12:47:32Z

i don;t know