Recently butchered out the old rooster and the extra young cockerels(5 mo. old), a total of 10 large fowl White Rock males. The group of young cockerels have been existing almost entirely on free range, as the hens and the older rooster didn't often let them in the coop during feeding time. I wouldn't see these boys all day long until roosting time, as they would be foraging out on the edge of the meadow and living in the honeysuckle thicket.
I was surprised to find these cockerels just rolling in deep, yellow fat, both inside and out. Not really typical for free ranged roosters, especially ones that young...usually they are more rangy and don't usually store much fat. Usually I see that amount of fat when I butcher out old hens, even those living almost entirely on free range. Actually, when I come to think about it, the fattest birds I've ever butchered were those done in October, when they've been living almost entirely on free range, foraged feeds for a couple of months.
I think the forage to be found in the late summer/early fall seasons is calculated to put fat on an animal for the winter months and I always adjust my feed at that time of year to take advantage of that situation. When I had sheep they would get enormously fat on just graze at this time of year and I've heard it was due to tall fescue, which is more nutritious at this time of year.
When I opened up the gizzards on these fat young cockerels they were full of grasses, so it could very well be that they were fattening up on the tall fescue and also the white dutch clover, which is flourishing at this time of year as well.
The rooster, on the other hand, exercised less(poor forager that haunted the feeder) and ate more of the grain based feed offered in the coop, had very little extra fat on his body and around his organs. The jars of canned chicken have a layer of golden fat at the top of each jar, which is going to make for incredibly flavorful soups, stews, casseroles and stir fry. Normally I would prefer an old hen for these kind of preparations due to her excess of fat, but these cockerels have surprised me and delighted me this year.
It could also be the breed. The White Rock breed tends to put on more fat while eating less feed than any breed I've ever raised and that fat seems to be distributed among the meat fibers, giving their meat a peachy, golden pink appearance and a flavor beyond compare. I've raised the WRS side by side with other breeds and they all had the same feed and foraging opportunities, but the WR meat looks and tastes different...has a more unctuous flavor and texture.
Either way, I'm pretty tickled to get 37 qts of fat, golden chicken in the jar for this winter's cooking and the flavor should be incredible. Will be making soup from a jar of it this week and will get to find out firsthand how good these cockerels taste.