I'm keeping my brood stock birds, 3 hens and a tom, and they were all hatched June of 2010. Lost one large hen to a dog/coyote/coon in August.

The other 32 or so have hatch dates ranging from May through July, maybe even August. The bigger toms are in the 10-15lb range, I guess. I'm killing 10 to 12 on Saturday and processing them myself. I have quite a few reserved for folks @ $3/lb. I'm losing money or just breaking even on these birds, but it will help defray the costs (or buy me a schmoker). The rest of the birds are smaller and will likely be up to weight by Christmas, when I'll cull a few more.

Everything I'm reading says 10-14lb birds are perfect for smoking. These birds are lankier than the broad breasted birds we killed together last year, so it is possible that larger birds (above 15lbs) would be fine to smoke.

Thanks for the kind offers and tips. Much appreciated. I may be giving you a call Jim.