al6517, that bird you did yourself is BEAUTIFUL! Looks like fresh from a farm, nice skin color and shape, I'm impressed!
Miss Prissy is right on! The first bird I had to process was very difficult because I hesitated because my heart wasn't in it but I do feel like a very 'agriculturally' minded person, assisting in puppy births and C-sections and tending many dog wounds over 40+ years.
The next chicken went SO MUCH SMOOTHER since I knew what would go wrong if I made the same mistakes as the first time. It is not the easiest thing to do by yourself unless you are totally prepared.
Sproutgirl, I would definately take another of your 4 mutt chickens down and have it dressed out and try to cook it for a trial dinner! The two I did myself were both dual purpose breeds and they all 'look' not scrawny but naked and tough is small and disappointing.
Coming from a bunch of layers, yours just may not be so yummy unless you stick it in a pressure cooker or something. No sense having a bummer meal on the Holiday. You also may feel a little (or a lot) wierd when eating that very first dinner so for insurance, I would suggest a trial run and be sure to come back to this thread and let us know how it goes.
Also, mine was just about 7 months old and may as well have been 7 years it was so stringy and tough.
