Cooked First Old Hen

[kmb221]

We had our almost 4 year old hens butchered last week. Kept them in a brine of salt water, then vacuum sealed and froze. I kept one out to cook for Sunday dinner. Well, after 10 hours in the crock pot the meat finally starting coming off the bone. Luckily I had leftovers from the night before as I didn't feel like making pot pie at 8 o'clock at night. It was a learning experience as now I know how to do the next 8 hens.

 

[OldGuy43]

It was a learning experience as now I know how to do the next 8 hens.

Thanks for the info. We're still a long way from needing this information but...

So what did you learn? How will you do the next 8 hens?

Thank you.

 

[bobbi-j]

I pressure-can our old hens. The meat gets nice and tender and it's great for soup, stew, pot-pie, salads, lunch meat (if you drain it). It comes in its own broth and you can skim off what little fat there is before using it. I know it's not for everyone, but it works great for us. Canned chicken over rice is one of our favorite quick meals.

 

[OldGuy43]

Thanks.

 

[kmb221]

I will continue to use the crock pot. Have toyed around with pressure cooking, but the crock pot worked out well. It was nice to have this forum for good information. I'm going to make pot pie with the chicken tonight. I was a little skeptical about eating my own chickens, but i think I'm okay with it. I figure they are the fruit of our labor.

 

[cva34]

We prefer the older hens/roos over the 6/8 week fryers.For soup and stews or baked the older got some texture to the meat.Fryers are for just that.Fryers meat when boiled seems to get mushy...cva34

 

[kmb221]

Made slippery pot pie last night with the hen I cooked. Total amazement at how different the broth, etc. was compared to a store bought chicken. There was so much color and the broth was very rich. I'm glad we decided to butcher our old hens.

 

[Ibicella]

Made slippery pot pie last night with the hen I cooked. Total amazement at how different the broth, etc. was compared to a store bought chicken. There was so much color and the broth was very rich. I'm glad we decided to butcher our old hens.

Congrats! I'm so glad that it worked out great for you. I LOVE old birds for just this reason.

Now I'm hungry! Got any leftovers?

 

[Wolfman]

I have a question or two on this also, I have one chicken that is about two years old and is not laying eggs anymore, or at least not very regularly. I was thinking about butchering her.

Is it better to slow cook something this old then regular cooking, I don't have a pressure cooker so that is not an option. But I like slow cookers, I was thinking something like a stew or just chicken and veggies.

I would hate to just kill it and trash it, seems like a complete waste to me. One thing though, this hen has some kind of growth coming out of he neck, just blow the beak, At first I thought it was something that got stuck in her neck but it's well attached on the inside. It's almost like a second beak? I don't really know, it's just weird, but that is when she started to stop laying eggs. I would not save the neck anyway so I thought it would probably be OK.

Any thoughts?

Wolfman

 

[bj taylor]

glad i found this thread. it helps me get a better handle on how to manage my flock (currently two weeks old). i've never killed an animal deliberately before. i don't have an objection to it, i'm just plain scared of doing it. i want to be able to get over this, and know how to process the bird. i also want to learn how to use a pressure cooker. i have memories of mom's pressure cooker exploding and it scares the whooee out of me.