How/when to process my chickens to eat them?

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Zenomorph13

Zenomorph13

Hatching
6 Years
Jun 19, 2013
3
0
9
Yorba Linda California
Hello, I'm Zenomorph13. I live in Yorba Linda California. I have 5 hens we raised from chicks for eggs. I've had them for a few years now and have had no problems except for the one chick that turned out to be a rooster, but we found a local cowboy that took him for us cause we aren't aloud to have roosters were I live. I was just wondering when and how to process a hen/rooster for consumption.
 
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Greetings from Kansas, zenomorph14, and
welcome-byc.gif
! Great to have you with us! There are a lot of start to finish tutorials on processing chickens both on youtube and on BYC. Do a search for 'processing' or 'butchering' and you'll have a lot to look at at. In terms of when...kind of depends on breed. Old enough so there is some meat on them...but not so old that it is tough. Could be 16-20 weeks. A word of caution. The chicken you may be used to eating from the supermarket or restaurant is a variety called Cornish Cross. It is bred to grow fast - most are only 7-8 weeks old when they are processed. Most other breeds need to be much older to process and they will likely still not be as large as the Cornish X. Secondly, it will not taste the same as what you are used to. Not bad, mind you - just different. I've talked to many folks who don't like non-Cornish X chickens...not because they are unappetizing, but because they weren't what they were expecting. I wish you well.
 
Hello. Welcome from Los Angeles.

There are lots of methods and I think the most important thing is to do what you feel confident doing. I watched a lot of videos before I processed by first bird. This ended up being my favorite and is the method I use but there a lot of the other ways if this does not work for you. Warnings: a chicken is killed in the video below and it make be graphic for some.

If you are processing you spent layers like I am the taste is great but the meat is tough so I recommend slow cooking and stews. Make sure to let me meat rest in your frig for 3 days after you butcher before you cook. This will also help with the toughness.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/how-to-kill-a-chicken-video.html
 

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