I am curious what a Black Austrlorp chicken SHOULD look like plucked

[chooniecat]

because I just did 2 21 wk old cockerels and the skin is horridly ugly. I prefer to eat them skinned but thought I would try freezing with skin on to see if that can preserve the flesh better. I don't process often enuf to be expert at it and it seems like every time I try to process NOW I forget everything(am whining mostly but...). POINT being..does anyone have a pic of a dark featherd similar bird thats been plucked to I can see what they SHOULD look like?(maybe they ARE just grosser birds when plucked!) Can't find any plucked pics ANYWHERE. TY-katy

 

[MyTDogs]

I just took a silkie cross in....he had a blue grey base with red wings and yellow neck feathers. The kid at the processor freaked out because he had never seen a dark bird before.

The bird's skin is grey with darker bumps where the feathers where. Not really appetizing....i will probably make stock with him and feed the rest to the dogs.

 

[chooniecat]

Its just finding any pics!! But thanks for the note. It WAS gross but I had skinned 2 the week before and the actual meat was gorgeous and tasted great(according to my son). Had an egg customer ask about meat from the cockerels and just wanted to see what they looked like skinned if I attempt to give her any. Once again-the meat under skin was perfect. Skin was scarey!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I just took a silkie cross in....he had a blue grey base with red wings and yellow neck feathers. The kid at the processor freaked out because he had never seen a dark bird before.
The bird's skin is grey with darker bumps where the feathers where. Not really appetizing....i will probably make stock with him and feed the rest to the dogs.

DH was sleeping in front of the TV the other night, and when I walked in he was "watching" Iron Chef America. The mystery ingredient was ... drum roll please ... SILKIE CHICKEN ... They made it sound very mysterious.
It did look really strange. And of course, I only say the very end where they do the tasting of the final dishes.

 

[Damselfly]

I didnt take any pictures but we just processed a bunch of black feathered cockerals this past weekend, and they did not pluck as clean looking as a commercial white broiler "store chicken". Ours were younger chickens, and were still growing in their feathers. I think ours would have picked more cleanly if they had been more fully feathered.

 

[sabella]

I just did a batch of Marans and Olive Eggers. My two blacks looked fine. They had yellowish skin just like the splashes.

 

[ScottnLydia]

DH was sleeping in front of the TV the other night, and when I walked in he was "watching" Iron Chef America. The mystery ingredient was ... drum roll please ... SILKIE CHICKEN ... They made it sound very mysterious.
It did look really strange. And of course, I only say the very end where they do the tasting of the final dishes.

In Chinese cuisine, Silkies are refered to as "black boned chicken" and are esteemed for health benefits! When we lived in Seattle and would go to Asian markets they would have them frozen, black skin prominently displayed. I'm sure they just taste like chicken, though.

~S