I killed my first hen.

[pfost262]

It was spur of the moment, although I've considered it, put it in my head, watched the videos, for over two months. I finally killed my first hen.

My main questIon is what should the skin look like? She was an old bird, 3 almost 4. The skin is yellow and tough and has a bunch of thin thin hairs I'm having a hard time pulling out. Should I cut the skin away from the meat? I'm just aunt confused what to do next. I certainly wouldn't think of putting it in the crock pot looking like this. It's in the chill pot now. So what do I do with that skin and what's my next step with an old bird?

 

[eggbert420]

I would pull all the feathers or take the skin off.

 

[pfost262]

So taking the skin off is okay? I know it's an old bird and wasn't sure if that was normal. It doesn't exactly look like a chicken carcass that I've seen in my books or videos

 

[Zoomie]

Just skin it. It's easier than trying to pull out all those little hairs.

I used to skin all my chickens until I found this on the BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-process-a-chicken-at-home which is complete with pics. If you scalded it and there are still hairs, well, just skin it. Most people don't think of the skin as their "favorite part" anyway, and if you are going to crock pot it (good choice with an older one) it's fine.

 

[eggbert420]

I personally don't eat chickens that old. Chickens at the grocery store are 8 weeks old. Thats why they are so tinder. Old chickens taste like rubber to me. If you put it in the crock pot add some fat /oil somthing to keep it moist after taking the skin off. I'm not a chef or a chicken expert this is just my opinion from experience.

 

[Zoomie]

Ummm... hate to disagree, but actually cooking in liquid as one does for the crock pot, you do not need to add fat etc. It will be plenty tender and moist. I have eaten many an old chicken... and goat, sheep etc. in my time. Now.... if you were **roasting** it... yeah. THEN you would have to add extra fat. But that is not the best use of an old chicken. Best use is in the crockpot or soup/stew and cooked for a really long time at low heat.

 

[eggbert420]

Ummm... hate to disagree, but actually cooking in liquid as one does for the crock pot, you do not need to add fat etc. It will be plenty tender and moist. I have eaten many an old chicken... and goat, sheep etc. in my time. Now.... if you were **roasting** it... yeah. THEN you would have to add extra fat. But that is not the best use of an old chicken. Best use is in the crockpot or soup/stew and cooked for a really long time at low heat.

Like I said I'm no chef just giving my opinion. Pfost262 can tell us how they liked the chicken after they cook it.

 

[Kiki]

It was spur of the moment, although I've considered it, put it in my head, watched the videos, for over two months. I finally killed my first hen.

My main questIon is what should the skin look like? She was an old bird, 3 almost 4. The skin is yellow and tough and has a bunch of thin thin hairs I'm having a hard time pulling out. Should I cut the skin away from the meat? I'm just aunt confused what to do next. I certainly wouldn't think of putting it in the crock pot looking like this. It's in the chill pot now. So what do I do with that skin and what's my next step with an old bird?

Congrats on your first time!

fast forward to 2:44

 

[pfost262]

Ah, now that I see it I do remember someone saying to burn them off. Okay well, I skinned most of the hen with the exception of the wings those were a pain in the ***. It has quite a bit of yellow which I'm assuming is fat. I tried to get that off as much as I could as well. I figure I'll let it sit in the fridge a couple of days and then throw it in the crock pot.

 

[pfost262]

Also, I don't think I got the whole neck. is that bad? There's some bone and a bit of blood still in that area.