Preparing a chicken for the oven

[OffSpring]

Hi everyone,

a breeder near me is moving house and not taking her flock with her or giving them to the new owners (no interest in chicken keeping) - Woah?!!

So I am to inherit approximately 80-100 hens in total (on top of my flock of 21 chickens).

I have the space to keep them as I let mine free range and roost/nest in the stables...

But I will have way too many eggs to personally consume and sell, also feed costs will be considerably greater and I think managing a flock of this size will no longer be a hobby and become more of a chore (which I don't want).

So I would like to start eating them to start reducing numbers and it's also good because I will also learn to respect my food more and know how it got to my plate...

Which brings me back to the heading of this post.

Could anyone please give me step by step instructions on the quickest and easiest method to kill, pluck, remove unwanted organs and basically fully prepare a chicken from free ranging outside to baking in the oven.

Also any pictures of the process would be a great help to me so that I would know that I am doing things correctly (I suggest a link to an external site with a warning so as not to offend any viewers)

Many thanks for your help!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Try the Meat Birds section of this forum, also the other BYC Ezboard message board has a meat bird thread that should have what your looking for....just look through the posts...and chicken and egg recipe section to for the cooking or baking...