Processed my first chicken today....questions...

[SomeChickinTN]

It was probably the grossest and saddest thing I've ever done. I'm still trying to come to terms with it. But I have delegated the task to my husband in the future.

Anyway, I decided to try to skin it, which sucked because I couldn't see the meat very well while I was trying to pull the skin away. I realized at the last minute that the thing in the throat had come out most of the way and I had cut it (I think the lady in the video called it a craw?)...Is the meat still good?

Why is the fat on fresh chicken yellow but white on store chicken?

How long do I need to let it rest in the fridge? I believe it's a 4 year old chicken but not sure.

 

[LilyD]

It was probably the grossest and saddest thing I've ever done. I'm still trying to come to terms with it. But I have delegated the task to my husband in the future.

Anyway, I decided to try to skin it, which sucked because I couldn't see the meat very well while I was trying to pull the skin away. I realized at the last minute that the thing in the throat had come out most of the way and I had cut it (I think the lady in the video called it a craw?)...Is the meat still good?

Why is the fat on fresh chicken yellow but white on store chicken?

How long do I need to let it rest in the fridge? I believe it's a 4 year old chicken but not sure.

I said the same thing at first but what it comes down to it is we are actually doing it because we need to even though it makes us uncomfortable. My husband will not process the chickens but will help set up and take down equipment at the beginning and end. I use a turkey fryer to heat water to 158 degrees and then pluck my chickens in a tub plucker (I tend to do a lot of roosters each year as well as turkeys and ducks) The crop is where the food sits so if you withhold food for 12 hours it should be empty so not a problem for the meat. If there was stuff in the crop you just need to rinse it off really well. Fat in a store chicken is only 8 weeks old at processing time fat on an 4 year old chicken is much older so different color. I would cook your bird low and slow use low temperatures or a crock pot and cook it low and slow. I use old hens for chicken and dumplings. Chicken enchiladas, chicken stew etc any wet type meal. You can also use a dutch oven to cook it in the oven with moisture in the bottom of the pan and the cover on for the first 2/3 of cooking at like 200 degrees then take the cover off for the last bit so it can brown the skin on top. Very very good.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

All good advice from @LilyD . I scald my birds to pluck them too, but I do mine by hand, which is also not difficult. Whatever you do, don't try to fry or grill it. Aside from that, you should have a tasty chicken.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For the physical side there is a learning curve, so that gets easier. But the emotional side affects different people differently. You did it because you felt you needed to but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Skinning an old hen isn't that hard but I don't recommend trying that with an old rooster. I skin my old roosters but it does take a lot more strength and there is a lot of connective tissue.

What you are talking about is usually called the crop on here but I grew up in East Tennessee calling it the craw. The crop is where the chicken stores the food right after it's eaten, something like the stomach but not quite. Some digestive juices mix with it but it's then sent in smaller parts down to the gizzard where it is ground up. When I get that stuff or even stuff from the intestines on the meat I just rinse it off well. No one has ever gotten sick over that but, yeah, I don't mention it to my wife. Luckily she hasn't asked.

I don't rest my chickens before I freeze them so I can't give you a time span, but mine stay thawed in the fridge after freezing. Resting before is probably better. You need to rest them until rigor mortis has passed, two or three days probably. The joints need to be really loose, not stiff at all.

Have you ever cooked an older chicken? If you don't do it right it may be worse than shoe leather. A hen that old can be used for chicken 'n dumplings or coq au vin, both traditional ways to use an older bird. They make great soup, just don't bring them to a full boil, never more than a gentle simmer. I use them to make broth, then pick the meat out. If you do that be careful, there are some small bones but that cooked meat is great in tacos, casseroles, or soup.

 

[danceswithronin]

Why is the fat on fresh chicken yellow but white on store chicken?

Because backyard chickens are typically grass and corn fed with more beta carotene in their diets than factory farm chickens ever get.

 

[SomeChickinTN]

For the physical side there is a learning curve, so that gets easier. But the emotional side affects different people differently. You did it because you felt you needed to but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Skinning an old hen isn't that hard but I don't recommend trying that with an old rooster. I skin my old roosters but it does take a lot more strength and there is a lot of connective tissue.

What you are talking about is usually called the crop on here but I grew up in East Tennessee calling it the craw. The crop is where the chicken stores the food right after it's eaten, something like the stomach but not quite. Some digestive juices mix with it but it's then sent in smaller parts down to the gizzard where it is ground up. When I get that stuff or even stuff from the intestines on the meat I just rinse it off well. No one has ever gotten sick over that but, yeah, I don't mention it to my wife. Luckily she hasn't asked.

I don't rest my chickens before I freeze them so I can't give you a time span, but mine stay thawed in the fridge after freezing. Resting before is probably better. You need to rest them until rigor mortis has passed, two or three days probably. The joints need to be really loose, not stiff at all.

Have you ever cooked an older chicken? If you don't do it right it may be worse than shoe leather. A hen that old can be used for chicken 'n dumplings or coq au vin, both traditional ways to use an older bird. They make great soup, just don't bring them to a full boil, never more than a gentle simmer. I use them to make broth, then pick the meat out. If you do that be careful, there are some small bones but that cooked meat is great in tacos, casseroles, or soup.

Thanks. No, I've never cooked anything that hasn't come from the store except a rabbit over an open fire a lifetime ago, and the occasional deer meat from my father in law. I was thinking about starting it on low in the crock pot as soon as I wake up with some onions and butter and broth, and then letting it go til dinner time and shredding it for something....

The emotional side was unexpected. I thought she was suffering because of the way she was acting, so when I had the chance I put her upside down by the feet, intending to put her down. By the time I realized that it was just the pad of her foot, I was afraid she was already stressed, and I was tired of putting off processing the older hens, so the decision was made.

Then she wouldn't pass out, I couldn't find a forked branch, and my children wanted to be in the way. So rather than a hatchet, we used a dowel rod, and I was trying to follow a YT video while my kids kept stealing my hose. Lol, it took about 2 hours and was very stressful.

 

[50-45-1]

was trying to follow a YT video while my kids kept stealing my hose. Lol, it took about 2 hours and was very stressful.

Having trouble following your meaning.
By this i hope you dont mean it took 2 hours to kill her!
You mention your hen may have been sick. Sick with what?
I would only dress healthy hens for eating.
Sorry for your distressing day. As you get better at anything it gets faster and easier.

 

[RoosterML]

It gets easier the more you do it. Also culling a sick or injured bird offers a sense of relief due to no more suffering.

 

[SomeChickinTN]

Having trouble following your meaning.
By this i hope you dont mean it took 2 hours to kill her!
You mention your hen may have been sick. Sick with what?
I would only dress healthy hens for eating.
Sorry for your distressing day. As you get better at anything it gets faster and easier.

No, it took about 2 hours to skin and gut because we were sort of learning as we went. I initially thought she had something wrong with her, that my aggressive rooster had hurt her or something because she seemed to have trouble balancing.

After I got her upside down we realized that the bottom of one of her feet was swollen. And as I'm typing this I just remembered that last week one of the other hens was favoring one foot, though she seems fine now....

Could there be something wrong with the bedding?

 

[Ebony Rose]

Do they have a brown or black spot on the 'cushy' central pad of either foot? If so, it could be bumblefoot (a staph infection). Tons of information on the forum and videos on youtube to help you diagnose and treat surgically or non-surgically.