Raising Chickens for Meat

[booker81]

The easiest skinning method I've found is splitting up the belly and breast, pulling that back from the torso, cutting the skin horizontally along the "waistline" on both sides a bit, and then it just is shucking out the extremeties from that juncture. CX are so tender and their skin shucks off so easily that the only problem is that it actually tears when you don't want it to...like when you are trying to get it entirely down and off the legs and upper wing areas.

Older chickens are a little tougher to skin along the back without a little knife work to cut the skin away from the connective tissue that keeps it close to the bones along the back. Other than that it is much like taking a tight jacket and pants off a small baby/child....a little bit of a struggle but you just have to get the hang of it, then it gets easier.

Of course, it's very much easier if the bird is still warm and supple immediately after death.

I think skinning a chicken is easier than clothing/unclothing an uncooperative child, but it's a darn good analogy.

I think once upon a time, I took some pictures of skinning a roo. Maybe this weekend, I'll get around to posting them. Many folks like to skin, and I can do it, but prefer plucking (my cruddy finger joints can pull scalded feathers without issue, but doing that grip and pull of the skin, especially over the hock joints, gets to be a frustration. Doesn't hurt, I just have cruddy fingers for gripping.)