Skinning old roosters

[Compost King]

I have never processed an old bird and I skin my birds. I heard it was harder to skin an older bird but how much harder is it?

 

[FortCluck]

Following in case I need to know later down the road.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me, quite a bit harder for males, not that much harder for females. When they hit puberty and the hormones really start flowing the cockerels start growing connective tissue. I haven't paid much attention to whether one end of that connective tissue attaches to meat, bone, or something else, but the other end attaches to the inside of the skin. It can take some strength to tear it. A lot of the time I use a knife to cut some of that tissue. It gets worse as they get older. A five month old cockerel isn't horribly bad, a rooster a few years ago is really rough. Another reason to have a sharp knife.

I often process pullets 8 months old after I've evaluated laying to decide which to keep. Those are not bad. A hen a few years old has some of that tissue but it's not that bad.

 

[RoosterML]

I have never skinned a bird. All I can say is this. Normally when eviscerating I just cut a slit and then pull apart with my hands. I tried doing this with my older rooster and I could not rip the skin open. I am not weak by any means.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

Totally agree with ridgerunner. Roos are so much harder to skin. Sharp knife will be needed. I skin mine too. hand plucking was much more time consuming. Now I have a plucker so may try that next year. older hens are also hard to skin, but certainly not as hard as older Roosters. Even the 1 1/2 yr old roos were very tough to skin. If you have nice strong hands you can do it easier than my hands can. Good luck for sure. you can do it.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

PS, I have to use the good knife and vice grips. They are easier than plyers for me.