Chicken coops plans

If you want to kill a chicken in your home, wringing it’s neck is probably the best bet. Decapitation and throat cutting can both be pretty messy. We kill ours at the farm where they’re raised – hang them upside down by the feet, and slice the jugulars. They flap like made for a little while, but that’s just reflexes — if you get the throat properly cut, the chicken is unconcious in seconds.

Plucking is messy. The chicken needs to be dipped in water that is at least 140 degrees F, but no more then 170 degrees F. Too cool, the feathers won’t loosen, too hot and you can accidentally cook the skin, which makes it rip when you try to clean it. A little bit of dish soap in the water helps, as does a little bit of washing soda. You have to swish it around really well to make sure the water gets to the skin all the way.

I pluck on a table covered with newspaper, and roll up the feathers in the paper and pitch them when I am done. If you want to save the feathers to use for anything you need to dry pluck the chicken, which is harder to do.

You also have to work quickly, or rigor mortis will set in, making the chicken harder to work with.

Your naked bird will be much smaller then the feathered bird — expect about 1.5 to 2 lb difference between live weight and dressed weight.

After plucking and cleaning, it’s best to allow the chicken to rest in the fridge over night before cooking — this allows rigor to fully pass, and helps ensure you get tender meat.

Breed does effect taste a bit — check out the Ark of Taste breeds at the Slow Food website to get an idea for good breeds to look for — we have Buckeye’s.

Skin – if you buy a bird in an ethnic market, don’t be surprised if the skin is black or red — Asian and Hispanic cultures prefer colored skin chickens.

Expect less breast meat, and an all around “skinnier” looking bird if you buy anything but a Cornish X (pronounced cross). Cornish X are the standard grocery store chicken.

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