Do you pluck or skin your chickens?

[elemay17]

What method do you use, plucking or skinning/which do you prefer? We are getting ready to butcher (our first time with chickens) and were thinking skining them sounded waaay easier than messing with the feathers but hubby thought leaving the skin on some might be nice for the bbq.

So far we know we are going to use a "killing cone" (sounds so EVIL!) and then we were planning on dipping them in hot water and skinning them, after that I think I am done with the process until it looks like something that you buy from the store, I want nothing to do with taking the guts out!

[Anon001]

I leave the skin on. If I want baked chicken, I can skin it when I prepare it for cooking. But, there's something about fried chicken that isn't the same without the skin.

I was always taught that dipping in hot water is just to loosen the feathers for plucking. I don't see why you would dip the bird in hot water if your skinning.

I've also never used a "killing cone.". It is too easy to wring a neck or chop it. I have a big wood stump for my killing stump. I hold the chicken by the legs and use one chop to take the head off. Then I hang them upside down. I will kill three or four and hang them. I will then butcher all of them and kill three or four more.

One thing to keep in mind is to pen up the birds you plan to butcher, 24 hours before slaughter. During this 24 hours keep feed away from them. It makes for "better" butchering.

Good luck! Enjoy.

[AlchemyAcres]

Skin on for me!!!
I love crispy skin!
I keep hoping that somday someone will breed a Shar Pei chicken! LOL ;)

I'd only consider skinning if I intended to can the chickens.


~Martin :)

[NCLee]

Skin on here, too.

Skin helps protect the flesh from freezer burn.
Skin helps retain moisture during frying, baking, & BBQ'ing for most recipes.
Skin adds flavor and nutrients, even when using boney parts to make stock.

Even though we're on a low saturated fat diet here, I don't remove the skin prior to cooking, except when I'm making a chicken stew from scratch.

Around here, I don't know of anyone who skins chickens at the time of butchering. In thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen it done.

Just 2-cents on the subject.
Lee

[momma_to_seven_chi]

We pull off the skin of all birds we clean. Plucking is too much like work. And you don't have to dip them if you just skin them. You can simply rinse them in cool water to clean up when you are done.

[jonvee]

I'm a plucker too. They just taste better.

[DM]

For me, skin on... I dip them in VERY hot water, and the feathers come right out...

DM

[CastIronCook2]

I even pluck quail. Now, a squirrel, I'd skin.

As to the guts, a little story:

My daughter, a confirmed vegetarian, was told by her doctor that because of multiple health problems, if she wanted to continue working she MUST take in animal protein. She salved her conscience by undertaking responsibility for the lives--and the deaths--of the chickens she raised from that point on.

As a girl she'd had a pet chicken, so when the time came to slaughter her meat birds, thinking she couldn't face the axe part, she paid a local chicken-raiser $2 a bird to kill and dress them out for her. But she's a thrifty lass, and the economics of it began to wear on her.

Then her husband did her a favor, in a round-about way. Unintentionally, and just being his usual bumbling self, he did something that made her livid with anger.

Out she went to the chicken yard. With a bird in one hand and the axe in the other, she said, "Here, YOU hold the chicken while I chop!"

Whack.

(. . . and he never did THAT again.)

[bee_pipes]

Skin on. A scalding pot is a must. We swish them in the scalding pot until the large flight feathers or tail feathers pull out easily. The skin keeps a lot of the fat in, which gives the chicken flavor. I don't eat skin (unless it's KFC) but appreciate what it does for the flavor of the chicken.

Lots of luck with your first go-round in butchering. It is good, as CastIronCook2 pointed out, to take responsibility not only for the lives of the birds but the death too. We give them the best life we can and make the end as quick and humane as possible.

The chickens have an oil gland that serves to water proof their feathers. We found that wearing rubber gloves while plucking keeps that smell from soaking into your hands. It can take a few days for the smell to wear off.

If you have dogs, some of the organs can be boiled and used as kibble. The rest can be used as fodder for the compost bin.

You're gonna love the way your fresh chicken tastes!

Regards,
Pat

[paramilusmc]

I use to skin them then make chicken stripps from the breast and hot wings with the other parts after I butchered enough birds.

[NCLee]

So far we know we are going to use a "killing cone" (sounds so EVIL!) and then we were planning on dipping them in hot water and skinning them, after that I think I am done with the process until it looks like something that you buy from the store, I want nothing to do with taking the guts out!

I've been thinking about this since your post. This is a what ever it's worth to you reply.

Part of being a homesteader and living a self-sufficient lifestyle is the ability to take on whatever challenge that comes about. Sometimes, it isn't easy to do, until you make up your mind that you're gonna do it anyway. At first, it may be hard, sickening, repulsive, etc. But, if you're DETERMINED, after a while, you'll start to take it in stride. If you're like me, you still won't enjoy doing whatever it is. I don't like killing and cleaning fresh caught fish, nor dealing with the aftermath of an animal killed by dogs, for example.

Regardless of what you have to conquer, once you've done it, you will have a great sense of accomplishment. You'll have a sense of pride in yourself that you've overcome an adversion that was standing in your way in doing what needed to be done. That's a great feeling to have!

Hope you'll read this post in the spirit in which it's written. Which is to bolster your confidence that you CAN rise to the challenge when the situation needs for you to do so.

Good luck in your journey.
Lee