Cooking old chooks

Jul 14, 2014by Liz Beavis

We usually keep around ten to twenty hens for eggs. Unfortunately, as hens get older, they lay less frequently, and that's an awful lot of hens to feed if they are not producing eggs. Every year we cull the older hens, but they don't go to waste. If any are really skinny or unwell, we bury them in the garden, but the rest of them we butcher and cook. Sure old hens can't be cooked the same as a young rooster, but you can still prepare some delicious meals from them. We don't buy chicken meat, so any opportunity to eat chicken is a rare treat for us and we don't waste anything!

Roast hen - you can roast the hens, but they need to cook for a long time, several hours, in a closed roasting dish with liquid in the bottom so they don't dry out. I season with herbs and garlic.

Minced hen - we also like to mince the breast and leg meat and make meatballs, this avoids the stringy texture.

Chicken stock - I fill the slow cooker with as much wings and feets as it will fit, top up with water and a splash of apple cider vinegar, squeeze in some onion, garlic, carrot, celery and herbs and cook for at last 24 hours.

Don't waste anything - old hens usually have ample fat, and I keep this separate and render it to use for cooking. I also keep the livers for making pate and I scrub and peel the feet to add to stock.

Do you butcher your old chooks? Or let them die of old age?

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