[Dr Dolittle]

Our suspicions were were proved correct and two of our alleged hens turned out to be cockerels.
So, it was roast chicken for dinner last night - our first home reared, free range chicken!
We had read that, once a bird is plucked, some people hang it for a day or two before cooking but that this was not necessary, more a matter of individual taste.
     With the bible (John Seymour's book on Self Sufficiency) open at the correct instructions page, hubby did the necessary in the morning and we cooked the bird that evening.
The breast meat was very tasty and perfectly cooked. The leg meat (usually my favourite) was very grey and as tough as old boots. I found it inedible (but the dogs loved it).
     Is this because we didn't hang the bird? Or, was it older than is normal for dispatch? It was 19-20 wks. What is the best time/age for dispatch?

We're still climbing up that slippery learning curve!!!  (But enjoying every minute).
     

[Rosemary]

We've found the age at killing depends on the bird - when we had Light Sussex cockerels as a byproduct of hatching chicks, we killed them at about 24-25 weeks, about 4lb, and they were quite chewy. We didn't hang them.

We got some Hubbard chicks, which are a meat strain - we killed them at 12 weeks; they were between 5 and 7.5lbs; we hung them for 24 hours after plucking but before cleaning and the meat was lovely.