3 ms·

I cook whole chickens very frequently, 1-2 times a week for the past few years, and the sizes of the birds described is not something I have ever even seen on t

I cook whole chickens very frequently, 1-2 times a week for the past few years, and the sizes of the birds described is not something I have ever even seen on the market. The average whole chicken I see is about 3 1/2 lbs, or 1.6 kg. Some are under 3 lbs and the largest I see in stores is about 5 lbs/2.2 kg. Certainly not over 4 kg - a 9 lb chicken would be massive, more like a small turkey. It could be that I buy organic/free-range chickens, but I haven't ever seen a 9 lb chicken for sale or any parts that would appear to come from a 9 lb chicken.

Kerrick 4y ago
You’re talking about dress weight, whereas most of the stats and infographics in that Twitter thread are about live weight. You lose plenty of mass (often a quarter) when you pluck, gut, and dress a chicken. Of course that doesn’t account for the whole difference. I have looked into raising Cornish Cross in my small farm, the “Frankenstein” breed the thread derides. And the expected live weight at slaughter age for the specific ones [1] I’m considering is 4.5lb for hens and 6lb for cockerels. 1: https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/jumbo-cornish-cross/ https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/jumbo-cornish-cross/
- code_duck 4y ago
  I forgot to reply earlier, but that's a good point and I didn't think of that. I would imagine that the live chicken weighed about 4.5-5 lbs too.
z3c0 4y ago
I've noticed a substantial difference between the breast size of whole chickens vs the boneless chicken breasts that you see in large packs in common grocery stores. A boneless breast will sometimes have more than twice the meat as a bone-in breast. The whole chickens I get from a local farmer look more like the "1978 model", but I've often wondered what the chickens providing those massive boneless breasts look like.
- nerdponx 4y ago
  > I've often wondered what the chickens providing those massive boneless breasts look like. They are twisted mutants that in some cases literally cannot walk: https://www.wired.com/2008/02/chickens-cant-w/ https://www.wired.com/2008/02/chickens-cant-w/
dfxm12 4y ago
I buy a lot of whole chickens, too. The biggest birds I find from industrial farms (like Perdue) hover around 5lb max. The birds from smaller farms hover around 3lb, basically what you see. I do see some chicken leg quarters and split breasts that seem to be suspiciously large, but not nearly twice as large as the Perdue 5 pounders! The big birds might just get sold to fast food/fast casual restaurants and not to regular joes like us. I also think it is possible that they buy enough more chickens than we do to weigh any averages towards them as well.

Kerrick 4y ago

You’re talking about dress weight, whereas most of the stats and infographics in that Twitter thread are about live weight. You lose plenty of mass (often a quarter) when you pluck, gut, and dress a chicken. Of course that doesn’t account for the whole difference. I have looked into raising Cornish Cross in my small farm, the “Frankenstein” breed the thread derides. And the expected live weight at slaughter age for the specific ones [1] I’m considering is 4.5lb for hens and 6lb for cockerels. 1: https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/jumbo-cornish-cross/ https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/jumbo-cornish-cross/

code_duck 4y ago
I forgot to reply earlier, but that's a good point and I didn't think of that. I would imagine that the live chicken weighed about 4.5-5 lbs too.

z3c0 4y ago

I've noticed a substantial difference between the breast size of whole chickens vs the boneless chicken breasts that you see in large packs in common grocery stores. A boneless breast will sometimes have more than twice the meat as a bone-in breast. The whole chickens I get from a local farmer look more like the "1978 model", but I've often wondered what the chickens providing those massive boneless breasts look like.

nerdponx 4y ago
> I've often wondered what the chickens providing those massive boneless breasts look like. They are twisted mutants that in some cases literally cannot walk: https://www.wired.com/2008/02/chickens-cant-w/ https://www.wired.com/2008/02/chickens-cant-w/

dfxm12 4y ago

I buy a lot of whole chickens, too. The biggest birds I find from industrial farms (like Perdue) hover around 5lb max. The birds from smaller farms hover around 3lb, basically what you see. I do see some chicken leg quarters and split breasts that seem to be suspiciously large, but not nearly twice as large as the Perdue 5 pounders! The big birds might just get sold to fast food/fast casual restaurants and not to regular joes like us. I also think it is possible that they buy enough more chickens than we do to weigh any averages towards them as well.