Many people in Australia don't know that when you're purchasing a chicken at the shops, you're actually buying both male and female birds. The general perception of chickens is that they're all clucking, stocky, females pecking about the paddock. This is partly true. The males are often forgotten about as being consumed as meat birds.
What we're doing at Milking Yard we're taking it one step further to offer males and females at different stages of their life. This ultimately is reflected in the size (80-day old birds being smaller than 100-day old birds) and how they should be cooked with.
Female birds typically carry more fat which makes them perfect for roast chicken dishes as this fat breaks down in the cooking process to impart moisture and flavour through the meat.
Males are typically leaner and have a gamier flavour which makes them ideal for recipes where they are cooked more slowly - like in a Coq Au Vin
KEY TERMS:
Petite Poulette - Younger female bird (we age ours to 80 days)
Poulette Royale - Mature female bird (we age ours to 100+ days)
Spent Hen - Breeding birds who have reached the end of their laying lives
Cockerel - Younger male bird (we age ours to 80 days)
Grand Rooster - Mature male bird (we age ours to 100+ days).
At Milking Yard Farm we're making chicken great again #makechickengreatagain and are trying to educate and bring transparency and clarify back to the industry. If you have any questions or suggestions on which we can write our next blog post about - send me an email at bruce@milkingyardfarm.com.au I welcome the suggestions!