Chicken

No bird is available in so many different sizes as a chicken. Baby birds, weighing as little as 1 lb/500 g for one serving, may be specially fattened poussins, but more commonly they are coquelets or small cock birds. The middle range of somewhat skinny chickens, which serve two to four people, are good for some purposes (they are often classed as spring chickens, broilers and fryers), but they lack flavor because of their youth (nine to twelve weeks). At three to five months, chickens are usually classed as roasters and weigh upward of 3 ½ lb/1.6 kg. As well as being sold whole, chickens of more than 3 lb/1.5 kg are commonly cut into pieces, and individual parts such as legs or wings are also available, together with chicken breasts, with or without the bone.