Where to buy a stewing hen in BR?

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Easy to find out in the country.

Not so easy here.

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Pretty sure what you will easily find are "Baking Hens" and they are usually older hens that are bigger and need a longer cooking time but are excellent choices for stews, gumbos, soups and chicken and dumpling recipes.

They tend to have a bit more flavor.

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gumbo2176

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Name checks out. :-)

Yeah, I'm making gumbo today.

Bet R by the overpass usually has them. Hi manor too.

If you go to the butcher at Calandros he will order them for you.

Luckily they are pretty easy to find in Georgia around the holidays. A hen simmering for the broth is what Thanksgivings of my youth smelled like.

Actually a day or two before is when my mom would make it. Makes the most rich broth. It's the key to cornbread dressing and giblet gravy imo.

There are only about 5 plants in the country that process them in significant numbers.

For those that don't know, these hens are the mothers (breeder hens) of the young broilers which is mostly the chicken we eat. When their laying life is over, they are processed in one of these 5 or so fowl processing plants.

When you see the big roasters that are of a similar size, they are still young chickens. They are good for stock too, but not as good as the older hen imo.