Whole chicken yield: how much is usable after prep (AP to EP %)
Whole chicken: about 58% usable going oven-ready bird to raw meat with skin, with a published range of 50–62%. That is a cost factor of 1.72: for every kilo you need ready to use, buy 1.72 kg as purchased.
Yield by preparation stage
| Stage | Average | Range | What is lost | USDA item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oven-ready → raw meat with skin | 58% | 50–62% | Bone (~33%) and handling loss | 582 |
| Oven-ready → raw meat only (no skin) | 47% | 40–53% | Bone, skin and fat | 582 |
| Oven-ready → breast (on the bone, as a share of the bird) | 27% | 22–31% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → thighs | 19% | 15–23% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → drumsticks | 17% | 14–20% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → wings | 14% | 12–16% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
| Oven-ready → back (carcass for stock) | 23% | 20–28% | Rest of the carcass | 583 |
About a third of a whole bird is bone. If you are breaking down birds for supremes and legs, cost the carcass and wing tips as stock rather than as waste.
Prep notes
Take the legs off first, cutting close to the carcass so the oyster comes with the thigh, then the breasts along the keel bone. Wing tips, backbone and any trim go straight into a stock tray rather than the bin.
What the yield does to the cost
British large whole chicken, 1.7 kg at £5.50 (Morrisons, 10 Oct 2026) is £3.24 a kilo as purchased. At 58% usable that is £5.58 per usable kilo.
Worked example: a kilo of raw meat with skin needs 1,724 g as purchased, costing £5.58. Costed on the bought weight it would read £3.24, so the costing would be 42% light.
Compare fresh diced chicken breast, 2 × 5 kg at £5.30 a kilo (JJ Foodservice, 10 Oct 2026). Meat with skin off a whole bird at £5.58 a kilo looks dearer, but it is a mix of breast, thigh and leg rather than all breast, and the carcass for stock comes free. The whole bird pays when you use every cut; if the menu only needs breast, buy breast.
| Usable whole chicken needed | Buy (as purchased) at 58% |
|---|---|
| 1 kg | 1.72 kg |
| 5 kg | 8.62 kg |
| 10 kg | 17.24 kg |
Use 58% in the yield calculator →
Typical uses
Supremes, legs for confit or braising, thighs for curries and burgers, and the carcass for stock and gravy.
Storage and the trim
Raw chicken lives on the bottom shelf, covered, below anything ready to eat; use within the use-by date. Portioned pieces keep two days; freeze the carcasses in batches for stock. About a quarter of the bird is back and carcass: roasted for brown stock, that is a by-product rather than waste.
Yield source: USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 102, Food Yields Summarized by Different Stages of Preparation (Matthews and Garrison, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1975), Table 1, items 582, 583 (US samples of oven-ready whole chicken (no giblets)). Prices as stated, read on 10 Oct 2026. Your own case is the real number: weigh it in the yield calculator.
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