That’s…um…a personal question.
To properly wash a chicken one needs a large plastic tub filled with lukewarm water and a dose of dishwashing liquid. Then submerge the bird so as to cover all the feathers (keep head above water). Then rinse bird - again, keeping head above water. This will remove any mites or other critters which may have infected said chicken and the coop. One should do this on a warm day so as to ensure said chicken dries before roosting for the night.
Oh…wait…
Never mind…
What exactly is the purpose of washing, for those of you who insist on it? The chicken is still liable to have salmonella even after washing, which is why you have to cook it fully.
If you’re that worried, tell me how often you clean your cell phone? ??
Always wash my chicken!
and I do clean my cell phone, too.
I don’t just clean chicken. I clean all my food for the most part.
I never wash chicken. It does nothing to make it safer. It just spreads the microorganisms around.
The preparation step that makes chicken safe to eat is cooking, not cleaning.
Yes. I rinse chicken. Right or wrong. I don’t love slime. I clean everything else too I’m still here. Nobody’s died yet. As far as I know.
And I clean cell phone too when it’s slimy.
I need a dip…
The purpose? To get rid of the feces that’s likely still on it from the “wash” they do in the processing plant. The chicken manure they use for growing mushrooms is sterilized and processed, but I still wash those to get rid of it. We use horse manure in our own organic garden and I wash that produce too. Horses roll in their own manure all the time - we brush them and oodles of other things getting it on ourselves in everyday actions and I wash my hands and/or take a shower after getting grimy to remove it as well. It’s part of life, but not one I want to ingest on purpose when I have other options.
Bugs are around everywhere, on everything. Washing doesn’t get rid of them - and besides - most are good for humans (granted, not salmonella or some forms of e-coli). They don’t bother me. Cooking will take care of the bad ones of those.
I’m relieved. I initially read this as “do you wash your children”?
The purpose of “washing” is to remove leftover feathers, sand, etc. from the skin. Of course one cannot wash the salmonella out of the chicken because is present not just on the skin… that’s why thorough cooking is recommended.
No; it is my understanding the chickens are already clean and bathed (in chlorine) before the go on their respective journeys!
About 20 years ago I told my mother-in-law that I hadn’t ever washed a chicken, and she (a woman who is very talented at hiding her feelings) became so disgusted with me that henceforth I wash my chicken. 
Personally, I prefer to remove any debris when we wash the chicken and we also thoroughly clean the sink and anything that was touched.
CDC specialists somewhere are pulling their hair out. :neutral:
How many here, either washers or nonwashers, have gotten sick from chicken cooked at home? I guess you’d only know it was the chicken if everybody who ate it got sick.
I also wonder how many follow whatever their own mothers did.
Heck easiest to just buy cooked chicken from Costco and not bother one way or another. 
In any case, we’ve never been sick from chicken or salmonella or anything else from chicken practices.
I don’t follow what my mother did when I was a kid… 'cause I don’t kill my chickens ?. I get them from a store. Actually, it was my grandfather who butchered the birds.
No, I don’t wash it. I usually open the package over the garbage can with the pan nearby to avoid drips if possible.