Have you ever been hiking through the woods and spotted a bright orange shelf mushroom growing on a tree and wondered what it was? That eye-catching fungus might just be chicken of the woods – a delicious wild mushroom that’s becoming increasingly popular with foragers and food enthusiasts alike!
As someone who’s spent countless hours tromping through forests in search of these golden treasures, I’m excited to share everything I know about where to find chicken of the woods mushrooms. Whether you’re a seasoned forager or just curious about wild food this guide will help you locate, identify, and harvest this unique mushroom safely.
What Is Chicken of the Woods?
Before we dive into where to find it let’s talk about what makes this mushroom so special.
Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) is a vibrantly colored bracket fungus that grows in shelf-like clusters on trees. It gets its quirky name because both its texture and flavor remarkably resemble chicken meat when cooked – no joke! When raw, the flesh is pale and firm, but it transforms into a golden, tender delight when cooked properly.
This mushroom features:
- Bright orange or yellow caps growing in overlapping clusters
- No gills (it has tiny pores instead)
- A meaty texture and nutty, slightly woodsy flavor
- Typically appears on hardwood trees, especially oak, cherry, beech, and chestnut
The best part? It’s considered a “beginner-friendly” mushroom for foragers because its distinctive appearance makes it relatively easy to identify, and it has few dangerous look-alikes.
When to Search for Chicken of the Woods
Timing is everything when it comes to foraging these colorful fungi. Chicken of the woods tends to appear during warmer months, but the exact timing varies by region:
- Northeast US: August to October
- Southeast US: May to September
- Midwest US: June to September
- Southwest US: July to September (monsoon season)
- West Coast: April to November (foggy areas)
- Pacific Northwest: June to October
The ideal conditions for chicken of the woods to fruit are daytime temperatures between 60-80°F (15-27°C) with frequent rainfall or high humidity. After a good rain during these warmer months is often the perfect time to go hunting!
Where to Find Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms
Now for the main event – where exactly should you look for these golden mushrooms? Chicken of the woods is a wood-decomposing fungus, which means it grows exclusively on trees. Here’s where to focus your search:
1. Deciduous Trees
Your best bet is to look for hardwood trees, particularly:
- Oak (absolute favorite!)
- Beech
- Maple
- Cherry
- Chestnut
- Willow
- Poplar
While occasionally found on conifers, be extra cautious with those specimens, as they can sometimes cause digestive upset in some people.
2. Dead or Dying Wood
Keep your eyes peeled for:
- Recently fallen logs
- Decomposing stumps
- Standing dead trees
- Wounded living trees with decaying sections
These mushrooms break down the wood they grow on, so they’re often found on trees showing signs of decay or damage.
3. Specific Environments
Some particular locations tend to be chicken of the woods hotspots:
- Forest edges and tree lines: The border between woods and fields or roads often creates the perfect growing conditions
- Parks and landscaped areas: Urban parks with mature hardwood trees can be surprisingly productive
- Riparian zones: Areas along creek beds and rivers with hardwood trees
- Campgrounds: The accumulation of deadwood provides excellent habitat
- Old growth forests: Mature trees with plenty of deadwood are prime real estate
Pro tip: When you find chicken of the woods in one location, mark it on a map! These mushrooms often return to the same spot year after year.
How to Identify Chicken of the Woods
When you’re out foraging, look for these key identifying features:
- Growth pattern: Overlapping shelves or brackets emerging from a central point on wood
- Color: Vibrant orange to yellow caps with a whitish underside (colors fade as the mushroom ages)
- Shape: Fan or kidney-shaped caps with wavy, ruffled edges
- Size: Individual caps range from 2 inches to 2 feet across
- Texture: Velvety surface when young, becoming more scaly as it ages
- Spore print: White (though you’ll rarely need to take one)
- Scent: Faintly fruity, sometimes reminiscent of apricots
Look-Alikes to Watch For
While chicken of the woods is relatively distinctive, there are a few look-alikes to be aware of:
- Sulfur shelf that grows on conifers instead of hardwoods (can cause stomach upset)
- Jack-o-lantern mushroom which has gills and stems (toxic and causes gastrointestinal issues)
- Elm oyster which is found specifically on dead elm trees (inedible but not toxic)
I always recommend that beginners go foraging with an experienced guide their first few times. No mushroom meal is worth risking your health!
Harvesting Tips
When you’ve found chicken of the woods, follow these guidelines for responsible harvesting:
- Use a sharp knife to cut the mushroom flush at its base rather than pulling it off
- Take only what you plan to use, leaving some to spread spores
- Focus on younger, tender portions (older sections become tough and leathery)
- Clean dirt and debris with a soft brush or cloth
- Transport in a rigid container to prevent crushing
- Store in the refrigerator in a paper bag and use within 3-4 days
Remember, sustainable harvesting ensures these magnificent mushrooms will return year after year!
Where to Buy Chicken of the Woods
Not everyone has the time or confidence to forage for their own mushrooms. If you’re curious about trying chicken of the woods but don’t want to hunt for it yourself, there are other options:
- Farmers’ markets: Local foragers often sell their finds at seasonal markets
- Specialty food stores: Some gourmet shops carry wild mushrooms when in season
- Online marketplaces: Websites like Foraged.com connect consumers directly with professional foragers
- Local co-ops and natural food stores: These sometimes carry seasonal wild mushrooms
When purchasing chicken of the woods, look for young, firm specimens with vibrant color. Avoid any that appear dried out, discolored, or have an off smell.
Cooking with Chicken of the Woods
Once you’ve got your hands on some chicken of the woods, the culinary possibilities are endless! This versatile mushroom works well in nearly any chicken recipe:
- Bread and fry for a vegetarian “chicken nugget”
- Sauté with garlic and herbs
- Add to soups and stews
- Roast with olive oil and salt
- Use as a meat substitute in stir-fries, tacos, or sandwiches
The key to delicious chicken of the woods is thorough cooking. These mushrooms should never be eaten raw, and even when cooked, it’s wise to try just a small amount your first time, as some people may have individual sensitivities.
Safety Considerations
I can’t stress enough the importance of mushroom safety! Keep these points in mind:
- Always be 100% certain of identification before consuming any wild mushroom
- When in doubt, throw it out – no mushroom meal is worth the risk
- Avoid specimens growing on yew, eucalyptus, or conifers, as these can absorb toxins
- Cook thoroughly before eating
- Try a small amount first to check for personal sensitivities
- Only harvest from unpolluted areas away from roadways, industrial sites, or areas sprayed with pesticides
Final Thoughts
Finding chicken of the woods in the wild is an exciting and rewarding experience. There’s something truly special about connecting with your food source directly and bringing home an ingredient that’s not commonly found in grocery stores.
Whether you’re foraging your own or purchasing from a reliable source, chicken of the woods offers a unique culinary adventure that connects you with nature’s bounty. The vibrant color, meaty texture, and delicious flavor make it worth seeking out!
Happy foraging!
Chicken of the Woods Look-Alikes
As an easy-to-identify beginner mushroom, there’s nothing that really looks like chicken of the woods mushrooms. You won’t exactly find a “false chicken of the woods” out there, so don’t worry.
Occasionally it’s confused for other orange mushrooms, like chanterelles…but only from a distance. Chanterelles grow out of the ground, and not in shelf-like clusters on wood. They also have an orange underside with ridges, rather than a pore surface. (They’re also, edible, of course.)
Obviously, you’ll want to look out for orange chanterelle look likes, namely jack o lantern mushrooms (Omphalotus olearius), but those have gills, and don’t grow in a shelf-like way.
I’ve heard some people describe Velvet Top Fungus as a false chicken of the woods, but at least from the descriptions, the resemblance is superficial. It does grow in shelf-like clusters, and resembles a chicken of the woods in shape.
Personally, I’ve never come across velvet top fungus, but here’s a description from Nothern Woodlands:
“A velvet top fruiting body tends to be quite wet and squishy, often dripping water. The underside has irregular pores, is greenish when new, and turns red-brown when bruised. As a velvet top ages, the whole thing becomes brittle, turns brown, and looks like a cow pie.”
There you have it, avoid anything that looks like a squishy cow pie, and make sure the underside is a bright yellow.
Chicken of the Woods Identification
The unmistakable yellow-orange color of chicken of the woods mushrooms is easy to see at a distance, and it’ll catch your eye in an otherwise brown/green woodland landscape.
The name “sulfur shelf” gives you an indication of its visual characteristics, as it has a yellow/orange color (like sulfur) and grows in shelf-like clusters on either standing or fallen wood. The “shelves” will be parallel to the ground, unless the tree has just very recently fallen.
Generally, chicken of the woods mushrooms have an orange/yellow upper surface, and a bright yellow “sulfurous” underside.
A key identifying characteristic is the lack of gills on the underside. Instead of gills, you should see many tiny, nearly microscopic pores in the bright yellow under the surface.
If you look REALLY closely, you can actually see the pores, but at a casual glance, it looks more like very fine fuzz.
Either way, when they’re in prime condition, the underside or pore surface will be a bright yellow.
The pores release spores, and that’s how the mushroom reproduces. It’s a polypore mushroom, like reishi, turkey tail, tinder polypore, and birch polypore.
The color tends to fade when they’re past prime, and they’ll wash out to a more white-ish color.
Occasionally I’ve found that they don’t have the bright orange coloration on the top, when they’re in a place that’s protected from sunlight. There was a small space inside/under this log that had good quality chicken of the woods mushrooms with a slightly off-white to cream-colored top since they didn’t have sun exposure, but the pore surface was still a bright yellow sulfur color.
The leading edge of chicken of the woods mushrooms tends to be a bit thicker than the rest, and has a small yellow-ish ridge.
Huge Flush Of Chicken Of The Woods
FAQ
Where do Chicken of the woods mushrooms grow?
Chicken of the woods mushrooms can be found in a variety of environments, but they are most commonly found growing on the trunks or stumps of deciduous trees such as oak, beech, and maple. Look for mature trees that are at least 10-15 years old, as chicken of the woods mushrooms tend to grow on older trees.
What is chicken of the woods?
Chicken of the woods is a mushroom often foraged as a wild food. There are two species of chicken of the woods mushrooms: There are also several different subspecies. Many mushroom hunters refer to most of these species under the umbrella terms “chicken of the woods,” “chicken fungus,” or “sulphur shelf.”
Can you eat chicken of the woods?
To stay safe, ingest only chicken of the woods that have grown on oaks and hardwoods. When harvesting chicken of the woods, cut the mushroom from the tree cleanly as close to the base as you can, leaving a little bit of the root portion still embedded in the stump, log or tree.
Is chicken of the woods a safe mushroom?
For the most part, you’ll find chicken of the woods to be a very safe species of mushroom to look for, especially for first time mushroom hunters. The first time you locate chicken of the woods as a forager, you might be surprised at how easy they actually are to find, especially in woodland areas.
Is Chicken of the Woods edible?
Chicken of the Woods is edible and is bright orange and yellow. It’s just as good young and moist as it is aged and crumbled into its own mushroom-flavored spice. It’s easy to master Chicken of the Woods identification, so learn where to find Chicken of the Woods and start foraging mushrooms now! This is the gateway mushroom for many novice foragers.
Can Chicken of the woods grow on dead trees?
Chicken of the Woods is ikely to grow on dead or dying trees. They can be found regularly on deciduous trees and it grows best on Oak trees. It can sometimes be found on eucalyptus, yew, sweet chestnut, and willow. Find the best mushroom spots in your state, discover our Mushroom Maps here!
Where is the best place to find chicken of the woods?
The best place to find Chicken of the Woods mushrooms is in deciduous woodlands during the late spring through fall season, especially after rain. Look for them growing on dead or dying hardwood trees like oaks, beech, or cherry, specifically on the base or side of the trunk or on fallen logs and stumps. You’ll never find them growing in an open field.
Where does chicken of the woods grow in the USA?
Chicken of the woods is widespread across the eastern and southeastern U.S., found in deciduous woodlands on hardwoods like oak and cherry, with specific species like Laetiporus cincinnatus common in these areas. On the West Coast, the similar Laetiporus gilbertsonii grows on oak and eucalyptus, while Laetiporus huroniensis is found on conifers in the Great Lakes region.
What time of year does chicken of the woods grow?
Chicken of the woods mushrooms typically grow from late spring to fall, with most foragers finding them from late summer to fall, though they can appear at any time of year depending on the local climate and host tree. They are often found on the base of dead or dying hardwoods or stumps, and you may be able to find them in the same spot year after year.
How rare is chicken of the woods?
Quite a rare find in the forest where we live (but common elsewhere), Chicken of the Woods, also called The Sulphur Polypore or Sulphur Shelf, is an easy to identify, edible bracket fungus that grows on dead or decaying wood. Found most commonly on Oak, but can also be found on Willow, Cherry, Chestnut and Yew.