You need to know how much chicken you need, either by following a recipe or the number of people you intend to feed. Estimate a half-pound per person of edible meat. A whole 6-pound chicken will have around 3 to 4 pounds of meat. Therefore, you should buy a whole chicken that weighs about the same as the number of people you intend to feed. Purchasing a slightly larger chicken is better than getting one too small.