That's a lot of questions with very detailed answers. I'll try to point you in the right direction. First thing I would do is check out Travis' poultry brine in the Wikis. He has a recipe for a reliable poultry brine, injection and rub. They will give you a good first step
You smoke a chicken the same was as a turkey, they just finish sooner. If you can get your smoker to 300 degrees you can probably finish the chickens in the smoker in about two hours.
If not go ahead and smoke the poultry 2 or three hours and then move to a 350 oven to get to recommend internal temperature of 165 degrees
I like to smoke poultry at a higher temp initially to get beyond the danger zone and then lower the heat to let smoke. That way I can let it sit in the smoker a bit longer once it gets to an internal 140 degrees.
As far as carving I am sure if you do a search they will have a video for you but to break it down into a couple of easy steps.
Remove the wing where the joint attaches to the back bone. Pulling the wing away from the breast will make it easier to find the joint.
Remove the drumstick/thigh at the knuckle with the backbone. Pull the thigh away from the breast and slide your knife into the joint. This will give you the dark meat of the bird. You can separate the drumstick from the thigh if you like.
Next thing I do is cut down alongside the breast bone removing the breast from the carcass.
The rest is just recovering the little pieces still attached to the carcass. If smoking I wouldn't worry about serving the back as a separate piece.
Good Luck
Hope this helps
Al
