After the slaughter and before it's cooked ...

Let the bird rest in the fridge for 48 hrs. then freeze or eat. The resting will make the bird more tender, and in my opinion more flavorful. It is simular to letting beef age.

Short answer - yes, a chicken, and any other meat critter, should rest after butchering.

Long answer - Chickens go through rigor mortis just as any other critter does. Rigor usually sets in within half an hour after the bird dies and lasts about 6-8 hours (the larger the critter, the longer the rigor time). Cooking a bird while in rigor will result in toughness - the muscles are tensed up and firmer. After rigor, the next changes to the muscle occur over time and relate to the chemical changes of the muscle. The longer the muscle "rests", the more chemical change occurs - NOT decomposition/rotting, which is due more to bacterial increase, but just the decrease in connection between the muscle fibers. For "young" meat - like 8 week old chickens - there isn't much a discernible change between 2 days and 5 days, but if you're talking "big" and older meat - an 18 month old steer or a 3 year old deer, letting the meat "rest" for a few weeks or more is MUCH better than a day's rest.

I usually rest 3-5 days, based on my motivation to move it from fridge to freezer. I've gone a week before due to lack of said motivation, and there was no decrease in quality whatsoever.

I agree with Booker81, it has a bunch to do with the rigor. The only other thing that I will say is that it's really dependent on the bird as I have had some birds never go into rigor even though they were 6 months at slaughter and others that took 5 days to relax before I could cook them. What I do is put them in the fridge and then check them periodically. You will know they are ready to cook when the legs and thighs move (if on the whole bird) without any tension in the joints or muscles. If it's chicken pieces I test to see how firm the muscle feels if its ready it will feel soft rather than firm.

Hope this helps.
 

Thank you very much!!  This makes sense now as the bird was so tough and we thought we had done something wrong raising-wise.  We have another lame bird that dh will process tomorrow.  I'll leave it in the fridge over the weekend to cook on Monday.

Our family is really enjoying all the learning going on raising our chickens for meat and eggs.

PS:  My original post was under my daughter's profile - unbeknownst to me :)

Booker81 -- dh and I just finished reading your blog entry on processing a chicken at home.  It was fantastic!  He did a lot of things right on his first attempt and is anxious to try again with your detailed instructions.  Very informative!!

Two days ago I processed my first roosters. I followed The Learning Center article How To Process A Chicken At Home. THANK YOU booker81 this went very well your pictorial made it very easy not one single problem. Now to the question when I finished I put them in the spare fridge to rest and when I checked on them the next morning they were discolored. The legs and wings had turned dark like blood under the skin they were very dry and stiff. Will this pass with rigor? They were pretty and white when I put them in the fridge now they look nasty. Will they be OK or did I do something wrong? Should I brine them to soak it out? PLEASE HELP A NEW GUY WITH A LOT OF QUESTIONS

Did you cover them while they rested in the fridge or did the skin dry out?

I hope you decided to brine them and rehydrate the skin.  Sorry you didn't get an answer sooner.