is it safe to....

Kill the chicken and freeze it... to be processed later?

What I mean is I was going to use the cone tonight and after they died I was going to put them in a bag in the freezer and then later... in a few days, eviserate.

Is this safe or should I do it all at once?

thanks,
Colleen

hmm, interesting... I have no idea.. I would hazerd a guess as no.. Just cause of the poop and thingys still in the inerds.. But really I have no idea or training.. But hopefully someone else chimes in soon

You should do it all at once.

I will venture a no guess as well. The freezing would likely weaken the intestinal wall, possibly causing an outright rupture due to the freeze or causing it to be damaged much easier when processing is finally done. Frozen cells lyse, they burst, because of the water content and the expansion of the ice crystals as they form. Because of this, the cells lose their strength and integrity, meaning they won't hold together as well. If the large intestine ruptures, its contents will contaminate the carcass.

Think of what you would be doing... what is in the lower digestive tract.... upper digestive tract... bile duct.. (does bile freeze?) why let it stay in contact with the flesh?? Seems fairly obvious to me, but if you try it... I (in advance) decline your dinner invitation......

i would say definet no

The answer is NO.

I can give you the long technical explanation why tomorrow if you would like. It's late and I am going to bed.

No.

Notice that any guide to processing includes chilling between the stage to the extent possible. One batch of cool water for them after they are plucked, another after evisceration, and another after pinning before packaging. The first order of business of any slaughtering/butchering operation is to cool the meat. Be it a chicken, a hog or steer, or a deer in the woods. Even when butchering in the cold of winter, the first step in that process is to get the gut out. The heat from it will start your meat to decompose immediately. The same heat will start any undigested matter in their digestive system to immediately start to rot and bloat as the stomach/ bowel, etc., stop their involuntary motion of moving the material through. In larger animals, it also has the advantage of reducing the weight to be handled very quickly.

The actual killing and hangin from hooks or in conescones is one of the quicker parts of the operation. You can have one or two more birds hanging and bleeding before the first one has stopped flopping. I'm guessing, though, that your chickens are of an age to butcher, and you won't have the time to make one day of it until later.

A freezer will not cool down an unplucked bird quickly enough. And even a plucked bird, you can't avoid the potential spoilage or contamination from burst tissue cells that another respondent noted.

Bottom line, you need to either get them to a processor if there isn't time left, or rearrange your calendar to do them yourself.

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Thanks so much! Got it! Now I'm clear on this and understand the reasons.

So I will have to plan a large time slot to process them all completely. (5 cockerels and a couple of old gals) I figure about 1/2 hr per bird, not including clean up. I'm a relative newbie at this.