Keep chickens cold from butcher to home

[Panhandler80]

It was a very large, high-end cooler.

I've kept provisions cool for 7+ days in the Bahamas by using block ice in average quality coolers... periods of time when topping off wasn't an option. Anyway, block ice is a little better than a bunch of frozen chickens, but not by much.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've been known to clean out plastic gallon milk jugs and freeze water in them. That way I have ice ready to go if I want some for the ice chest when fishing or crabbing, or maybe to butcher chickens. That gallon sized block of ice lasts a long time. A freezer full of frozen stuff, like frozen gallon jugs of water, will stay cold a lot longer than a mostly empty one if your power goes out. Since it is hurricane season that could be important down here.

 

[Panhandler80]

I've been known to clean out plastic gallon milk jugs and freeze water in them. That way I have ice ready to go if I want some for the ice chest when fishing or crabbing, or maybe to butcher chickens. That gallon sized block of ice lasts a long time. A freezer full of frozen stuff, like frozen gallon jugs of water, will stay cold a lot longer than a mostly empty one if your power goes out. Since it is hurricane season that could be important down here.

Even better are cat litter containers, or some dish washing detergents. The square ones. Top comes off so you can slide them out after hitting with hose. Stackable if you wan to leave them in buckets (but don't fill to brim... you'll get a dome if you do), and if you do slide out, they leave more ice in a given L x W measurements because they aren't round.

Yeah, for day trips, some frozen milk jugs or even 2 liters are just fine.

 

[3KillerBs]

Since it is hurricane season that could be important down here.

I stuffed my fridges and freezers clear full of ice ahead of Florence. I was freezing water all week and when my "spare kid" came to us after evacuating from near Wilmington I rummaged under his truck seats for random soda bottles to fill up the last couple cracks.

I didn't lose any food at all despite 4 days without power.

 

[Panhandler80]

I stuffed my fridges and freezers clear full of ice ahead of Florence. I was freezing water all week and when my "spare kid" came to us after evacuating from near Wilmington I rummaged under his truck seats for random soda bottles to fill up the last couple cracks.

I didn't lose any food at all despite 4 days without power.

Kept all of our food with generator after Michael. I think that was about two weeks, which considering we had ZERO power grid (literally... 95% of all poles where down... all wind driven), was honestly amazing. What was way worse was not having water for about 10... which again... considering the damage from trees coming down and 100+ year old infrastructure, was amazing. I don't recommend a direct hit from a 155 mph sustained to anybody.

 

[3KillerBs]

Kept all of our food with generator after Michael. I think that was about two weeks, which considering we had ZERO power grid (literally... 95% of all poles where down... all wind driven), was honestly amazing. What was way worse was not having water for about 10... which again... considering the damage from trees coming down and 100+ year old infrastructure, was amazing. I don't recommend a direct hit from a 155 mph sustained to anybody.

I am far enough inland and was on high enough ground that we didn't get the kind of raw damage power that many people did from the storms.

But my husband couldn't get to work for two weeks because a small river normally a good 20 feet below the bridge topped the bridge for days.