not butchering myself, what exactly should I do once the guy leaves?

[chickensducks&agoose]

He will leave me with 19 naked headless gutless birds. I plan on giving some to friends and family, and freezing others. i have a big cooler, and lots of room in my fridge. do I need to wash them? dry them? Put them in bags before the cooler? Put them in the cooler all naked? how long do I let them sit before freezing? 2 or 3 days?

 

[cjdmashley]

we let ours rest for at least 3 days, bag them and either give out or freeze. we bag ours, then dunk them in the sink filled with water (bucket also works) to force out all the air (we found this way works great if you don't have a vac. sealer) and away they go. this is our first year with chickens and it seems to have worked well for us. Good luck!

 

[cjdmashley]

do you mind if I ask how much he's charging to process?

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
I would like to know aswell

 

[TimG]

Resting for 48 hours in the fridge or in a cooler with ice has been plenty for me.

The bags my processor uses are folded and stapled shut, so they are not water tight. If they go into the ice chest in bags, water inevitably finds its way into the bags and then into the freezer. But, that doesn't seem to affect anything other than thaw time.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

he's charging $3 per bird, and will take away whatever I don't want, like the icky bits and feathers. So if I'm getting you guys right, take the dead naked bird, put it in a bag, get the air out, then put in an icy cooler for 3 days?

 

[cjdmashley]

yup

 

[peterlund]

chickensducks&agoose :

he's charging $3 per bird, and will take away whatever I don't want, like the icky bits and feathers. So if I'm getting you guys right, take the dead naked bird, put it in a bag, get the air out, then put in an icy cooler for 3 days?

I think the main issue is to get the body temperature down asap... then I rise, bag and plop in the fridge if I am using one soon, or right in the freezer if I am storing them. The three days most let for the bird to rest comes at the defrost for my birds, as I defrost them in the fridge, which takes about... three days! Good luck and enjoy your labor. P.S, Don't save all your birds as whole chickens. Think of how you use your chicken and cut some up for smaller meals... I made the mistake of freezing all my Cornish X as whole birds, when I would have been better off cutting them into pieces. My 2 cents!​