Processing Meat Birds and the CHILLED BATH

[capebird]

I have Red Rangers I'll be "harvesting" is a couple of weeks. I've read various
strategies for avoiding the tightening of the muscles after the slaughter and some
recommend putting the bodies (after evisceration) into a chilled ice bath of 40 degrees.
I've not found any into on how long to leave the bodies in the bath. Any suggestions
would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[eviemethugh]

We usually go one day, some people go two or three. You need to check for rigor, so if you can move the wings or leg and thigh around easily (like try to "bicycle" one of the legs to check) you are good to go, no matter what day it is.
We usually butcher on Saturday morning and put them into bags for the freezer on Sunday afternoon.

You can't avoid rigor, you are just waiting for it to pass. Because cooking a rigor bird makes for some tough meat! Good luck!