Resting question!!

[Eckielady]

We are raising our first group of meat birds so this will be quite an experience. We are off grid with no running water so things are a bit trickier up here but we're figuring all that out. The one thing really stumping me- HOW do people possibly butcher a bunch of chickens and let them "rest" in the fridge for a couple days? Even a normal sized fridge couldn't possibly fit that much. What am I missing?

 

[eggbert420]

Ice chest

 

[Nitro187]

How many are you butchering? An ice chest will work if you're doing a few. I bought one of those cheep chest freezers from Costco that I have on a thermostat that I keep at resting temp until I get ready to freeze. Look on Craigslist and you should be able to find a cheap or even free fridge.

 

[Eckielady]

We have 12 that will be butchered. We do have a freezer but it's not hooked up yet. Working on that. We have a large cooler. I can just use that with ice water?

 

[eggbert420]

Just keep them on ice with the drain open, no water like you would a deer or a hog.

 

[Eckielady]

Just keep them on ice with the drain open, no water like you would a deer or a hog.

Okay, glad I asked. I saw a video the other day of one in ice water.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You can also just butcher a couple at a time. Much easier if this is your first time.
If they're CornishX, butcher the first 2 at 3.5-4 weeks as Cornish game hens. If they're a slower maturing bird like a freedom ranger you can wait another week. Then 3 or 4 more each week till they're all done.
If you don't rest before freezing (preferred), you can rest after thawed to disipate the rigor.

 

[Eckielady]

You can also just butcher a couple at a time. Much easier if this is your first time.
If they're CornishX, butcher the first 2 at 3.5-4 weeks as Cornish game hens. If they're a slower maturing bird like a freedom ranger you can wait another week. Then 3 or 4 more each week till they're all done.
If you don't rest before freezing (preferred), you can rest after thawed to disipate the rigor.

They are red rangers. I thought it was around 10-12 weeks?
I talked to my husband about splitting the group in half a few days apart but he seemed hesitant. I get why as we both would rather have one yucky day and get it over with but I'm not sure how we'll do it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, red rangers grow slower.
But I did 50 freedom rangers that are similar. I couldn't have done them all myself so I taught 2 classes for our chicken meetup group. We did 20+ at about 4-5 weeks, then did the rest in the next class at about 9+ weeks and some were too big for the vacuum seal bags.

 

[Chaos18]

I have an extra fridge in the basement that I will let any butchered birds rest in. Most I've had in there at one time was 6 but it could easily hold twice that many.