Storing processed chickens

[Babicatcher]

I processed my first birds yesterday. 2 Cornishx and 1 Black Laced Wyandotte rooster that had to go (he was bullying my other, smaller rooster). The Wyandotte was super skinny, and I'll probably feed him to my dogs. My questions are about storing the other 2 as well as future birds. I didn't buy any freezer bags, kind of forgot until we were done. We are planning on eating both birds this week, after letting them age for a few days. So, I have 2 questions:

1. What would be best to store them in for the next few days, until we are ready to eat them? Probably eating them Friday or Saturday.
2. What bags have people found they like best for freezer storage? I am not even sure what sizes would be needed. My Cornishx weighed 5#14 and 4#12 after butchering. The Wyandotte was 2 pounds. Like I said, he'll go to the dogs.

TIA

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I use the big gallon zip lock bags, but mine are usually smaller so I'm not sure if they will fit the cornishx

 

[Molpet]

Ziplock,1 and 2 gallon, work for a month or two in freezer before they start to freeze burn. I use vacuum seal rolls, I have expandable for heritage turkeys.
Lot's use the heat shrink bags from texas poultry https://www.texaspoultryshrinkbags.com/how---to.html

 

[Sc Owell Farm]

Hey there, I have another question about this... We just finished processing our first meat flock of 28 birds. We got them cleaned and into shrink wrap bags right away.
Since we don't have a fridge big enough for so many birds, we have them resting in our root cellar. The temp in there is slightly higher than I'd like.
What harm can come from putting them into the freezer early?
Thank you so much!!

 

[Molpet]

Hey there, I have another question about this... We just finished processing our first meat flock of 28 birds. We got them cleaned and into shrink wrap bags right away.
Since we don't have a fridge big enough for so many birds, we have them resting in our root cellar. The temp in there is slightly higher than I'd like.
What harm can come from putting them into the freezer early?
Thank you so much!!

You can rest after thawing.... until rigor mortis has passed.

I have a bunch of coolers I put the bagged birds in on ice packs from my freezer, Until rigor mortis has passed before freezing

 

[Sc Owell Farm]

Thank you so much!! We weren't sure if we could freeze first.
We live in Alaska so we have a few things going for us: relatively cooler temps overall, a stocked freezer, and lots of spare insulation laying around for emergencies. We just packed frozen potatoes, butters, bacon, cheese around the birds and covered everything with insulation. This produced immediate results, but I think the birds are going into the freezer tonight