Hello,We've come to the point that raising a hundred chickens this spring would about keep us in chicken for the year,but I am wondering how much freezer space we will need to hold all of these(whole not cut up).If you raise this many yourself I would apreciate any info.Our 20 cu ft.upright freezer will be taken by the steer,but I have 3 other chest freezers 2 are aproxiametely 15cu ft. and the other is around 20 cu ft.Thanks much Dave

-- Dave (duckthis1@mybogusemail.com), March 23, 2002

Answers

I would say that 100 whole chickens are going to take up the majority of a large freezer. If you cut them up, you will have more room. We do about 50 a year, and it takes up a lot of space. They don't stack easily! Mary

-- Mary (kmfraley@orwell.net), March 23, 2002.

Up until a few years ago, we would always freeze our chickens whole. I just separate the breasts and the legs/thighs from the backbone and freeze them like that. We do keep a few whole chickens, but not more than 6 or 8. There's only two of us here now!! I'll keep some of the backbones for either soup, soup stock or cat food. We have a 23 cu.ft. freezer (circa 1962!) and 30 chickens take up only fraction of the space.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), March 23, 2002.

We raised 109 Cornish Cross chickens and at 7 weeks old they each weighed between 4.75 & 6.60 #. We left them whole and it took up our entire 23cu ft chest freezer- the deep side not including the shelf side where the compressor is located. I think we should have at least halved them to save room but luckily we had enough room. One suggestion I would make after doing that many at one time is: Unless you're hiring out the butchering or have a whole lot of help; plan to butcher/process in batches of no more than 25 at a time. It is an incredible amount of work to kill,pluck,gut,wash & bag 100+ big chickens. This year we are getting 50 and I'm planning on processing 10-15 at a time, I will just pick out the ones who look the biggest for each batch to be processed. It may take longer this way but at least my back will hold up.:) Good Luck Blessings, Kathy

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@lycos.com), March 23, 2002.

Just thought I would tell you all that I have been getting chicken for 29 cents a pound for whole chickens and they are nice plump birds with very good taste. I can't grow them for any where near that price so will be buying and freezing them this year. Although I like the idea of knowing what went into my birds...this year it is a matter of economics!

Oh by the way, we got eggs! Our first batch of chickens just starting laying this week and the new little girls also arrived in the mail on Tuesday. This new batch is the first time I have gotten leghorns for layers. Boy they sure are a nervous bird!! You just say "hi babies" and they go nuts and start running around scared to death. You should see them when I have to reach into the brooder....I am pretty sure at least one will die of heart failure before it's all over...LOL!

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 23, 2002.

Some really rough rules of thumb: They'll store in a space somewhere betwen that of a six inch cube, and a nine inch cube. That means you'd fit somewhere between six and four on a three foot-edge, and somewhere between 216 and 64 in a one-yard (27 cubic foot) block. As others have said, if you can break some of them down into pieces rather than whole carcases, they'll use a lot less space. Boil the left-over bones and skin for stock, and you won't save much space, but you'll get something that will pack a whole lot better.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 23, 2002.

Cutting them up WILL save space, but if you don't want to piece out 100 chickens at one time, cut a bunch of them in half. They stack better that way and much easier than cutting them into pieces all at once.

-- Wingnut in Spicewood, TX (wingnut@moment.net), March 24, 2002.

How many are you (chicken eaters)? Depending upon the answer to that, and the size to which you plan to raise the chickens (3 lbs?, 6 lbs?, 9 lbs?), that may be WAY too many chickens, unless that is the only meat you intend to have. Also, we used to freeze them all whole, but found that we liked recipes that used the parts better, whereas a whole chicken was better for just roasting, and took up lots more space. We still keep some whole, but freeze breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings separately now. Think about it, 2 breasts, or 4 thighs, or 4 drumsticks are a meal for 2. But not 2 or 4 wings. Unless, of course, you are raising chickens with 2 breasts, 4 legs, and 12 wings. If you are, send me some chicks! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), March 24, 2002.