www.PoultryShrinkBags.com

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Updated: 8 February 2012

Here's a chicken beautifully packaged in one of our top-quality poultry shrink bags. (label by Grower's Discount Labels)

Shrink-bagging is the most reliable and sure way to preserve the freshness and quality of your processed birds. Shrink-bagged chickens keep better and longer in the freezer. They are much less likely to suffer from freezer burn.

Shrink-bagged birds look far more attractive and have a greater perceived value than loose-bagged birds. This is no small matter if you sell your poultry.

You can shrink-bag your chickens very easily without buying any expensive or temperamental machines (all you need is hot water!

...How To Shrink-Bag Chickens...

If you are new to using poultry shrink bags, be sure to check out This Photo Tutorial. It shows and tells you how remarkably easy it is to shrink-bag your chickens.

...About Our Shrink Bags...

The poultry shrink bags we sell are commercial-grade, 60-micron, round-bottom, barrier bags made specifically for poultry. They shrink tight and they shrink crystal clear.

...Shrink-Bag Size...

We currently offer a 10” by 16” shrink bag. This size will accommodate full-size processed chickens weighing 4 to 8 pounds. In other words, this bag will work just fine for 95% of the chickens being raised by all you home and small-farm poultry producers out there.

...To Order Shrink Bags...

Click Here To Order

Here's How To Shrink-Bag A Chicken...

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(you can click any of the pictures on this page to see an enlarged view)

sealed end view of a shrink-bagged chicken

If you have never shrink-bagged a chicken, it’s about time you learned. The following step-by-step photo tutorial shows exactly how it’s done.

First, you will need a big pot of clean hot water to dunk the bagged chicken into. A propane-fueled turkey deep-fryer, like shown in the picture below will do the job just fine.

If you happen to have a thermostatically controlled Whizbang Chicken Scalder, you can clean and disinfect it after processing your birds, then refill with clean water, reset the temperature controls (proper temperature is discussed next), and use that for shrink-bagging your chickens.

The manufacturer of our shrink-bags recommends a water temperature of 180 degrees. I have successfully shrink-bagged birds up to 225-degrees, but I feel like I had the best success at 190 to 200 degrees.

After processing your birds and cooling them down in some sort of cold-water chill tank, excess water must be drained off the bird and out of the body cavity. The picture below shows a batch of chickens draining on a homemade PVC drain rack (picture from WhizbangChickenPluckers).

In the next picture you can better see how the PVC rack is put together. This particular rack was made by Lewis Rave, of Jasper, Minnesota.

Once your chicken is sufficiently chilled and drip-dry, put it into the bag head-end first. You can, of course, also just put the bags over the chicken while they are propped up on the drain rack, as shown in the picture before last.

Bunch the open end of the bag together down tight to the chicken and twist the bag around several times as shown in the next picture. It is important to note that a chicken shrink-bags best when it is past the stiff (rigor mortis) stage of its afterlife—a stiff bird does not compress and bag as well as a flexible bird.

Some people use metal hog rings to secure the twisted bag. Hog rings work real well, but you need special pliers to crimp the rings. Another option is to use inexpensive 4” plastic “zip ties” as shown in this picture.

You can use a pair of pliers to get a grip on the zip tie and pull it tight...

This next picture shows the chicken all bagged and zip-tied

Once bagged and zip-tied the bird is NOT yet ready to dunk in the hot water. There is one more very important thing that needs to be done. The bag must be pierced to create a vent hole.

Without this vent hole, air in the bag will not be able to escape as the bag shrinks tight to the chicken. Without a vent hole, you will end up with something like a chicken in a bubble, and you don’t want that.

A pin hole is not sufficient for proper venting. You need a slice about 3/8” long. A little bit less or a little bit more is okay. In the following picture I’m making the slice with a Chicago Cutlery 7” boning knife, which happens to be my favorite chicken butchering knife.

Some people employ an inexpensive, disposable wallpapering knife with the break-off tips to pierce the bag. These knives are available with a 3/8” wide blade, so you get a perfect vent slice every time.

Where you pierce the bag is important. I suggest you pierce it in the center of the breast, as shown in the picture below.

Now it’s shrink time!

In the picture below, I am about to dunk the chicken down into the hot water. Those insulated rubber gloves are real handy around hot water. I use them for scalding chickens prior to plucking and they are kind of grimy. A cleaner pair just for shrink-bagging would be a good idea. The reason you might want to use insulated gloves is that the hot water tends to bubble up some as a bag is lowered in and air is forced out the vent hole. Be careful!

Lower the bagged bird down into the water slowly, leave it submerged for two or three seconds, and take it out. You want to dunk down past the twist tie but try not to dunk so far that the loosed end of the bag goes under water. This will assure that no water can channel down into the bag above the zip-tie. After shrink-bagging 3 or 4 birds, you’ll get the hang of it and be an expert.

Re-dunking is not recommended because it can introduce water into the bag through the vent hole.

Once the bag with bird has been "dunked and shrunked," trim off excess plastic above the zip-tie. Scissors will do the job. Leave a pigtail at least 1” long. And while you’re at it, snip the excess zip-tie tail down so it looks nice and neat.

The picture below shows the vent hole after the bag has been shrunk. This hole should be covered with freezer tape or a label with freezer adhesive.

Before applying tape or a label, the surface of the bag must be dry. A paper towel will absorb water and dry the area just fine...

The labels I used on the bagged chickens in this tutorial are not mine. They are sample labels that were sent to me by Stu McCarty at Grower’s Discount Labels. If you want custom labels with freezer adhesive for our poultry, I highly recommend Grower’s Discount Labels.

Freezer adhesive is important because you don’t want the labels to fall off when the chicken is frozen. If you don’t have a freezer adhesive on your labels, they will fall off.

It is important to note here that the freezer labels are not waterproof. Therefore, do not label the bird and put it back in a chill tank of water. If you do that,the label will fail and water will enter into the bag through the vent hole.

Here’s a beauty shot of the shrink-bagged chicken sporting the custom label from Grower’s Discount Labels...

This next picture shows the bottom of a shrink-bagged chicken, which is the head-and-neck end of the bird (without the head and neck, of course). This photo and the next few show another example label from the good folks at Grower’s Discount Labels.

Here's a view of the flip side of the chicken (the side opposite the label), which is actually the back of the bird...

In the next picture you can see the sealed end of the packaged bird. Clearly, these shrink bags do a remarkably nice job of packaging a chicken.

This final view shows the nice two-color label from Grower’s Discount Labels...

Beyond the good looks of a shrink-bagged chicken is the matter of reduced potential for freezer burn. When the thick plastic (60 micron) barrier bag is shrunk tight to the bird, there is very little air left in the package and that translates into a significantly better frozen product.

The picture below shows a chicken that was sealed in a Food-Saver vacuum sealer. It lost it’s vacuum seal in the freezer and suffered from freezer burn as a result.

With our shrink-bags, the plastic is shrunk tight to the bird—you can’t lose the seal like you can with an improperly sealed vacuum bag.

And, of course, shrink-bagging is far better than just putting the chicken in a loose plastic bag with a twist tie. Sure, a loose bag is a less expensive packaging option, but you haven’t saved any money if your chickens get freezer burn and look like this six months later....

Another option for shrink-bagging chickens is to put the bagged bird in an egg basket for dunking. The basket shown in the picture below is from Murray McMurray Hatchery. You can order one at This Link.

Here's the shrink-bagged bird after dunking....

If your turkey fryer pot came equipped with a steamer basket, it will serve very well as a shrink-bagging basket...

Once again, we have a beautifully shrink-bagged chicken. No mess. No fuss. It's easy! ....

So there you have it. As you can see, our freezer bags are not only simple to use, they provide you with a practical and beautiful poultry packaging option.

About Us

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About Us

Order Poultry Shrink Bags Now...

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This page provides you with two different options for purchasing shrink bags. All the bags we currently sell are 10” x 16” (suitable for 4 to 8 pound dressed birds).

Please note that all prices on this page include the cost of shipping. There is no additional charge for shipping.

If you are in Canada, CLICK HERE for Canadian ordering buttons.

Option #1
Shrink-Bag “Easy Kits”

Our Shrink Bag "Easy Kits" include shrink bags, zip-ties and 2" x 2" blank labels with freezer adhesive. Prices include Priority shipping to any US address.

If you are a home-scale poultry producer, or you are new to shrink bags, you might want to consider getting one of our “Easy Kits” as pictured above. These kits contain 10” x 16” poultry shrink bags along with 4” zip-ties and 2” x 2” peel-and-stick freezer adhesive bag labels. You supply the hot water and chickens and our Easy Kits make shrink bagging easy.

To order, simply choose a quantity from the drop-down menu below and click the “Add to Cart” button. All Easy Kits are shipped by US Postal service Priority Mail and prices below include the cost of shipping.

Price: See Drop-Down Menu Below
Availability: In Stock & Ready to Ship

Option #2
Just Bags

We sell bags only in 25-bag increments. All prices include US Postal Service Priority mail shipping to any US address.

If you want to purchase just bags (no zip ties and no freezer labels), you can do so with the drop-down menu options below. These bags are 10” x 16”

We sell the bags in 25-bag increments and the cost of shipping by US Postal Service Priority Mail to any US address is included in the prices given.

You will notice that quantity options go up to 250 bags. That is how many we can fit into a Flat Rate Priority box. Therefore, if you want, for example, 500 shrink bags, you need to order 250 bags twice. Your order would then be shipped to you in two Priority boxes. This system of packaging makes it easier for us to get your order shipped out promptly.

Price: See Drop-Down Menu Below
Availability: In stock & Ready to Ship

A Note For NY State Residents

Our online shopping cart system will automatically add 8% sales tax to all orders sold to New York State residents. If you are tax exempt, simply provide us with the proper sales tax exemption form. Mail it to us (contact information is here) and once we get it we will refund any sales tax you have paid.

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Poultry Shrink BagsTo The Rest of the World

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This web page is for ordering poultry shrink bags if you live outside the United States and Canada.

We have been shipping other products we sell to the UK, Australia and a great many other countries around the globe for several years using US Postal Service International Flat Rate Boxes. We have never had any problems with this way of shipping.

Delivery time to most foreign countries is 6 to 10 days. You are responsible for any duties on your end.

Because the cost of shipping internationally is so high, we are only selling poultry shrink bags in the maximum quantity that can easily fit in the flat-rate box. The cost of shipping is included in the prices below.

Our poultry shrink bags are 10” x 16” (suitable for 4 to 8 pound dressed birds).

Option #1
Shrink-Bag “Easy Kit”

Our Shrink Bag "Easy Kit" includes shrink bags, zip-ties and 2" x 2" blank labels with freezer adhesive.

If you are a home-scale poultry producer, or you are new to shrink bags, you might want to consider getting one of our “Easy Kits.” These kits contain 10” x 16” poultry shrink bags along with 4” zip-ties and 2” x 2” peel-and-stick freezer adhesive bag labels. You supply the hot water and chickens and our Easy Kits make shrink bagging easy.

Easy Kits are shipped by US Postal service International Priority Mail and the price below includes the cost of shipping.

Quantity: 200 bags (with zip ties & freezer labels)
Price: $121.95
Availability: In Stock & Ready to Ship

Option #2
Just Bags

We sell & ship bags only in 250-bag boxes to any country in the world. The price below includes shipping.

If you want to purchase just bags (no zip ties and no freezer labels),this is the option for you. These bags are 10” x 16”

Quantity: 250 bags
Price: $129.95
Availability: In stock & Ready to Ship

Poultry Shrink Bags To Canada

2011-06-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

We are now shipping poultry shrink bags to Canada. Orders to Canada will be mailed out in US Postal Service International Flat Rate Priority boxes. Delivery time for this mode of shipment is 6 to 10 business days. The cost of shipping is included in the prices below.

This page provides you with two different options for purchasing shrink bags. All the bags we currently sell are 10” x 16” (suitable for 4 to 8 pound dressed birds).

Option #1
Shrink-Bag “Easy Kits”

Our Shrink Bag "Easy Kits" include shrink bags, zip-ties and 2" x 2" blank labels with freezer adhesive. Prices include Priority shipping to any Canadian address.

If you are a home-scale poultry producer, or you are new to shrink bags, you might want to consider getting one of our “Easy Kits” as pictured above. These kits contain 10” x 16” poultry shrink bags along with 4” zip-ties and 2” x 2” peel-and-stick freezer adhesive bag labels. You supply the hot water and chickens and our Easy Kits make shrink bagging easy.

To order, simply choose a quantity from the drop-down menu below and click the “Add to Cart” button. All Easy Kits are shipped by US Postal service International Priority Mail and prices below include the cost of shipping.

Price: See Drop-Down Menu Below
Availability: In Stock & Ready to Ship

Option #2
Just Bags

We sell bags only in 25-bag increments. All prices include US Postal Service Priority mail shipping to any Canadian address.

If you want to purchase just bags (no zip ties and no freezer labels), you can do so with the drop-down menu options below. These bags are 10” x 16”

We sell the bags in 25-bag increments and the cost of shipping to any Canadian address is included in the prices given.

You will notice that quantity options go up to 250 bags. That is how many we can fit into an International Flat Rate Priority box. Therefore, if you want, for example, 500 shrink bags, you need to order 250 bags twice. Your order would then be shipped to you in two Priority boxes. This system of packaging makes it easier for us to get your order shipped out promptly.

Price: See Drop-Down Menu Below
Availability: In stock & Ready to Ship

Our Contact Information

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You can contact us 24 hours a day by sending an e-mail message to: hckimball@bci.net

We will respond to your e-mail within 24 hours (in most instances we will respond much sooner than that). If you do not get an e-mail response from us in that time, please check your spam filter. If you still don't find an e-mail reply from us, something else went wrong. Send another e-mail. We are diligent about answering all e-mail promptly.

We also have another e-mail address that you can use to contact us. It is: whizbangbooks@bci.net

Our mailing address is:

Planet Whizbang

PO Box 1117

Moravia, NY 13118