Poultry: How Long Chicken & Turkey Keep

Poultry runs the shortest fridge clock in the house: raw birds and parts get 1–2 days from purchase, and cooking resets it to 3–4 days, not a week. The freezer is where the real time is, and it swings by cut — 12 months for a whole bird, 3–4 months for ground turkey or chicken. Below is every chicken, turkey, duck, and game bird USDA’s FoodKeeper covers, plus the cooked, canned, and deli-case versions. One number here isn’t a range at all: poultry is done at 165°F throughout, and that reading is the only doneness test worth trusting.