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USDA-based guidance

Chicken

“Chicken” is two storage questions. Raw and cooked chicken follow different refrigerator windows on the FoodSafety.gov cold chart — open the page that matches what is in your fridge. Past a fridge window, discard it. Fridge = safety; freezer = quality.
Raw chicken fridge 1–2 days · freezer 9 months spoils fast — cook or freeze Uncooked pieces or a whole bird — short refrigerator window; cook to 165°F. Cooked chicken fridge 3–4 days · freezer 2–6 months standard windows Leftovers, rotisserie, or home-cooked — longer fridge window; still discard past it.

Fridge vs freezer

On the FoodSafety.gov Cold Food Storage Chart, raw chicken pieces and whole birds share a short refrigerator window; cooked poultry leftovers share the longer cooked-leftover window. Those fridge numbers are safety clocks — past them, discard the chicken even if it still looks fine. Freezer months on the chart are quality guidance: poultry held at 0°F stays safe indefinitely, but texture and flavor drop after the listed quality window (USDA FSIS / FoodSafety.gov).

How to tell chicken is spoiled

Spoilage bacteria can produce a sticky film and a sour or sulfurous smell. Those signs mean discard it. They are not a complete safety test: Salmonella and Campylobacter do not reliably change smell or color at infectious doses (CDC chicken guidance; USDA FSIS). Do not taste chicken to check it. If it sat above 40°F more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), discard it — the danger zone rule applies whether or not it smells off.

Storage tips

Safety notes

CDC links chicken to Salmonella and Campylobacter illness. Ground poultry and stuffing inside a bird also need 165°F throughout. Leftover cooked chicken still follows the leftover fridge window and the 165°F reheat rule ( leftovers reheat). This page is not medical advice.

Sources

Related: don’t wash raw chicken · poultry hub · meat & poultry · all foods