Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of storage and cutting on moisture retention by air- and water-chilled broiler chickens. Sixty-four broilers were slaughtered, chilled by either cold air or immersion in water, stored over night, cut into fore- and hind-quarters, and then stored an additional 24 h. Air chilling conditions were temperature 4 C with air velocity of 2.2 m3 per min. Water chilling conditions were temperature of 1 C with mechanical agitation. Moisture absorption and retention were observed as weight changes throughout the process. Air-chilled carcasses lost an average of 0.68% of their post-slaughter weight in storage prior to cutting, but lost no more during cutting or post-cutting storage. The water-chilled carcasses absorbed 11.7% moisture in chilling, but retained 6.98% through pre-cutting storage, 6.00 % through cutting and 3.90% through post-cutting storage. These data offer baseline values for use in complying with new USDA processing standards.