ideally, you want them just picked--if canning them whole, no more than 24 hours old. And certainly refrigerate if you must wait a few days to get enough for sliced pickles.

I appreciate your help. I bought two kinds labeled "Pickle" and "slicing" but my chickens tore off the labels so I don't know which is which and I have a lot more than I expected

Love the photo! Can't wait for our garden to give us the goods!