Last night I had a hen mysteriously die. I awoke this morning to all of the chickens making a lot of noise, and when I went to check on them, one hen was laying dead on the floor. She was still warm, but dead. As I carried her out, I noticed she discharged some colored liquid from her throat.
She had no injuries or trauma, so I decided to butcher her and see if she looked okay for eating. I skinned her, and the meat looked good, the color was nice and pink and there was no discoloration. I then cut into her body cavity, and about 1 cup of yellow fluid spilled out of her abdomen. It looked like urine, but did not really stink. I finished cleaning out her entrails, noting that the liver might have been a little bit light in color. Other than that, her insides did not seem abnormal.
This hen was almost exactly one year old. I hatched her out and raised her, and she hasn't showed any signs of illness. However, she has always been a little bit slow, and I thought maybe she just had a developmental issue.
I cleaned the chicken and rinsed it thoroughly. It's now in a bag in the fridge. Upon washing it out and inspecting it, there is no odor or discoloration that would indicate this chicken has anything wrong with it.
I don't know what the liquid in her abdomen was, and I have no idea what caused her death. Should I not eat this chicken? Will cooking it kill anything that could be potentially harmful to me?
She had no injuries or trauma, so I decided to butcher her and see if she looked okay for eating. I skinned her, and the meat looked good, the color was nice and pink and there was no discoloration. I then cut into her body cavity, and about 1 cup of yellow fluid spilled out of her abdomen. It looked like urine, but did not really stink. I finished cleaning out her entrails, noting that the liver might have been a little bit light in color. Other than that, her insides did not seem abnormal.
This hen was almost exactly one year old. I hatched her out and raised her, and she hasn't showed any signs of illness. However, she has always been a little bit slow, and I thought maybe she just had a developmental issue.
I cleaned the chicken and rinsed it thoroughly. It's now in a bag in the fridge. Upon washing it out and inspecting it, there is no odor or discoloration that would indicate this chicken has anything wrong with it.
I don't know what the liquid in her abdomen was, and I have no idea what caused her death. Should I not eat this chicken? Will cooking it kill anything that could be potentially harmful to me?
