What should I do with these damaged meat birds?

[gladahmae]

On Monday morning we had a dog attack and lost 15 of 34 meat birds from our rooster tractor (they didn't get into the tractor with the meat hens). Yesterday, Wednesday, we dropped the remaining live birds off at the processor. She just called to let me know that some of them are "really beat up." She described broken wings, gashes in their backs, breasts with rips, and most alarmingly, "green" spots. On some of them, it was just the wings that were "green" and she cut those off and put them to the side for me to see. (The dogs' owner has been contacted and he is willing to pay us for our losses/damages, so that's not the issue here.) I asked if it was isolated to the bigger birds, and she said yes.

What do I do with these birds now? Is it GANGRENE?? Is it just bruising in the muscle? Do we cut off the correct colored meat and eat that? Toss the whole bird? She's going to put the affected ones to the side and not package them up, so I can decide what to do with them.....no sense in having her package a bird that I'm just going to have unpackage to 'clean up' if that would be a safe thing to do.

Ugh. ALL THAT WORK FOR SOME STUPID DOGS TO RUIN IT!

I'll post pics if that would be helpful in a few hours when I go to pick them up.

 

[Chick Charm]

Ultimately it will be up to you and your personal liking.

I don't like eating any birds with discoloration. Let alone being attacked by a dog. Just a personal thing. I'll bet I would try if I was hungry enough though. I don't know if it would hurt a human to eat.

Are you able to feed some of your pets with it?

 

[Maemujwok]

I second the idea of turning them into pet food--if you don't have pets that will eat the meat, maybe put it on craigslist--there's bound to be someone who can put it to use. I just hate to see their lives wasted.

 

[gladahmae]

Well after seeing them in person, and talking to the person who was processing them, it looks like it was just a lot of bruising. A 2 of them had "puncture" wounds, so those will not be consumed. I'm just going to quarter up the others and keep the "good" parts. Heck, if I'll eat a deer I hit with my car, I can clean chickens and keep the meat from those too.

 

[Elke Beck]

One thing you can do with birds that are not fit for human consumption is contact an wildlife rehabilitator to see if they need meat for raptors and other carnivores. Often they like to get carcasses that a disease free because they feed them to the birds of prey, feathers and all.