Would you eat an internal layer

[Island Roo]

I feel a bit uncomfortable even asking but ...

I had to cull hen today who had developed a solid mass of cheesy material in the oviduct. It was quite large but there was no obvious sign of infection (although i'm certainly no expert). I'm glad I culled before it became really uncomfortable for her.

The rest of the bird looked ok and I processed the carcass, but now I'm getting squeamish about it. I don't need the meat - I just don't like the thought of wasting her life.

Do you think its safe to eat?

 

[silkiechicken]

If it was an early case of internal laying as you caught, and there was no sign of infection, I'd probably use her meat parts for soup. If too squeamish for your own consumption, I'd probably feed the cooked hen to another animal.

 

[Keggen]

I just wanted to say I don't think you should feel uncomfortable for asking. So many of us are trying to learn what used to be common knowledge and we can only learn by our experiences or sharing with others.

I'm not sure I would eat the hen myself but like the last poster suggested maybe you could cook it for another animal to consume? I might be more comfortable doing that and then using the carcass for broth and the bones for bonemeal or to give to the rest of my flock.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I had the same question about a hen that was dying from a prolapse. I got conflicting advice but decided that the advice of the folks who said "go ahead and eat her" was more sensible and less emotional. I made sure to pay close attention to every stage of the butchering to be sure that nothing smelled or looked off (a mature hen has some differences in its internal organs than a 9 week old pullet) but in the end, she made us two lovely dinners...both using the Chicken Fricasee recipie from Joy of Cooking with a few changes to the cooking time, adjusted for the fact that it was a mature hen rather than a store-bought CX.

Good luck.