Safe to eat a sick chicken?

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DollDoctor

DollDoctor

In the Brooder
11 Years
Sep 5, 2008
42
1
32
York County, Maine
I tried posting this question on the Organic Chickens list at Yahoo but got no responses. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me.
My question is this - is it safe to eat a sick chicken? Does it depend on what illness they have? Does anyone here do this? Or would I just put the bird out of its misery and call it a loss?
I don't have any chickens yet but am trying to learn as much as possible before getting some, hopefully in the spring. I want to raise them organically for eggs and meat, not as pets, and it must be cost effective, so I can't spend a lot of money on vet bills or expensive treatments. Although I will try to raise them to be as healthy as possible, I know at some point I will need to make this decision and want to be prepared.
Thanks for any input!
 
It depends on the illness. like if you dont "know" whats wrong with the chicken then I wouldn't eat it, But now if a chicken in getting pecked on or has a broken leg: then you can eat it.
 
Quote:
I'd say it's a personal decision, but I personally wouldn't eat infected or diseased food ( see above responses). I would, however, eat some animals that were injured--- for example, we dressed out 5 roosters last month- one of whom was very healthy but had a leg problem (break or dislocation, we never could really tell)-- we had him for dinner without a problem. As far as a bird who was ill-- I don't think I'd risk eating it. Even if , for instance, the illness weren't transmissable to humans, I wouldn't view it as healthy meat to feed my family.
Be sure to weigh the pros and cons of your decisions. Read as much as you can so you can determine your actions as they happen.

And, by the way,
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Last edited:
Thanks for asking this question as I have wanted to know also.

What if a predator gets one of your chickens and bites off just the head or breaks its neck? And if the chicken was still warm, i.e. you found it only minutes after the attack? Would you feel safe eating that chicken?

Still learning.....
 
It is not wise to eat an animal that died of sickness/illness/disease.

An animal that died from an attack or you put down due to a leg condition etc is different. You can safely chose to eat that meat.
 
Thank you all very much for your input! You have convinced me that it wouldn't be wise. So now I will focus on learning about which conditions might be easily and affordably cured, to preserve as much of the flock as possible in case of an outbreak. This is a great forum!
 
You can buy vaccinated chicks which will reduced disease induced death especially as chicks. Also there are certain diseases like Newcastles that you can avoid by adult yearly vaccination through their water. Apart from that, if you have a basic first aid kit for injuries & diseases such as cocci etc & you keep your flock in clean, PREDATOR-PROOF & spacious surroundings, you should have great success in avoiding losses.
 

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