Ants ate of my Rooster!

[Lazy Farmer]

Yesterday was supposed to be bbq day but there was a slight problem!
Our homegrown rooster sections were still a little icy from thawing in the frig below over night. So I put the package on the back porch. Upon retrieval, I was attacked by scores of ants when I made it to the kitchen sink to unwrap and rewash!
Outside of all the ant bites on my hand, they infested the interior of the package.
RInse, kill, repeat! Repeat! Etc..
Bbq night turned into hotdog night.
My husband came home, washed them again and placed the roo parts in a brine solution over night with plans to eat them tonight as bbq nite!

WOULD YOU EAT THEM AFTER THE ANTS FED OFF THEM? I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN.. my husband will be home soon, should I throw them out and say they were stinky maybe? Did the ants inject the meat with poison because it was big red ants after all!

PLEASE ADVISE!!

 

[sourland]

It's easy for me - I have been the cook for the last 28 years. (Princess cooked the first 25.) I would toss it, but that's just me.

 

[RodNTN]

I have never experienced this, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I would toss.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Ew, that's so gross! I would definitely toss it. I can hardly eat something that one bug was on. That's just me though.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Do not throw out a mans food! If he wants to eat it and went through the trouble of brine let him eat it. You don't have to and I wouldn't eat it either but that's us. Whatever you do don't toss a man's food behind his back. Nearly unforgivable act.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Do not throw out a mans food! If he wants to eat it and went through the trouble of brine let him eat it. You don't have to and I wouldn't eat it either but that's us. Whatever you do don't toss a man's food behind his back. Nearly unforgivable act.

Lol! An hour after I put this on I pulled some Berkshire
Pork sausage out to make burgers for the grill. I texted my my hub and told him him and the dogs can have the chicken or have some berkburgers with me.. No reply yet.
This is a pic of the kitchen trash can I took this morning first thing. I had to put it out back because the wrapping had the ants in it. By 7 this morning they reported back to their ant pals and had a big trail to the waste pale. I put a bunch of amdro in the trash pale and left it all day to teach them a lesson.

 

[annageckos]

I'm sure the meat is safe to eat, but I wouldn't eat it. I'd feed it to my dog/cats. They'd have no problems with it. The ants do not inject venom into dead meat, they would have just ripped pieces off. Also venom is protein and can be ingested, your body will break it down. If you have a cut or sore in your mouth then the venom could get into your blood stream and cause issues. That said, I still wouldn't eat it.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I'm sure the meat is safe to eat, but I wouldn't eat it. I'd feed it to my dog/cats. They'd have no problems with it. The ants do not inject venom into dead meat, they would have just ripped pieces off. Also venom is protein and can be ingested, your body will break it down. If you have a cut or sore in your mouth then the venom could get into your blood stream and cause issues. That said, I still wouldn't eat it.

Last night we grilled berkburgers, then cooked the chicken for our dogs.. It is the frig until I debone it tonight. I talked my husband out of it. Didn't take long because I had a back up dinner plan.
His side of the debate was raising the bird for 5 months, the cost of the feed, time and effort to process, taking care in packaging and preventing freeze burn from storage, all that work and money to feed the dogs 1 meal, when you can buy a can of dog food for a $1.50.
He is stubborn but he caved in the end.
I will thaw the birds 2 days in advance from the freezer to the frig now.
Never ever had ants do that before! Just one of those days.
The Trash pale is still on the back porch full of amdro and there still is a trail of those little devils going in and out. 2 days now. That is a big colony!
Thanks for your reply!