Can I eat it?

[lsv313]

We had a meatie that was looking like it had congestive heart failure. Comb, face, even skin turned purple. Started being very lethargic and could hardly stand, and had very heavy breathing. She did not display any other symptoms of being sick. We decided to butcher so that we still could eat it. When my husband cut into it, it practically burst with fluid - the guts almost spilled out of it. There were also large, loose chunks of fat that came out with the guts - something we had not seen before (but this is our first time with meaties and we've only processed about 15). So my questions are: was this in fact CHF, and can we eat it?

 

[SteveH]

While mine wasn't nearly as bad as yours , I processed her and she tasted great . The clear fluid made me pause for a second , but I've ate gut-shot game after washing them out , so I

and continued processing . I think I lived and know I never got sick .

 

[donrae]

Sounds like CHF and ascites. I don't know of any reason you couldn't eat it, it's a heart failure type problem, not an infection or anything contagious.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I would agree. wash it out and eat the muscle tissue - if you're an organ eater (liver) I would skip it on this one.

 

[Dennis A]

I would pass on eating this. I am raising most of our food to get quality. Eating a sick or unhealthy bird does not fit that description.
Just my 2 cents.
Dennis

 

[CMV]

I vote Eat. It's a condition not a contagion, so it should be safe to eat.

Enjoy!

 

[Inharmony]

Sounds like ascites from my research. I just had one condemned for that at the butcher. So started researching it and came across your post. Did you eat it? Was it ok?

 

[jessicayarno]

I personally would not eat a sick animal...

 

[donrae]

If you've ever eaten grocery chicken I can almost guarantee you've eaten a bird in this condition. It's not "ill" in that it's infectious, but in that it's heart is no longer working effeciently. I've eaten birds with this and they've tasted like chicken lol.

 

[Marthab1953]

Quote:
I have ate a lot of my own chickens in my younger days, but would never eat a sick chicken no matter what was wrong with it. Just my personal opinion