Can I eat my dead Cornish rock?

[jennbuker]

I've been raising meat birds - they go to slaughter in 3 weeks. I went to let them into their yard this morning and I found a dead on on the floor. There was a small spot of blood on her head near her eye / ear, but other than that she looks fine! She's still warm - and no rigor mortis has set in - so I'm assuming it happened very recently. Do you think she's safe to process & eat?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

I wonder if she ate herself to death? I didn't unplug their light last night (it was raining HARD - bad excuse - I know....) and they still had food in their feeder....

Jenn

 

[John Chicken GB]

Quote:
Rather you than me Buddy ! lol

 

[Sjisty]

I wouldn't eat it. I'm sure there are others who will jump in with more experience, but not knowing the cause and time of death, I would just dispose of it.

 

[pgpoultry]

What if it had eaten rat poison put out by a neighbour?

 

[jennbuker]

They don't free range - they have a pen that keeps them safe from predators (and my darn dogs!). They are also kept inside at night - and my nearest neighbor is WAY far for a chicken to range anyway! So - rat poison is a no.

I'm not going to eat her. I'll wait the 3 weeks for the rest of my birds.

Thanks....

Jenn

 

[al6517]

I am not a fan of processing a bird found dead, You can't bleed it out at all and that's a big downer for me. Now you could still process it and feed it back to the birds with peace of mind.

 

[jennbuker]

I think I'll just toss her in the river and let some lucky 'predator' have her for lunch! I really think she died of natural causes, but I don't think it's wise to chance it!

Oh well.... 23 left!

 

[Tracydr]

I'd feed her to my dogs since she was still warm.

 

[jaj121159]

Quote:
Not saying the OP should eat this bird, but a good brine soak will get the blood out of a dead bird. I do it with ducks, pheasants, turkeys etc. Soak the carcass for 24 to 48 hours in the frig. Change the water often.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Not saying the OP should eat this bird, but a good brine soak will get the blood out of a dead bird. I do it with ducks, pheasants, turkeys etc. Soak the carcass for 24 to 48 hours in the frig. Change the water often.

X2 I don't eat them, feed them to my dogs, but like every other hunter, have eaten the meat of a bird who's bleeding was mostly internal................................ carried around for a good portion of the day before processed.................... sometimes the gut having been perforated and contents leaked into the cavity. Most of us preferred if the shot pattern only hit the head, with almost no bleeding at all. I was never sick from eating any of that meat, or even knew of someone who had been.