I personally eat nothing that died from unknown causes. Now if the chick was going down on its legs I would put it down and eat whatever meat there was. But finding it already dead? No matter how freshly dead I think it may be I'm not gonna do anything but incinerate it. I know for some that may seem wasteful, but its just my way.
Last summer in the heat wave I lost several fully grown meat birds to the heat. It was an expensive reminder to turn the fan on. I also lost a 45lb. turkey the same week through no fault of my own. Now that was a crying shame, but it smelled like roast turkey around the farm for a good week or two.
On another note I caught me a huge possum last night. Bugger barely fit into the raccoon trap. He can't even turn around in there. The night before last the light had went out in the summer coop and of course predators are never likely to turn down a meal in the moonlight. Fatso killed three chickens, but only ate two and a head. He also took a bite out of one of the live ones. First time in my almost 50 years that I lost a chicken to a non domestic animal. We catch all kinds of critters with the traps set into the dark areas, but never caught one right next to a pen before. For me a light on is the best defense against those sneaky little devils. I used the remaining carcases for bait and left the light off again. Sure enough that ugly rat showed back up.
When I checked this morning he sneered at me, I sneered back, he growled, I growled, he drooled, I said "you are disgusting and just you wait till the old man gets home." Then I set him on top of the coop, so he could sit and contemplate his fate and not bother the chickens as they run amok. I went to work feeding babies, and topping off waterers when I heard a commotion by the summer coop. Carmelita one on my Dark Cornish and Cocoa Bean our Ameruacana roo were doing their darnedest to kill that big fat ugly rat. Those silly chickens. Moved the trap to the shed where he can contemplate his fate in peace and quite. That is until the girls figure out the side door is open or those windows only have screen not real wire. Easy peasy just slam into them and they tare.
