Help! Hen died today...safe to eat?

[cwhit590]

Hey yall,

One of my BO hens died today.

She was perfectly fine last night, but when I came by after work I found her dead in the outdoor run. I looked her over and it didn't look like she was attacked by anything...so I'm thinking she had a heart attack?

I went ahead and processed her...I didn't want to waste the meat...but do you think the meat is safe to eat? It looks fine and doesn't smell bad. The temps didn't get too high (high today here was in the 50's) and I know it happened sometime within the last 24 hrs.

If you guys think the meat is fine..... since she was almost a year old, should the meat be aged longer or something so it isn't too tough? Any suggestions?

This is the 1st time I lost a bird and my 1st time processing...

.....sorry about all the questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Katy]

I wouldn't chance it. If they're not bled right away it doesn't taste very good.

 

[Hens_And_Chicks]

Everyone I have ever talked to says if you don't know why you bird died or what it died from, don't take a chance.

I wouldn't eat it either.

 

[cwhit590]

Hmmm....oh well, at least it was an educational experience if nothing else!

Any other opinions?

Anyone else have a similar situation happen?

 

[MissPrissy]

Never eat anything you can't determine the specific cause of death. It is far too risky especially for unknown disease. You never want to eat animal that could have been sick.

 

[shortcake1806]

I agree it's not worth the risk.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Sorry about your hen, cwit.

Question... does that rule apply to meat birds too? If one dies of a heart attack can it still be processed and eaten? Just something I've wondered about.

 

[yotetrapper]

Yuck, I would never eat a chicken if I didnt know what killed it, and I eat some pretty questionable things LOL.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
I wouldn't.

Any chicken I eat that doesn't come from the store, I'm going to watch bleed out!

Anything else (for me at least) would be like eating road kill.

 

[jaku]

Throw away ANY animal you didn't either buy at the store or kill yourself. Don't feed it to the dogs, don't look for a cause of death, just burn or bury it.