HELP....should we eat this hen? thinning the flock I choose this hen and she is lightweight and when I hold her upside down fluid/water comes out her

[qumumd]

when I hold her upside down fluid comes out her mouth. what is wrong with her. should I just discard her and not process her to eat??

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Did she have access to water? Birds with water in their crops can't hold it in when held upside down, they vomit and can easily choke on it

 

[MamaFox78]

Did she have access to water? Birds with water in their crops can't hold it in when held upside down, they vomit and can easily choke on it

I was thinking the same thing... 4-H stopped having kids turn birds upside down for showmanship due to this issue. Used to be, the kids would just withhold food & water prior to showing, but that's not good for the birds, so now they don't turn them upside down.

If that's all that's concerning about the hen, it doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with her! But if she's really lightweight, maybe give her time to bulk up with some high protein feed before processing.

 

[qumumd]

yes, she had water. she had lost weight. after i shut the chickens in last nite and went to catch the two............she was not there. she had stayed outside to roost. she had never done that before. well, she is ready to be processed. her skin seems so dry compared to the other hen.,

 

[MamaFox78]

yes, she had water. she had lost weight. after i shut the chickens in last nite and went to catch the two............she was not there. she had stayed outside to roost. she had never done that before. well, she is ready to be processed. her skin seems so dry compared to the other hen.,

The only time I had a hen stay outside the coop overnight, she was sick with EYP... she got eaten by something. (I was recovering from major surgery at the time, my boys didn't count chickens that night) Not sure what would cause the dry skin? But as far as I know, EYP doesn't affect the meat... so unless she's got something really awful going on, you should be fine to process her.