Hen died

[lyoness876]

Last night one of my girls got herself stuck in the water container and froze to death. She was one of my favorites and I am so upset right now, but I do need to know what I can do with her. Can she still be cooked? The ground is still frozen so I can't bury her (I know that must sound ridiculous but I love these birds), and I don't want to just take her to the dump (it seems heartless). I will do what I have to but this is my very first hen to die. She was one of my best layers and extremely social and I just need helpful advice right now please and thank you. All of our birds are 11 months old right now. If that helps at all.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry for your loss

If the body has been kept cold, and you're sure she didn't have a disease (sounds like it was just an accident), I suppose she could be "cooked." The meat is likely to be rather tough, though, and then there is the possible difficulty of eating a well-loved animal.
Another option would be to freeze her body in a plastic bag and wait until the spring thaw to bury her.

 

[lyoness876]

Thank you so much. I'm a vegetarian but there are 2 meat eaters in the family. I was thinking more soup for them. They are all very healthy and it was definitely an accident. We have ducks too and the water wasn't all the way up to the top since the ducks like to make a huge mess, and she fell inside sometime during the night. It was probably 8 degrees last night so with the water freezing and her being stuck, she didn't have a chance. I feel so terrible. She was an amazing girl! I'm not sure what we'll do yet but I definitely appreciate the advice. Thank you so much.