Is she safe to eat? (hope so because we just did!)

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Found this site while continuing my research today..http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/
Anyone tried hanging their older birds?

Read the article you posted. Thanks for the info. It eases my concern about the chicken I have brining in the 'fridge. Our ancestors would have died out long before we were born if every animal had to be killed and processed immediately and in sterile conditions. I remember reading stories about the Native Americans who drove whole herds of buffalo over a cliff and then butchered them over a period of several days. I knew about aging meat and letting chickens "rest" in the refridgerator for a few days before freezing or cooking them, but I didn't know that game birds were allowed to hang for days before they had even been gutted. Thanks again for the information.

 

[cassie]

Just a comment. When my mother was a girl, poultry offered for sale at the store was plucked, period. The housewife gutted it and removed the head and feet when she got it home. My WWII cookbook tells how to prepare poultry for the table. The first step it explains is how to clean it.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Well, I decided to follow my gut...and the input of the majority of folks who posted here. I froze half of the chicken in question and followed the Joy of Cooking recipie for Chicken Fricassee with the other half. The only change I made was that after browning the chicken pieces and sauteeing the onions, making the rue and stirring in the broth, instead of putting the chicken back in the liquid and adding the vegetables and letting it simmer for 30 minutes, I only put the chicken back in and let it simmer for an hour before adding the vegetables and letting it simmer for another 30 minutes. Wow it was tasty. I see what you are all raving about the flavor of a mature hen rather than the poor juvenile grocery store birds. Now, I suppose we could all keel over sometime in the next 8 -- 12 hours. But so far...feeling fine!

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Almost 12 hours I assume you are all well hehe I think people have such a fear of germs they miss out on alot. I know food borne ilness is a real risk but I think if we were less afraid all the time we would become immune to many of the things that are making us a sick. E. coli and salmonella....?? I think anyone who have ever did chores and then grabbed a sandwhich has probably already been "vaccinated" IMHO

 

[yinepu]

I can't imagine any problems from eating this chicken. Neither, if truth be told, can any of the people who are telling you to throw it away. She didn't die of a bacterial disease. You are not eating her raw. If it were me, I'd throw her in the crockpot with some onions, etc. and cook her up. Eating this chicken is not going to make anyone sick.

Almost 12 hours I assume you are all well hehe I think people have such a fear of germs they miss out on alot. I know food borne ilness is a real risk but I think if we were less afraid all the time we would become immune to many of the things that are making us a sick. E. coli and salmonella....?? I think anyone who have ever did chores and then grabbed a sandwhich has probably already been "vaccinated" IMHO

Yup...

Around here she would have been dinner.. no second thoughts or mulling it over.. so long as the organs looked good and she was still kicking when you found her she would have been in the freezer in no time

 

[KatieBugg]

I would not hesitate to eat a butchered bird from prolapse, it's not a disease but a malfunction of the reproductive system.

 

[leighwb]

Thanks HH, I'm going to look up that recipe!
Cassie, it was really helpful to read your comment about the chickens in your mom's day being sold with guts intact. I pulled 3 of my chickens from the deep freeze and hung them 2 days ago. Unfortunately, the temps have been in the teens and the enclosed porch is barely getting above freezing. It may be spring before these guys thaw!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Almost 12 hours I assume you are all well hehe I think people have such a fear of germs they miss out on alot. I know food borne ilness is a real risk but I think if we were less afraid all the time we would become immune to many of the things that are making us a sick. E. coli and salmonella....?? I think anyone who have ever did chores and then grabbed a sandwhich has probably already been "vaccinated" IMHO

Well, just ate a second helping of the Chicken Fricassee for lunch

after teaching two aerobic classes this morning...one more to go this evening. I think I can relax about that chicken. Anyway. I agree with your statement about fear of germs. I remember reading a article about the deadly food alergies modern kids have, where their body can't tell the difference between a cold germ and a peanut and their immune systems goes into possibly deadly overdrive in reaction. The article stated that the kids with the least food alergies and the healthiest immune systems were the kids who grew up on farms with dirt under their fingernails and spent time almost every day up to their ankles in pig poop. I tend to be one of those folks who tries to eat well, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and drink lots of water rather than run around with a bottle of disinfectant and hand sanitizer. So far it has served me well.

I was nervous, however about that chicken, so thanks to all of you who shared your knowledge. I figure that you sort of treated us to a fine meal that might otherwise have ended up in the trash at worst or in the dog's dish. My dogs however, wish you'd keep your opinions to yourself

 

[rodeo chicken]

I can agree everything short of rabies and Ebola I m covered. I'm glad everything worked out and your birds weren't put to waste. I've had two calves killed by coyotes in the last year. If it weren't for the skunk I killed two years back that tested positive for rabies I would have loved to make use of 1100 lbs of wasted calves.

 

[SPARKLESILKIE]

Eat her? Poor thing!!!!!!!!!!