Maybe a dumb Q? IDK but, ......

[Half-a-dozen]

Can you eat any chicken????

If you have a chicken who is older and you need to cull....can you eat it???

If you think one of your chickens are not up to par (as in the healthiest), not showing signs of sickness, and you want to cull it....could you eat it???

Does any of these type of things matter?????

What IF a chicken is sick but you did not know it and culled it for eatin.....does anything actually absorb into the chicken meat itself that would be dangerous???

These may be common sense Q's I just am not sure and would like to know your opinions.

Thanks

 

[arlee453]

You can eat any chicken. The older birds will be pretty tough though - best marinated for a few days and then used for stew or dumplings, etc.

Personally, I woudn't eat a chicken that was showing signs of any illness.

The FDA will not allow chickens who have been on antibiotics or other kinds of medicine to be used for human consumption. (one of the reasons production growers are so paranoid about bio-security since they can't medicate their flocks)

I suppose if you they were treated well in the past it might be OK, but again I wouldn't eat any bird that had anything other than antibiotics, and then only if it had been at least a couple months before.

That's just my opinion though- others can chime in here with their preferences...

Edited to add - if I culled a chicken, I think i'd at least stew up the meat to feed the dogs so the bird wouldn't go to waste...

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
Yup!

Quote:
Yup!

Quote:
Utterly wrong. The USDA will not allow growth hormones in chicken, but antibiotics are part of your standard broiler ration.

If you are talking about egg production rather than broilers, though, I want to say they can medicate their flocks as long as they are following the appropriate withdrawal periods.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

thanks for your inputs!!!

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Maybe, but considering it was showing no symtoms, we've probably all eaten many animals like that and never known it or had a problem. In fact, knowing the shadiness of the commercial meat industry, I would be shocked if we haven't all eaten plenty of sick or dying animals that they KNEW were sick or dying but chose to butcher them along with the rest. Obviously, like the others said, I would never knowingly eat a sick animal though.

 

[arlee453]

Greyfields - thanks for the correction concerning antibiotics. And duh, it's the USDA not the FDA - got my TLAs mixed up...

From the USDA website:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/chicken_food_safety_focus/index.asp

Antibiotics can be used in broilers but there is a withdrawl period required before slaughter.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Quote:
Maybe, but considering it was showing no symtoms, we've probably all eaten many animals like that and never known it or had a problem. In fact, knowing the shadiness of the commercial meat industry, I would be shocked if we haven't all eaten plenty of sick or dying animals that they KNEW were sick or dying but chose to butcher them along with the rest. Obviously, like the others said, I would never knowingly eat a sick animal though.

yes...

never thought about that and no I wouldn't intentionally eat a bird I thought was sick....but u hit the nail on the head in terms of my thoughts.

Thanks so much....