Question about processing

[Karl@MagooFarmstead]

Hello all, we are trying to find some answers to a question.
One of our chickens was killed by a hawk and I interrupted the hawk's dinner. We wanted to process the chicken for food but some individuals were cautioning against it other's say it ok. I think the issue here. We can not know how long it has been dead?
Our questions:
Is there a time limit when you should gut and process our chicken after it has been dispatched?

Would it of been ok to eat that chicken?
We hated to put it into a barrel but we sided on caution and put it in the trash.
Thanks
Karl

 

[Laodicia]

My concern would be more on the method of death, the bacteria/diseases/parasites the hawk might be carrying.

Not sure on how long after death for cleaning but generally you're supposed to cool the meat as soon as possible. with it being winter (at least here) I wouldn't be too troubled about the meat going bad. It is possible to remove the breast, thighs, and wings without opening the internal cavity if you wanted... I'd be too worried about what might be in that meat after an animal had it. cooking doesn't kill everything. Sorry for not actually answering the question.

 

[Rye]

Game birds are hung for days and days fully intact. Why is a chicken so much different?

Sure bacteria might be injected into the meat from the prey bird, but cook it long enough...

What doesn't cooking kill? How does that bacteria get into the chicken from another bird? Does anyone know what bacteria birds of prey carry?

All of it is subjective with a ton of variables. I have chicken meat crawling out of my ears so I don't need to test a hawk kill. The dogs love them though and have had no problems.

 

[annageckos]

If you had interrupted the hawk I'd say the chicken wasn't dead very long. I'd have processed the chicken and decided from there what to do. I think many people over react about 'germs!'. I'd cut out any damaged meat if all else looked well. At the very least I'd give the chicken to my dog/cats. I've done that with a rabbit that was killed by a hawk in my yard. I accidentally spooked the hawk off and it wouldn't come back so I figured I might as well put the meat to use.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have to agree just cut the meat around where the hawk had damaged the rest should be fine to eat if she was older stew is all if young roasting is fine just my humble opinion

 

[elizabethu42]

Welcome to Byc I dont really know much about processing chickens, sorry.

 

[Karl@MagooFarmstead]

Thanks for them comment. I think we will do it next time, if there is. Neither of us knows how to process a chicken. A friend of ours has meat chickens and he told us to tag along to learn and help.

Side note: the hawk did come back looking for the his kill

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I would agree with cutting away damaged parts and eating the rest is safe if you interrupt the kill, UNLESS the predator had ripped into intestines or stomach. I would discard meat that is covered in feces/stomach contents and you don't know for how long.

As for timeframe, this depends on what the temperatures outside are like. If it's a 90* day I would start to wonder about it's safety VERY quickly, like, within 15-20 minutes because the meat starts at a warm temperature and is rapidly exposed to lots of bacteria under ideal growing conditions.
If it's below freezing it's probably safe to process at any time as long as the carcass is not too badly damaged.

Animals that are killed improperly don't bleed out properly and might need to be soaked a couple times or brined to help keep it from being bloody and gross to eat. But otherwise they should be safe as long as you cook it well.

 

[wyoDreamer]

AS for what "germs" the bird of prey may contaminate the meat with, think of what they eat and where they live. Wild birds, fish, wild rabbits, mice, roadkill and other dead thing they can happen on. It's not like they wash with soap and water after every meal.

 

[Mosey2003]

Personally, I wouldn't want to eat that chicken. Number one, it would be full of adrenaline from being captured and ripped apart by a predator. Number two, it wouldn't be properly bled out. Number three, I don't like being unsure of when the animal expired precisely. So no, I wouldn't bother.