Well, we had an exciting night. We arrived home at dark and was greeted by my neighbor telling me his dog was all over my chicken tractor, and that my roo may be dead (I have no roo!). However, when we went back to look at the damage, our 3-year old black sex link was lying on the ground. I was SURE she was dead, but saw her head slightly move and eyes open. She was paralyzed from the neck down. WHY? That is the question...
I talked it over with my wife, and decided that she probably had a 'heart-attack' or some other trauma to cause a stroke or who knows. The water bowl still had water in it, therefore I assume that she was not dehydrated. I would appreciate your input-- do you think this older hen could have had a heart attack?
Regardless, we decided to put her out of her agony (if she could feel anything) and I killed her. SHE STILL HAD REFLEXES!!! HMM...
She is in the crockpot, and has been for 5+ hours.. and VERY RUBBERY! You all were right when you said tough, but I just wanted to give a better description for those of us who have not converted our older chickens to table fare.
I assume that she is safe to eat since we have cooked all day and potentially killed any bacteria (if it was just coincidence that she was sick and the dog tearing into the coop as well). The coop was spared, and no entry found.. she did not have any marks either that I could see (no blood, no damage).
Thanks for your input
I talked it over with my wife, and decided that she probably had a 'heart-attack' or some other trauma to cause a stroke or who knows. The water bowl still had water in it, therefore I assume that she was not dehydrated. I would appreciate your input-- do you think this older hen could have had a heart attack?
Regardless, we decided to put her out of her agony (if she could feel anything) and I killed her. SHE STILL HAD REFLEXES!!! HMM...
She is in the crockpot, and has been for 5+ hours.. and VERY RUBBERY! You all were right when you said tough, but I just wanted to give a better description for those of us who have not converted our older chickens to table fare.
I assume that she is safe to eat since we have cooked all day and potentially killed any bacteria (if it was just coincidence that she was sick and the dog tearing into the coop as well). The coop was spared, and no entry found.. she did not have any marks either that I could see (no blood, no damage).
Thanks for your input