Replies

  • rochelle l.b. begay March 25, 2011 at 9:25am
    'cheap portable or hand held mister'....i think ineed to get that. where did you get yours Chris?
  • Jonathan Mecham March 24, 2011 at 5:54pm
    My wife would make me quit the guild if she read this discussion!  ;)  Mostly joking!
    • Rachel > Jonathan Mecham March 25, 2011 at 10:30am
      Agreed. If the bird dies in front of you from something violent like a dog bite, then I would say yes, go ahead, that is essentially the same as butchering. If a bird dies for any other reason and you find it in the backyard, please do not eat it.  Bury it deeply near a tree and let it fertilize your tree, this way it isn't wasted and you don't get sick. Cooking kills some things, not others, not worth the risk or the newspaper story saying backyard chicken keeping has gone too far. Not really wanting to debate this one.
  • Jeanette January 18, 2011 at 6:42pm

    Always something to learn on this website. We were having this conversation in my family actually this weekend. Good to know it will be ok, mostly, if it happens. And, I hope it doesn't for a really long time. 

  • ed fancher January 17, 2011 at 10:43am

    Was it sick? If so no way. But if say a dog got it and it's fresh ok

    Eating dead animals is what we do (us meat eaters) but if it just died and was still warm I guess so. I wouldn't unless I'd killed it and it was healthy beforehand

    • Kelly Liston > ed fancher January 17, 2011 at 4:59pm
      The two hens who have died were because of the heat.
  • Laura January 17, 2011 at 10:24am

    Kelly,

    I would not.  For lots of reasons.  Primarily, I think it's gross.  I wouldn't simply throw it away either.  I think the chicken remains could be better used fertilizing soil that you bury it under. You could then use that soil to help fertilize your garden. 

    Just my opinion (but I'm also a vegan/vegetarian).

    • Trevor Ray > Laura January 17, 2011 at 11:22am

      Is it really OK to just bury the chicken in your garden?

      I just keep thinking un-sanitary...and disease... and animals coming around to dig it back up... but I'm no expert in this topic.

       

      What steps would you take if/when you bury I chicken that has died?

       

      Does anyone else have tips on what to do with a carcass after having cleaned a chicken?

       

    • Bethany Lobocki > Trevor Ray January 17, 2011 at 2:06pm

      Every time I've buried a dead chicken in the yard, the dogs have dug it up.  It doesn't matter how deeply it's buried.  It's really gross burying a chicken for the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th time in the heat of summer.  And it takes A LOT to gross me out. 

      The only place I will compost offal or whole dead chickens (I won't eat them if I don't know how long they've been dead, and they don't get fed to the dogs if they are already stinky and covered in ants)...is in my enclosed compost bin.  (The one I got from the town of Gilbert) That way the dogs can't dig out the rotting stuff.  And it doesn't smell or attract flies if there is a nice, deep layer of brown stuff over top.

      Edited to add: after butchering poultry, the heads and organ meats that we won't eat (like the lungs) go to the dogs.  We take the "socks" off the feet and use for stock.  The feathers, intestines, gizzard contents, wind pipe, crop, etc. go into the compost bin.  Any bones, wings, neck, etc. that you won't otherwise use...keep that stuff to make stock.  And many people use the heads to make stock...they just keep the dogs busy so I use them that way instead. 

  • Bethany Lobocki January 17, 2011 at 10:24am
    Heck yeah!  Use those babies.  The only time I won't do it is if I don't know how long they've been dead.  If you know they've just died, then use them.  Not gross at all.
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