RIP Cantona

[perkin]

Just got a call from our neighbours who are chicken sitting while we're away for the weekend. Our lovely, if slightly scruffy, Cantona was found expired on the nest box this morning. She's been with us 13 months post-battery farm and in the last few weeks had been sleeping lots during the day. She'll be much missed for her comedy antics around the garden.
Onto the practical side - what does one do with the body of a deceased chicken?

[Flummery]

How sad. I always fear when we are away that one will peg out on my willing but inexperienced sister.
In theory, you bag and bin - council bin - but it seems harsh with a 'friend'. If I tell you to bury her someone will come and kill me! We've only lost hens who have been put to sleep so we haven't had this to deal with.

[Snadger]

I should have called my cocklerel Cantona as he comes at you feet first.

I had a chook die on me today as well (my last black Minorcan, no more white eggs for my brekkie) and as always I cremated it in the woodburner.
Not much good I know, if you haven't got a woodburner.

The only other alternatives are burial or put it in the bin.

[perkin]

Thanks Flum and Snadge, methinks it's the big bin for Cantona then. She was named by my BIL who is a massive Man Utd fan. I did try pointing out her gender but was told I could just call her Erica... I will miss sharing my garden with the chicken who could only grow one tail feather at a time and couldn't resist a blueberry or three.

[Hans Mum]

sad news but as least she had sunshine & freedom for her last year, we've lost a couple of ex-batts and we bagged & binned them, it seemed wrong but the thought of a fox coming & digging them up was too much to think about

[Glutton4...]

RIP Cantona - I had one that only had very sparse tail feathers - Mrs. Shuttlecock bum! Not sure which name is worse!

[baldrick]

rip cantona. Cremation at the vet without return of ashes £15.00. I almost expired on the spot with shock. Now I roll in newspaper under peelings in our garden/food waste/cardboard bin. Hate doing it but as our garden is now like fred west's and I havent got 15 quid per chicken so be it. Special friends still get buried though. In years to come archaeologists will be digging up a chicken everywhere I have been and probably conclude its some sort of weird offering to the gods of potato blight or something................

[Chef_uk]

excuse my ignorance and lack of experience/knowledge but can't they be eaten? I've not planned to keep any yet but if I did I would certainly want to eat the meat afterwards. seems odd to have to bag and bin them :/

[OverWyreGrower]

excuse my ignorance and lack of experience/knowledge but can't they be eaten? I've not planned to keep any yet but if I did I would certainly want to eat the meat afterwards. seems odd to have to bag and bin them :/

As you don't know what they have died of, it's best not to really....

Also, as they are not meat birds there wouldn't be enough meat on them to make it worthwhile. Layers (or ex-batts) use up all their energy into laying eggs, not putting on weight.

[Hilary B]

If you cull for injury, you could eat it, but there is a fair bit of work for not-a-lot of meat. Cull for mystery ailment (but fairly sure it isn't infection or poisoning), eating is risky but might be OK. If the bird dies without assistance, I wouldn't consider it.
If you manage to retrieve one the fox was about to run off with, that is OK for eating (if still warm when brought in), but the work-results situation is unchanged.

[perkin]

Baldrick - the thought of your buried chickens being found sometime in the future and puzzled over did make me smile. As children we buried all our various rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in the back garden so maybe when my parents move house a similar discovery awaits the new owner! Seeing Cantona when we transferred her from the recycle box where our neighbours had 'stored' her to bag/bin was bad enough - we definitely have local foxes so I'd dread the though of her making a reappearance if we buried her.

Chef-uk - the eating question wasn't a consideration for me as I'm vegetarian. Though hubby did make a few quips about combining a cremation with a BBQ... and suggesting that the replacement chicken (or substitute, as he termed it) could be called Scholes. Unfortunately he shares football loyalties with his brother. I'm drawing the line at Giggs though!

[baldrick]

Baldrick - the thought of your buried chickens being found sometime in the future and puzzled over did make me smile. As children we buried all our various rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in the back garden so maybe when my parents move house a similar discovery awaits the new owner! Seeing Cantona when we transferred her from the recycle box where our neighbours had 'stored' her to bag/bin was bad enough - we definitely have local foxes so I'd dread the though of her making a reappearance if we buried her.

Chef-uk - the eating question wasn't a consideration for me as I'm vegetarian. Though hubby did make a few quips about combining a cremation with a BBQ... and suggesting that the replacement chicken (or substitute, as he termed it) could be called Scholes. Unfortunately he shares football loyalties with his brother. I'm drawing the line at Giggs though!

Think under meat regs any animal has to be fit in order to be fit for human consumption. While im a big believer in rules being there to bend Id be a bit scared of infection build up in a dying animal, and in a mystery death id be afraid of them transferring the disease to me....