much like most mushrooms can be eaten unknown one are sometimes only eaten once.
if it died of violence or obvious accident i would gobble it but "died, cause unknown" is rather risky.
it might have found some treated seed,toxic plant etc etc or it might carry quite a biological challenge from some horrible bug which you may also have a problem with.
Many years ago, I sat under an ash tree on the edge of a cornfild (Wheat) at harvest time and shot 6 pigeons, which fell in the corn.
Damn dog brought back Seven !
Never did work out which one I shouldn't eat - so dog and ferrets had the lot !
If chickens are owt like aviary birds - they do tend to drop off their perches in the autumn weather change - and oddly again when the weather changes for the better in the spring as well !
However, the right thing to do is to nip down to Lidl and pay �3 for a "proper one" - If that's an old laying bird that died of a shortage of breath - it'll be tough as old boots and inedible without significant "processing"
Annemieke
Joined: 26 Feb 2013 Posts: 131 Location: Somerset UK
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 15 1:47 pm Post subject:
Didn't eat it, wisely, I think it was wishful thinking that I could. I thought I'd make it into soup and cook it for hours. But that may not help against everything, may it?
correct,a half hour boil of cubed carrion will deal with most issues but not all , for example mercury treated seed ,some bacterial exotoxins and some plant or man made toxins are not destroyed by a good boil.
if cause of death isnt obvious tis best to avoid the risk unless the risk of starving that day is greater than that of a toxic hazard. even if hungry i would be quite careful with "of unknown causes" .