[Diddy Gardener]

... as I know a lot of you have lost hens  (I haven't... yet!). But... how do you dispose of dead hens? My OH has stated that he would put them in a box and cremate them but, (and this is my warped mind) wouldn't that smell of, like, roast chicken?

I wouldn't throw them in the bin as that seems to be really disrespectful as they're pets. I wouldn't bury them as we have dogs.

So, what do you guys do?

And many apologies if this offends anyone, it's not meant to... and if it does, mods, please remove it.

[Spana]

Well, you and perhaps a lot of others may not like what we do.

We dont very often have a hen die but we do cull all our home reared cockerels.  I never pluck and gut, just skin and take the meat off the bones.  The carcasses with the giblets still inside and the wings and head still attached are put out for the buzzards, who do an excellent job.

It works for us .

[kegs]

No offence taken by me!  

Personally I'd cook it - but I love chicken.  In our first week of chicken keeping one of ours had a prolapse so OH had to do the deed while I was busy googling prolapse and trying not to cry.  He went to double bag it and pop it in the bin but I persuaded him to take off the breasts first.  They went in to the freezer until we'd got over the shock of the situation and then turned them into the most delicious curry!   Now we're more comfortable with the process (just plucked and gutted 3 cockerels this afternoon) I'd definitely cook the whole bird even if it was just for stock (assuming it's not been on meds of course).

[Tony H]

Chickens come under the livestock rules and should be desposed of according to DEFRA rules i think you can burn them but not bury or put them in the bin as that would constitute ileagle wast   stupid rules supose what you do behind closed doors  

[Yorkie]

As I understand the rules, chickens which have died are officially given the horribly impersonal phrase "animal by-product".  Even though they have been living in a domestic situation, they aren't classified as a pet under UK or EU law.

You aren't allowed to bury a chicken in your garden or field, as the bird has to be removed under the relevant rules.  The reason being that there is no way of ensuring that they are free from chemicals or toxins which would be harmful to human health if they got into the food chain - you've no certain way of knowing what caused it to die.

It was breaches of the livestock rules which led to foot and mouth, and BSE.

Guidance on the 2011 regs can be found here.

[Diddy Gardener]

Wow... interesting answers! Don't know if I could cook and eat one of the girls though. And the oldest ones are four now so they'd probably be a mite tough!  :blink:

[Thrift]

When our lot were killed our farmer neighbour buried them in one of his fields. I go with Spana though, on the disposal of small amounts. The crows do an excellent waste disposal job.

It's common practice for a deer to be gutted on site and the pluck ( I think is the term) left for the foxes.

[joyfull]

I double bag and put in the dustbin.

[Geo]

I'm with Joyful on this one

[Robert_S]

Same here re: bin...if you bought a whole chicken from the supermarket and it went out of date before you ate it, what would you do?

[Craigx]

this is a question i was thinking of asking, but kinda hard when alot of posts are about attacks and the destruction left.. so thanks to the topic creator, for asking the difficult question

Craig

[CoopersCoop]

If you contact your local authority they will dispose of it for you. It's quite a common problem, as a lot of people have pets that they can't dispose of which are obviously quite a lot larger than a chicken (ie. dogs, cats etc). Also a lot of vets practices will take animal carcasses off your hands and dispose of them, although some may charge. Might be worth investigating a few of these so if the worse does happen, you know what to do and who to call.

Hope this helps.

[Evansent]

I have binned and Burn't mine. As there are too many foxes around to bury them.  The ones we burn't, went into the centre of a big bonfire and I can't say I noticed a smell at all, other than the usual smokiness.

[ManicMum]

We double bag and bin hens, although I couldn't do that with a hamster or guinea pig - I can't explain myself where the difference lies .....

[Mrs Bee]

Chickens come under the livestock rules and should be desposed of according to DEFRA rules i think you can burn them but not bury or put them in the bin as that would constitute ileagle wast   stupid rules supose what you do behind closed doors  

I read on the internet somewhere, in our early chicken keeping days that according to  DEFRA's rules and regs that dead chickens/livestock have to be incinerated at a registered incinerator. Cost of £25 each.  And of course that is exacly what we have done
If you believe that you'll believe anything. 

We have a funeral pyre in the back garden, send them to Valhalla, and it doesn't smell like roast chicken as the fire is too hot. Doesn't smell of anything except bonfires.