# Coyote raid - can I use the meat?



## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

Two coyotes raided our chicken coop this morning and killed five birds. 


I chased them off and am now wondering if it would be okay to butcher the chickens and use the meat. I'm thinking if I discard the parts that were obviously in contact with coyote mouths, this should be safe. But wondering if any of you more experienced chicken folks can speak from experience on the matter? I'd hate to waste them, but of course I don't want to risk making my family sick.

They got our best rooster, sadly. Never seen them this close to the house before. Will have to make some changes to keep everyone else safe now.


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## cristina-sorina (May 4, 2018)

Feira426 said:


> Two coyotes raided our chicken coop this morning and killed five birds.
> 
> 
> I chased them off and am now wondering if it would be okay to butcher the chickens and use the meat. I'm thinking if I discard the parts that were obviously in contact with coyote mouths, this should be safe. But wondering if any of you more experienced chicken folks can speak from experience on the matter? I'd hate to waste them, but of course I don't want to risk making my family sick.
> ...


Im so sorry about your chickens, that's awful!
Personally I would not eat that meat, you don't know if the coyotes were rabid, if they had any other number of illnesses. If your chickens were bit then they have basically been inoculated with whatever disease the coyote had. As much of a waste as it seems I would not risk potential illness.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Feira426 said:


> Two coyotes raided our chicken coop this morning and killed five birds.
> 
> 
> I chased them off and am now wondering if it would be okay to butcher the chickens and use the meat. I'm thinking if I discard the parts that were obviously in contact with coyote mouths, this should be safe. But wondering if any of you more experienced chicken folks can speak from experience on the matter? I'd hate to waste them, but of course I don't want to risk making my family sick.
> ...


I would not eat that meat. But i surely would use it as bait on another part of my property and go coyote huntin.....


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

All right - thanks, guys.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Do not eat them. 

So sorry that happened.


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## Chris488 (Sep 4, 2018)

I wouldn't.


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## J4Julz (Mar 3, 2020)

It is a shame to waste it, but probably the best use is bait if you have traps for ***** and such. I put them in the freezer for when I need them. 

Around here, raccoons are the primary vector for rabies in the wild population. We have an awful lot of coyotes around too, but I don’t know about their rabies susceptibility


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

J4Julz said:


> Around here, raccoons are the primary vector for rabies in the wild population. We have an awful lot of coyotes around too, but I don't know about their rabies susceptibility


It always amazes me that people say these things that others have told them that others have told them. Every state has a vector map look yours are bats mostly.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

With the chicken no, adrenaline poisons the meat. Anything that is run hard is poisonous to man.


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## J4Julz (Mar 3, 2020)

goathiker said:


> It always amazes me that people say these things that others have told them that others have told them. Every state has a vector map look yours are bats mostly.


@goathiker: I could edit to say "_one _of the primary vectors"- would that cool your indignation at my apparent ignorance?

I guess getting my information from my veterinarians and the DNR has no value here? We have been tracking the westward progress of rabies in raccoons for the last 20 yrs, with the DNR collecting dead & trapped raccoons for testing locally. Rabies in raccoons are a cause for concern because they can bite and transmit the infection to horses and other livestock. If my horse is not vaccinated, and appears to have been bitten, my farm will be quarantined for 6 mos. by the State veterinarian.

"The majority of reported cases occur in wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes." from https://www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases/0,4579,7-186-76711_78041---,00.html


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

At least you didn't say carried by lol. People seem to think some of these animals just walk around infecting everything without being sick themselves. 
It's really weird to me that while every vertebrate has the ability to get rabies it's almost always bats that actually passes it on. 
Raccoons also carry false rabies which can be passed to pigs and then to the humans that eat pork.

You know we developed oral rabies vaccines and, for a while, were dropping them in bait balls all over the forest in some states. The program was working really well and then they just stopped doing it...


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## J4Julz (Mar 3, 2020)

Probably lost funding because, idk, it wasn’t directly affecting our pets? 

Just glad that I am not required to give goats a rabie$ vaccine


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