rule one of our beloved birds dead never gets any easier . Whether one-time age , an chance event , a predator , or some other factor brought our poulet ’s life to a conclusion , dealing with death is always hard .
For those who live in the northerly reach of the country , that difficulty increase a hundredfold when it happens during the frigid season . Compost cumulation are blanketed with snow and the ground is freeze solid . How on earth do we deal with the winter death of a chicken ?
This question came to light this weekend , when I return home from the market to find our teen , Jaeson , having an emotional discussion in the garage with my married man , Jae . From what I could piece together , our Black Orpington rooster , Alpha , wander a piece too confining to our duck passel and managed to get himself tramp down to death .
Frankly , I ’m still not sure how that happened to such a robust boy , but the grounds lay on the ground before me .
This was not our first winter death . Living in Michigan , we regrettably lose a few feather ones every winter .
Jaeson , however , is still relatively new in his chicken - erect involvement . What I explained to him may come in ready to hand should you experience the winter death of a chicken .
Ana Hotaling
Familiarize Yourself With Local Ordinances
Because of the disease risks that fare with wield remains of any form , every municipality has regulations in place regarding the handling of dead animals .
If you go in an farming or rural zone , there may even be ordinances outlining the disposal of deadened livestock . Before you do anything , contact your townspeople / metropolis anteroom and take what procedures must be followed .
These regulations make dependable irrespective of the prison term of year . So make sealed to ask if there are any allowances for winter manipulation .
Ana Hotaling
Some venue in reality cover this eventuality . For example , during our first winter with our tidy sum , our town ’s ordinance director told us that , in the outcome of the wintertime death of a crybaby , all at rest livestock had to be handle with within two week of the thaw . ( Not that we await that long . )
Learn more about disposing of stock fauna carcasses .
Make Preparations
Never directly manage a dead wench . If you have disposable gloves ( available at most pharmacies ) , put a twain on prior to doing anything . If you do not have throwaways , buy a yoke of latex or vinyl radical dishwashing gloves to be designated for this role .
Avoid raw fabrics such as leather , fleece or cotton , which can absorb bodily fluid and peradventure transport any microbe present . In a pinch , use a pair of nuzzle plastic grocery bags over each hand .
In plus to prepare your hand protective covering , you will require a disposable receptacle in which to put the body . We keep cardboard shipping cartons from our vacation shopping for this sole role .
If you do not have any carton , expend a sturdy report handbag such as the kind in which lawn newspaper clipping and leaf bedding material are put for collection . Finally , you will need packing or duct tape to seal your container .
Bring Out Your Dead
shoo away any chickens forth from their at rest counterpart .
While they may be insatiably curious , bird can also be cannibalistic and may begin pecking away at the ex - chicken if given the opportunity . For their health and safety , keep them away from the stiff .
Next , break up up the consistence . Examine it if you wish to undertake to determine a cause of death . ( If you plan on a necropsy , get in touch with the symptomatic lab prior to treat the animal to get detailed instruction . )
Carefully place the stiff inside a brown paper grocery bag . ( You may demand to use two for heavy breeds such asJersey Giants , BrahmasandCochins . )
Place the bag organic structure into your composition board box , then firmly tape it keep out , continue every first step . Do not block to clean house the fleck where your dead bird was found , especially if this was within the coop .
Label, Label, Label
Whatever you do , do not forget to pronounce the carton !
Using a thick-skulled permanent marker , write the content on every side of the box seat — top , bottom and all four position . Use large letters . Add neon stickers to make the box seat even more eye catching .
I can not punctuate the grandness of making the cartonful as detectable as potential . The last thing you want to do is discover a mummified chicken stiff in an overlooked boxful in your garage as you prepare for a yard cut-rate sale … three years from now . Ana Hotaling
Select a Storage Spot
Until springtime arrives , thawing out both the flat coat and compost piles , you will require to salt away this impromptu jewel casket in a cold , disconsolate place . A garden shed on hiatus until spring is an first-class choice , as are tool sheds and service department .
Place the cartonful on a in high spirits shelf to keep it as safe as possible from black eye , chipmunks and other rodents seeking shelter from the cold . If potential , brood the box with a clear plastic sheet or place it inside a decipherable shaping grip to protect it from leaks .
Do not use a tarpaulin . This will completely obscure both the boxful and all your careful labeling .
Routine Checks
Regardless of all these precautions , you must see to it the carton every week or so until the bound melt . No measures are foolproof .
Periodic inspections will catch rain - sop composition board , black eye - gnawed box corners and other harm . Should you discover that the box has been compromise in any way , swap it for a novel box . Or you’re able to simply place the carton inside a larger cartonful , varnish it , mark it and hive away it — preferably in a high , dryer spot .
If you observe a foul odor emanating from the loge , the decomposition process has already commence . In this case , rate the entire carton in a black garbage bag , then place the bag in a turgid cartonful . Seal it , mark it and salt away it .
Final Rites
Once the solid ground or your compost pile has thawed out — and this may happen sooner than spring , depending on your local conditions — you may last swallow up your bird ’s remains fit in to your local regulation . Once again , practice protective plastic , vinyl group or nitril gloves before handling the trunk .
Remove the tape from the cardboard box , then bury the intact corner — or just the chocolate-brown paper market bag take your bird — within your compost pile . you could also localise it in the basis , in a hole at least two foot recondite .
whole cover the corpse to prevent carrion eaters from digging it back up . If your local ordinances allow incineration , slay the tape from the carton , then congeal the entire thing on fervency and combust it to ash .
Alpha son is now sealed inside a carton , rest on a shelf in our magnetic pole barn alongside piteous Maggie Ancona , Jr. , and Sally Ameraucana . I ’m skip this will be it for the season .
If it ’s not , though , at least we ’re train . And hopefully ( if you last in the north ) , you ’re now ready for the winter expiry of a poulet , too .
