Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: trinacooke on January 21, 2009, 20:48
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Hi all
I was just wondering if somebody could clarify wether or not chickens can be given and scraps that contain meat? :?:
On some sites etc it is encouraged as a good thing ie.. cat food, bacon fat (not too much as salt content) sunday dinner scraps ....... after all they eat bugs worms etc
Then on other sites it is a big NO NO ? :? and should only be given a diet that is meat free. Inc the DEFRA site I belive.
so if any body could enlighten me I would be interested.
Cheers :D :D :D
Trina x
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my chickens get all food scraps, but we're not big meat eaters so there's not often any meat in there (or the dog gets first pickings anyway) but occasionally they do and no harm has come to them! also i have given them cat food especially if they've been a bit poorly and needing biulding up.
I can't see what the harm would be and would have thought theres positive advantages in moderation...after all as you said, they eat worms, flies etc.
Ceri :)
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oh and hello and welcome to the site :lol: :lol:
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Hello Trinacooke, welcome to the site :D
mine get cooked veg scraps from our cleared plates which often have real gravy on them and the odd bit of meat; I make sure they don't get given this until the morning so that they eat everything straight away and there's no chance of rats being attracted and no harm has come to my babies either; in fact they are positively blooming!
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Hi Trinacooke and welcome :D
They are naturally omnivore I believe and will eat seeds, leaves, insect or small animals and come to no harm, the choice really is yours. Mine do not get cooked table meat. They get very little table scraps only veg thats\never got to the plate.
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As you said, they eat the bugs, and what are these made from? I would only give them unprocessed meat but cut it into little chunks if you can and make sure they have access to grit, as per normal. Mine get meat and fish (now and again) but nothing too greasy. Each to their own though. Mine are fit and healthy and an extra dosage of protein is good when going through moult. You may read in places people give their birds a tin of dog or cat food for this reason to feather them up a bit faster - or they add chick crumbs to the pellet ration, which should be higher in protein if you read the contents.
Hope this helps.
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mine never ever get meat. if ones been a bit off colour i do give them cat food but only fish ones.
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I give mine meat all the time. In fact I have a man who dresses deer for a living, and he gives me the meat scrapes. I cook the meat and run it through a grinder, and add it to their regular feed, corn,wheat,ect. I have noticed that they grow their feathers back, and they lay a much bigger egg. I know it hasn't hurt them, and I only do it in the winter months. I have pollets, about 20wks old and they are really doing well. on a smaller scale, once in a while I think is fine too. I hope that helps you. yf Betty
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In the wild the birds will eat anything. But since we consume their eggs I would reccomend fully cooking the meat before giving it to them to avoid Botulism or Salmonilla.
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Legally? The answer is no ! Whilst not wishing to encourage anyone to break the law, I would reiterate what others have said when they point out that chickens are omnivores. Like many people, I've seen my birds catch mice and swallow then whole.
Do I break the law ? Of course not :roll:
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Mine would take your arm off for a slice of roast chicken or ham!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Mine get veg scraps from the kitchen (which is actually illegal, please don't tell anyone) but I don't give them any meat.
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I know I can be a bit dense sometimes, but why on earth is it illegal to feed them veg scraps from the kitchen ? I could possibly understand it if one was a commercial farmer, but :?
And does that mean you can't feed pigs waste food like they used to years back, they used to collect it from schools etc I suppose this is now just used for landfill ?
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Hi
I read that it is illegal to feed them on scraps only if you sell the eggs, if the eggs are for you and family etc it is fine. I am getting my ex bats on sat and they said to give them scraps as the protein helps their rehab.
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I know I can be a bit dense sometimes, but why on earth is it illegal to feed them veg scraps from the kitchen ? I could possibly understand it if one was a commercial farmer, but :?
And does that mean you can't feed pigs waste food like they used to years back, they used to collect it from schools etc I suppose this is now just used for landfill ?
I think it is to do with bio security ie passing round foot and mouth etc. I'm sure you could get a better answer from the DEFRA web site (not that they know much about bio security given the shambles of the last but one foot and mouth outbreak).
Having done a pig keeping course last year, again it is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, again presumably in case the veggies or whatever have been in contact with meat.
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I personally wouldn't give strap meat to my girls, not only would the dog get very upset but i would be concerned about the salt content. I have given my girls the occasional pouch of cheap cat (tuna and not chicken i must add!!) when i had one recovering from a dog attack and i also treated the other girls for a little boost for them. Them loved it!
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Our DUCKS (yes i know the question was about Chooks) occasionally get fish skins and meat scraps chopped up small and even other scraps such as rice or noodles etc. When it comes to slugs snails etc the ducks line up for them if they see me in the garden and I can whistle them to the gate.
R
Oh I do wish this webpage had spell check on its forum pages.
R
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I am from the USA, I know that there are no laws against feeding chickens scraps of any kind. When I cook their meat, I don't add any salt or seasoning to it. I think there is more salt and other ingr. in the cat food. I think deer meat is more healthy for myself and my chickens, than store bought food anyhow you slice it. Over here we are aloud 3 deer with a rifel, and bow,muzzel,ect. so we never eat store bought meat. I have to say, it's by choice as far as feeding it to chickens, I know a few people who feed this way. NO problems, in fact only improvements. And I sell eggs that are HUGE. In the summer I see a big differance in size because I don't give it to them. They just free range, and still go to the coop for reg. food and water. If you can try feeding them some type of meat, you will see improvements in all over health. It's the protein. And for some reason to they don't peck each others feathers. Sorry so long, I just find this to be an interesting subject. yf Betty :idea:
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Thanks for all the interesting answers! I have been giving them all my veg offcuts (boiled) they seem to love Cauliflower best of all (for some strange reason :?: I only like it covered in cheese :D ) .. they like it warm as well so not too fussy then - or am I pandering to them lol. ....Sage, Black, Blue and Parsley.
So I will not worry too much if I bung in the odd bit of beef fat - gravy etc left on the families plate!
Poor old rabbits are loosing out though they have always thought all the left over veg was theirs!!!!!! 'WRONG' !!!!!! have to share now!!! :D
Being serious it is an interesting subject thanks for the input and thanks for the welcome!
Trina x
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I really cannot see sense in saying your own kitchen veg scraps can do any harm. After all we eat our own eggs and were fine so, really is there anything wrong in giving your eggs away and if someone wants to give you a donation for your chickens wellwafe is this wrong?
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I really cannot see sense in saying your own kitchen veg scraps can do any harm. After all we eat our own eggs and were fine so, really is there anything wrong in giving your eggs away and if someone wants to give you a donation for your chickens wellwafe is this wrong?
Not in my opinion, I think the biggest problem is a lot of these "rules" are put through with the farmer in mind, not the bod who's got a doz hens and sells his surplus eggs. Like I've said hens are omnivores so a bit of meat should do no harm, problem comes when the big boys start feeding sheep to cows etc :roll: thats when we need these rules.
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:wink: Couldn't have said it better Richie.