Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: joyfull on December 11, 2012, 18:31

Title: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: joyfull on December 11, 2012, 18:31
Dear Ms Lyon,

Back yard hens and feed

Thank you for your email about feeding poultry food scraps.

The feeding to farmed animals (including backyard chickens) of catering waste, kitchen scraps, raw, partially cooked and cooked meat products is prohibited under EU animal by-products legislation, in order to control the potential introduction and spread of major exotic notifiable diseases. In the case of poultry, this includes Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

Kitchen scraps are every item of food that come from the kitchens of dwelling houses. This includes food originating from the kitchens of vegetarian homes which may still be of animal origin and could spread exotic diseases.

However, vegetable material originating outside the kitchen, which has not entered the kitchen, and which has not come into contact with material of animal origin in a dwelling house e,g vegetables grown in domestic gardens may be fed.

The reason for this strict approach is that vegetable material can easily get cross contaminated with material of animal origin in a kitchen environment and which can in turn present a disease risk if fed.

Full guidance is available from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) website at:
HYPERLINK: http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/managing-disease/animalbyproducts/collection-feeding-abp/Ban-on-feeding-of-kitchen-scraps-to-pet-poultry-and-other-pet-farmed-animals.asp



Yours sincerely,




Tiyi Morris
Defra - Customer Contact Unit

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

This email and any attachments is intended for the named recipient only. If you have received it in error you have no authority to use, disclose,
store or copy any of its contents and you should destroy it and inform the sender.
Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within Defra systems we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems.
Communications on Defra's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: joyfull on December 11, 2012, 18:35
So this means that all countries in the EU are prohibited from feeding any food scraps that have come from your kitchen. There are no if's or buts or what ifs - it is illegal.
If you grow your own veg then so long as it doesn't enter into your house you can feed your chickens the fresh veg.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Brood of Bournemouth on December 11, 2012, 22:45
I found this an interesting read and its clear DEFRA want to keep it as simple as possible.

I can understand why at first many would consider this law as the world gone mad, mainly as it appears to cast aside the common sense mentality, which I would like to guess resides in at least 99% of keepers of livestock. However it is that tiny minority which would potentially cause a hazard through ill practice, which without the full backing of the law could result in little more then a slapped wrist. Therefore regulations backed by law are vital in safe guarding the health and well-being of livestock, wildlife and humans.
For the vast majority of back yard chicken keepers, a simple reminder of the law is a sensible preventative to a very expensive and avoidable disaster from developing.

The DEFRA SWAT team need not plan a dawn operation at my house any time soon, as I'll comply.       
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: joyfull on December 11, 2012, 23:02
I asked for their reply to be in plain English so that this way everybody could read it and there would be no doubt in anybodies mind.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Annen on December 11, 2012, 23:58
I think it is illegal to take peelings etc from home to put on the compost heap too, for the same reason.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: mumofstig on December 12, 2012, 08:20
No it can't be because that is what the councils are encouraging us to do to save on landfill.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: DD. on December 12, 2012, 08:50
Absolutely.

Our council have all these offers to encourage you to compost kitchen waste.

Offers (http://www.leics.getcomposting.com/Shop/HomePage/CV220BLHSUB_Blackwall_Compost_Converter,_220_litre,_Black.html?gclid=CJ3G1q-9lLQCFcbLtAodUCYAaQ)
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Annen on December 12, 2012, 17:43
I think it is illegal to take peelings etc from home to put on the compost heap too, for the same reason.
It must be true I read it in GYO last year
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: LilacSandy on December 12, 2012, 17:56
Then I break the law every week,  I save everything I can for my compost heap and will continue to do so.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: DD. on December 12, 2012, 18:18
This is from the Government's website .gov.uk

All garden waste, including grass cuttings, prunings, leaves, hedge trimmings and vegetable waste from your kitchen can be recycled by composting. Your local council may help you get a composter or offer a green waste collection service. Composting instead of sending green waste to landfill sites helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I'll need a bit more convincing that it's illegal!
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: arugula on December 12, 2012, 18:27
I'll need a bit more convincing that it's illegal!

Indeed. Perhaps the article referred to cooked scraps or (any) meats which shouldn't be composted as they attract vermin, but I'm not aware that is illegal either.  :unsure:
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Annen on December 12, 2012, 18:29
I must admit I was a bit surprised by it, as I had regularly been taking kitchen waste to the lottie.  
I shall search through back issues to see if I can find it.  Perhaps you shouldn't believe all you read in the press.  :(
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Annen on December 13, 2012, 15:20
I've searched through all my back numbers of GYO, but they only go back to Jan 2012 and it could have been earlier that I saw it.  Perhaps GYO was referring to kitchen scraps rather than vegetable waste as you say Arugula - I wish I could find it.  I looked on various govt websites and can't find anything, so it is maybe wrong.  I'm glad though, I can stop taking kitchen waste to the lottie under cover of darkness....
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: helens-hens on December 13, 2012, 15:55
I grow a few tomatoes, potatoes etc on a vegetable patch in my garden. If I started a composting system (which I have been thinking of) and put my kitchen vegetable scraps on there, use it for the tomato plants and then allow my hens the odd tomato or 2 (that is if they haven't jumped up & pinched them anyway!) where does that leave me, legally.

One of the main reasons I was thinking of starting a compost heap though was to find a use for droppings & litter from the hens. Again, if I used this to fertilise e.g. said tomatoes , where on earth does that leave us?
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: JaK on December 13, 2012, 17:00
I'll need a bit more convincing that it's illegal!

Indeed. Perhaps the article referred to cooked scraps or (any) meats which shouldn't be composted as they attract vermin, but I'm not aware that is illegal either.  :unsure:

I don't think it is either, you can use Bokashi bins with bran to help break those waste products (bones included) down, they can then be added to the compost heap.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: mumofstig on December 13, 2012, 17:16
I grow a few tomatoes, potatoes etc on a vegetable patch in my garden. If I started a composting system (which I have been thinking of) and put my kitchen vegetable scraps on there, use it for the tomato plants and then allow my hens the odd tomato or 2 (that is if they haven't jumped up & pinched them anyway!) where does that leave me, legally.

One of the main reasons I was thinking of starting a compost heap though was to find a use for droppings & litter from the hens. Again, if I used this to fertilise e.g. said tomatoes , where on earth does that leave us?

Composting veg waste and using it to the veg garden has nothing to do with feeding kitchen waste to chickens - a completely different matter.
Feeding hens homegrown tomatoes is also perfectly legal as long as you don't cut them up in the kitchen :dry:

So please can we go back on topic !

Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Annen on December 13, 2012, 18:19
Sorry Mum   :(
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Madame Cholet on December 13, 2012, 19:11
I guess you can sort your veg outside ie remove leaves peel ect for the hens, then take them inside to eat. They would never go near any animal products then.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: joyfull on December 13, 2012, 19:17
Correct - as soon as the veg gets into your kitchen then it is out of bounds to your chickens.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: devonbarmygardener on February 16, 2013, 00:11
We hang up fresh greens from the plots for our chooks.

They jump to get the fresh green leaves and broccoli - seem to enjoy it too! They stop pecking each other at least. ;)

My peelings, I keep for the compost bin. :)
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: pink aubergine on February 27, 2013, 03:43
The bit I don't understand about this is the council give us a green bin in which to put garden waste, cardboard and kitchen waste including cooked food.
So this could be left over food, a chicken carcass from a meal, I guess even uncooked chicken where we have say deboned a chicken.

This goes off to composting centre, then the bags of compost then appear back at our recycling centre for us to buy with no warnings on that it should not be put round freshly growing veg on the allotment. I'm always amazed!
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: arugula on February 27, 2013, 19:58
The bit I don't understand

It is not illegal to put kitchen waste into compost.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Squibbs on February 27, 2013, 21:06
The council's uses hot composting so the pathogenic bacteria don't survive - thus no need for warnings etc.

I would be more bothered about the bits of string and plastic and other rubbish that seem to appear in some bags of council compost.
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: mumofstig on February 27, 2013, 22:08
Please can we stay on topic 

this thread is about feeding scraps to poultry
Title: Re: Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.
Post by: Aunt Sally on February 27, 2013, 22:26
Dear Ms Lyon,

Back yard hens and feed

Thank you for your email about feeding poultry food scraps.

The feeding to farmed animals (including backyard chickens) of catering waste, kitchen scraps, raw, partially cooked and cooked meat products is prohibited under EU animal by-products legislation, in order to control the potential introduction and spread of major exotic notifiable diseases. In the case of poultry, this includes Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

Kitchen scraps are every item of food that come from the kitchens of dwelling houses. This includes food originating from the kitchens of vegetarian homes which may still be of animal origin and could spread exotic diseases.

However, vegetable material originating outside the kitchen, which has not entered the kitchen, and which has not come into contact with material of animal origin in a dwelling house e,g vegetables grown in domestic gardens may be fed.

The reason for this strict approach is that vegetable material can easily get cross contaminated with material of animal origin in a kitchen environment and which can in turn present a disease risk if fed.

Full guidance is available from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) website at:
HYPERLINK: http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/managing-disease/animalbyproducts/collection-feeding-abp/Ban-on-feeding-of-kitchen-scraps-to-pet-poultry-and-other-pet-farmed-animals.asp



Yours sincerely,




Tiyi Morris
Defra - Customer Contact Unit

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

This email and any attachments is intended for the named recipient only. If you have received it in error you have no authority to use, disclose,
store or copy any of its contents and you should destroy it and inform the sender.
Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within Defra systems we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems.
Communications on Defra's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

So this means that all countries in the EU are prohibited from feeding any food scraps that have come from your kitchen. There are no if's or buts or what ifs - it is illegal.
If you grow your own veg then so long as it doesn't enter into your house you can feed your chickens the fresh veg.

So that's all that needs to be said really.

Topic locked