Poultry and Pets > The Hen House

Scraps and DEFRA's reply to me.

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joyfull:
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)

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joyfull:
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.

Brood of Bournemouth:
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.       

joyfull:
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.

Annen:
I think it is illegal to take peelings etc from home to put on the compost heap too, for the same reason.

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