[Vickie & Richard]

I did warn you that i will be throwing loads off silly questions, well here's another couple.  I have been treating my 4 POL girls to some green leaves that i find during my dog walks and also a few hand full off grass.  Is this ok for young girls, they have grit in with their food.  I also took some carrot peelings to the compose and was wondering whether to give them a few, i did read somewhere that they shouldn't have kitchen scraps until they are a year old!! What do you think.

[woodburner]

Doesn't matter what age, it's illegal to feed livestock (and that includes pet chickens) anything that has been in a kitchen.  :!: It's fine to feed them stuff from the garden or foraged stuff though.

[Aunt Sally]

Doesn't matter what age, it's illegal to feed livestock (and that includes pet chickens) anything that has been in a kitchen.  :!: It's fine to feed them stuff from the garden or foraged stuff though.

    My chickens (and I suspect most other back garden chickens) would die of starvation then - another case of the law being an ass      

[Aunt Sally]

i did read somewhere that they shouldn't have kitchen scraps until they are a year old!! What do you think.

They all enjoy some raw vegetable peelings, just try a little and see what they like.  Potato peelings in the winter boiled (without salt) and given to the steaming are a firm favourite !

[Vickie & Richard]

i did read somewhere that they shouldn't have kitchen scraps until they are a year old!! What do you think.

They all enjoy some raw vegetable peelings, just try a little and see what they like.  Potato peelings in the winter boiled (without salt) and given to the steaming are a firm favourite !

Thanks for that, i will try a little at a time.  They love greens so i'm sure they will love it.

[Pep]

Illegal to feed anything from the kitchen :?:  :?:   If left over veg is good enough for human consumption, surely it's good enough for chooks (if it's still fresh).

Thank God I left UK and came to a place where common sense exists :!:  :!:

Pauline

[Kate and her Ducks]

Common sense still exists here!  It's just illegal :roll:

[Aunt Sally]

Yes we all use our common sense and give them good wholsome kitchen scraps  

[Pep]

Phew :!:  :!:  :!:  Thank goodness.

I'd like to know the justification behind this law though.  Contamination with meat products perhaps :?:  :?:

UK officials would die of fright out here.  Pigs are still slaughtered and prepared in the back garden :!:

Hubby's Grand-dad fed all the kitchen waste to his chooks, raw and cooked and guess what? no-one had food poisoning  :!:  :!:  

Pauline

[Aunt Sally]

It's  when "the industry" feeds infected meat bi-products to herbivores that you create a problem  BSE and in humans vCJD.

It's the financial greed of "the industry" which creates these problems and hence the laws to prevent them.

If you feed food fit for human consumption to your hens how can that cause a problem ? Beats me !!!

[Kate and her Ducks]

Yes it's the contamination with meat products that is the worry. Also the reason the most council recycling services only take "garden waste" as people might be too stupid if the instructions "No animal products" were given. It is not actually "illegal" to feed kitchen scraps but the rules are so limiting that basically it is. Couldn't find the full legislation but omlet quote a bit here:

http://www.omlet.co.uk/guide/guide.php?view=Chickens&cat=Chicken%20Care&sub=feeding

[Pep]

Point taken.  It's such a shame that greed spoils it for everyone (and the livestock) and laws such as this have to be enforced.  Many of you must pride yourselves with being totally law abiding citizens but breaking it every day.

Pauline