[utigers]

Hi there I share a plot with 6 chickens on it with my brother-in-law.  We have access to plenty of peelings, carrots/spuds etc..... why should we not utilise this? Why is it illegal? Or what is the logic behind it been illegal?

[Yorkie]

Foot and Mouth and other animal diseases are the reason behind it.


See Defra page here

And archive Direct Gov page

[ANHBUC]

If you remember the BSE outbreak the regulations are to stop things like that happening again.  Any food from a kitchen can come into contact with meat no matter how careful we are.  

[compostqueen]

I didn't feed mine on scraps as I fed the eggs to the public, so my feed had to be traceable etc
but If the eggs are for your use though, and your use only, then I dare say you can do as you wish as I can't imagine the food scraps police would come round your house.  "Mash" has to be boiled up and the instructions for it were on here in the Stickies section and were posted by Munty a while back, so go check it out

[joyfull]

according to Defras rules it is illegal to feed any scraps from any kitchen whether that is from the catering trade or household and as a responsible forum we cannot condone that anybody breaks these rules.
Mine get sweetcorn (when in season) cabbages, bananas, cherry tomatoes and grapes but these are bought just for my girls and they never reach the inside of my house.

[nuzuki]

I know it seems silly as people have fed them this way for years. One thing I did notice with our layers pellets is that some have red blotches in them which I presume is blood of some sort. Last time I checked blood doesnt come from vegetables/wheats/grains, etc so the approved pellets im using must have come into contact with meat somewhere along the way. If the reason for not feeding them scraps is to do with meat contamination then this makes no sense to have blood stained layers pellets. The company I use for feed are called haygates. I dont mean to thread hijack but can anyone explain the red blotches I see on my layers pellets? Also what happens if they catch and eat a mouse or bug, isn't that regarded as contamination? This is the one thing that baffles me about owning chickens.

[joyfull]

the red could come from the marigolds that are added to help get the golden yolks or the compound that they get from the orange rinds. Why not email them to find out what it is. I seriously doubt that it is blood as the pellets will be cooked and blood when cooked does not stay red.
Hens may eat mice, frogs, slugs, snails and worms when they catch them but that doesn't mean it gives anybody in this country the right to feed their birds any scraps (not just meat or oil contaminated) from your kitchen as it is illegal in the UK (in other countries this isn't the case).
Nobody thought we would have an outbreak of BSE from just feeding the wrong food to an animal but we did and the effects were devastating to the people and animals who got it along with the farmers and our countries meat export trade.

[Aunt Sally]

There have been 176 definite or probable deaths from new variant CJD.

This is the direct result of giving the wrong foods to food animals.

[dugless]

I know I will get hammered for this  But if the meat infects chickens even when cooked

why does it not infect us when we eat it?

[Aunt Sally]

Dugless, It's nothing to do with the food you eat.  It's a law that was introduced to stop farm animals from being fed the wrong (and dangerous) foods. 

Chickens (and other farm animals kept as pets or in a domestic setting) are covered by the laws that cover ALL farm animals.  It's the species that is covered, nothing to do with their home environment 

[willp]

Dugless - there is the potential for cross contamination of scraps with uncooked meats in a kitchen eg meat trimmings,rinds and poultry skins. These are possible vectors of a range of infective agents , (eg salmonella) which is why you should use separate boards etc. when preparing them.

Generally we go on to cook the meat which renders it safe with regards to most pathogens before consumption.

That said, BSE and similar diseases are a special case. The infective agents will survive cooking and indeed survived the rendering process that was used to make animal feed from animal by products.

So really it depends which diseases you are discussing.

BTW I don`t have chickens yet - the accomodation is being built and I`m looking forward to getting some ex batts in the new year, so I`ve been following these pages with interest.

Will

[joyfull]

good luck with getting your ex-batts willp 

[dugless]

That said, BSE and similar diseases are a special case. The infective agents will survive cooking and indeed survived the rendering process that was used to make animal feed from animal by products.

Yes as I remember it they were using spinal tissue ECT and lowered the temperature to cut

cost so causing the outbreak of BSE so this ban was introduced.

My mistake was thinking it only applied to the manufactuers.

modified to make quote clearer

[feelingbroody]

hi
this may sound like a stupid question but here goes.......

in the winter i make my girls up a porridge every morning made with water I add a chopped clove of garlic and raisens and a chopped apple or banana

does this constitute illegal feeding ??

confused.com

 

[Ice]

If the food was inside your kitchen then yes, it is illegal.  It is the possibility of cross contamination that Defra are trying to avoid.

As this the legal position the forum cannot advise anything else.  We cannot be seen to condone feeding kitchen scraps.  What you do in your own house is your choice, but please read the links in Yorkies post.