Adding leftover canola oil to feed

[gadus]

I boiled some chickpeas today and added the broth to my hens' crumbled feed. They seemed to like it, at least the variety of it. Moisture may actually be what they're after in these hot and humid August days and I think I will continue the practice with other liquids-but I wanted to ask all and sundry if there are any opinions about adding canola oil which has been used to deep-fry fish to the feed? Are there any demonstrable pros or cons that come to mind?

Thanks mucho.

 

[Folly's place]

It adds fat, which is good to a point. Birds eat to meet their energy needs, so extra fat will reduce their consumption of other essential nutrients in their food, if there's too much fat added.
I think some occasionally isn't going to be a problem, but be careful with it.
I've never done it myself either, so other folks may have more information for you.
Mary

 

[anna-newhampshire]

Canola oil is one of the unhealthier oils because it produces inflammation. Health nuts (myself included lol) are wary of it. After you heat it and fry in it though, with all the free radicals created, it becomes downright nasty (cancerigen). Bad for the septic tank too, or any drain, but the dump will take it. Some dumps even recycle it.

 

[gadus]

Sure about your information?:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-...eating/expert-answers/canola-oil/faq-20058235

and this:

https://www.nutrition-and-you.com/canola-oil.html

I remember researching it years ago before using it and it seemed to be one of the healthier oils out there.

You're right about not dumping it down the sink though.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Seeing that the OP is in the state of Maine, some extra fat may be a good addition to your chickens rations but only when the temperature is below 0 Fahrenheit. Even then I would not advise too much fat. Say no more than 5% of the total calories in their normal winter ration. Without knowing how many calories your currently feeding, or how many calories your are adding I would find another use for my waste cooking oil.

 

[anna-newhampshire]

Sure about your information?

Any search engine can serve up the information linking canola oil to inflammation. It's up to the reader to sift through it, analyze it and decide if it is credible or not.

After being used for frying, there is the additional problem of the free radicals created: more batches, more free radicals, more cancer inducing ...

 

[snow5164]

I’d just ask you why ? What could the reason be to add oil to a complete chicken feed?

I don’t see the reason for it ,
I’d not do it , I only feed my pets what I myself would eat

 

[gadus]

People supplement their regular feeds with treats all the time. Some people even mix their own feed. Nowhere is it written that one must be so rigid with their feeding as to stick only with Blue Seal Extra Layer. Personally I think some variety is good. Now, with regard to my original post, really and truly, I was just thinking (out loud) of all the leftover "broths" that get chucked out and wondering if it wouldn't make sense to occasionally add these things to the regular feed, to give it some added interest from time to time. Nothing more than that. I realize the temptation to supplement regular feed with treats (other than the regular solid scraps I give them every two days) is not necessarily one that should be given into at every turn. Nor obviously are all leftovers good for the hens.

As for canola, I prefer to agree to disagree about it's properties but I thank you for the warning and it's got me thinking about whether feeding it after cooking with it is worth the risks. I have to admit, it's probably not-and I'll probably just dispose of it elsewhere.

 

[gadus]

More good canola oil reviews:

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Healt...king-Oils_UCM_445179_Article.jsp#.W3076CMrKP8

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/021115p24.shtml

They can't all be wrong but if so, I'd like to see evidence to the contrary (that is, showing canola to be deleterious).

And yes, to be fair, I found this article, which talks about the free radicals, etc released by heating canola but the author is not a professional and has no credentials-and offers no empirical evidence:
https://healyeatsreal.com/5-cooking-oils-think-healthybut-arent/

I'm not buying it...yet, sorry.

 

[Chikon Ladiebug]

People supplement their regular feeds with treats all the time. Some people even mix their own feed. Nowhere is it written that one must be so rigid with their feeding as to stick only with Blue Seal Extra Layer. Personally I think some variety is good. Now, with regard to my original post, really and truly, I was just thinking (out loud) of all the leftover "broths" that get chucked out and wondering if it wouldn't make sense to occasionally add these things to the regular feed, to give it some added interest from time to time. Nothing more than that. I realize the temptation to supplement regular feed with treats (other than the regular solid scraps I give them every two days) is not necessarily one that should be given into at every turn. Nor obviously are all leftovers good for the hens.

As for canola, I prefer to agree to disagree about it's properties but I thank you for the warning and it's got me thinking about whether feeding it after cooking with it is worth the risks. I have to admit, it's probably not-and I'll probably just dispose of it elsewhere.

I also add last night's cooking water to my chickens' daily dry feed ration. I highly recommend doing so! For one, they much prefer moistened feed, especially in the humid heat (I'm in Florida, USA). Moistened feed has the added benefit of keeping the birds well hydrated. Once you see how much liquid dry feed absorbs, it makes sense to moisten it. A ratio of 1:1 works well. Just add your liquid of choice to the day's worth of dry feed ration.

So, as for cooking oil, I wouldn't normally add any of that at all, but my husband did so the other day. I noticed the chickens did not eat all their food as usual. In fact, it was left behind for 2 days! I dumped it on the sand after that. We are expecting a hurricane, so I didn't really notice what became of the remaining oily feed. Some were eating it from the ground this morning. Normally, I just add all our cooking oils to the fire pit. On second thought that may have been bacon grease he added. Probably shouldn't have since we have been experiencing high heat alerts for weeks now. I think fats are best in cold weather when it comes to birds.