Can I feed my free range chickens Meat? If so, What kinds?

[teach1rusl]

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Really??? You mean like raw chicken and beef??? I don't even give raw meat to my dogs...

 

[technodoll]

Actually the raw meat I feed my flock is the dogs' leftover breakfast!

Been feeding the dogs a raw diet for almost 7 years now, it's just awesome.

As for the birds, they will always eat whatever meat I give them first (raw, cooked, you name it), they fight over it and shun the veggies...

They're little t-rexes

 

[mandyplo]

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See and I thought the same thing.. They eat worms and bugs raw right?

I went out with a couple pieces of the raw pork before I saw teach1rusl tell me not to, and yea my red star grabbed the first piece and ran around with it, while my black star chased her down trying to steal it!! Meanwhile I had 3 more pieces sitting there waiting for them, while they fight over 1 piece and chase eachother around haha! Seemed to me like they really enjoyed that meat!!

But From seeing the mixed opinions in here, I think it would be safe if I didnt feed them meat too often. Ill use it as treats like Pet Duck Boy suggested.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

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What about diseases and parasites? I personally wouldn't risk it. (Or as long as it's kept as an occasional treat, once every 2 weeks?)

 

[technodoll]

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What about diseases and parasites? I personally wouldn't risk it. (Not the dogs)

The meat I feed them is clean, fresh and safe...

It's the crap they pick up when free-ranging that I worry about!

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

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What about diseases and parasites? I personally wouldn't risk it. (Not the dogs)

The meat I feed them is clean, fresh and safe...

It's the crap they pick up when free-ranging that I worry about!

I might try it myself eventually. Even though my chicks are 10 weeks, I would like to give them more protein once they lay eggs as my layer is only 16%.

ETA: Congrats on exactlly 2000 posts

 

[Organics North]

Yep meat. It is not a treat it is part of my non commercial home made feed mix. I cook the Venison most of the time, but sometimes raw. I give them fish guts and skeletons raw, or old fish cooked. Cooked is easier for me to deal with than raw, can chop it up smaller..

Most commercial mixes have "meat" in them. Who knows what factory farm scraps, or fish meal. On the bag it often just sounds fancy, listing out the amino acids and the percents.

Personally I do not feed chicken to chicken. (Just my morals/feelings..)

ON

 

[claud]

Mine eat all our table scraps including meat. If we had chicken that night we tell them it's turkey

When I clean out my freezer and find freezer-burnt mystery meat they get that too. I always cook it but I know some people don't - chicken digestive tracts are a bit different than ours.
I give then all the stuff from the frig on frig-clean-out-day too. I don't feed them anything moldy or smelly though - just the stuff that's a bit to old for us to eat.

 

[technodoll]

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OMG 2000 already? Wheeee!

I start giving my chicks a daily "breakfast treat" of raw ground meat mixed with cooked grains for extra protein at around 4 weeks of age (in addition to their commercial feed), they go crazy for it! Hesitant at first but once they get used to it, they scream at mommy in the morning until I put their bowl down

Then come the chopped greens, veggies, fruit, seeds...

But it's the meat they really want

I figure once they start free-ranging they will be eating all kinds of worms, bugs and grubs so the more kinds of foods their systems are used to digesting, the better

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Hmm.....interesting. Are you sure it's ok as a daily treat technodoll? And if so, what meat do your reccomend? (Turkey, beef, pork, etc.?)