anyone else feed road kill?

[Raen]

Quote:
I'm not sure I would want to give my chickens a taste for raw meat. I would through it in the crock pot first.

OK, this just cracked me up. I have this image of myself scraping a chipmunk off the road and stewing it in the crock-pot all day, and my husband comes home and opens it up and there's this soup of blood and fur and bones and teeth there...

Oh, dear, he'd really think I'd lost it.

As for feeding road kill; no, I don't, not because I think it's gross for the chickens but because I don't personally want to handle it.

 

[Rozzie]

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In animal shelters they don't use injection to euthanize - so no chemicals - and they ARE picked up by rendering plants. The only animals that are cremated are the ones that are brought in to vets and paid to be euthanized by pet owners, otherwise it's the vacuum chamber.

Not the animal shelters around here...been there, done that, and they use euthasol just like any other vet.

Depends on the shelter. Some have gas chambers as their method of euthanasia, others use injections.

 

[sydney13]

I remember reading a few post on this thread from people who say they eat freshly hit deer, which I think this sounds like a really creative idea to get a lot of fresh, free meat. I was wondering, does it affect the meat that the animal was not immediately bleed out or does is it sometimes bruised from where it was hit?

 

[chicks4kids]

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You need to get it gutted as soon as possible and get rid of any bruised meat. But usually when you hit a deer, it's not free......most people have to pay some sort of a deductible to get their vehicle fixed from hitting that deer. My MIL just had to pay a $500 deductible for $2500 worth of deer damage. So it's not exactly free meat

 

[Delmar]

Quote:
You need to get it gutted as soon as possible and get rid of any bruised meat. But usually when you hit a deer, it's not free......most people have to pay some sort of a deductible to get their vehicle fixed from hitting that deer. My MIL just had to pay a $500 deductible for $2500 worth of deer damage. So it's not exactly free meat

The idea is to get a deer that someone else hit!

 

[chickendude]

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No birds only mammals can get rabies. And also squirrels do not get rabies.

 

[scgamecock]

I certainly wouldn't feed road kill but mine do get any table scraps that I have including any meat. It is always cooked and they don't realize what they are eating if it's chicken, turkey, beef or pork scraps. The protein is good for them but it has to be be cooked or they don't get it.

 

[scrambled please]

oh my that is funny. I don't think I could do it....

but I will be thinking, something I can feed them??? I don't know, yogurt makes a mess, I can just imagine.. Thanks for making my night.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
No birds only mammals can get rabies. And also squirrels do not get rabies.

Actually, I posted this very comment once on another forum "squirrels don't get rabies."

Several people corrected me. As much as it pains me to admit that I'm wrong,

I wouldn't want someone to get sick or have to have rabies shots because of misinformation.

It is VERY RARE for squirrels or other rodents EXCEPT GROUNDHOGS to contract rabies, and it apparently hasn't ever resulted in a U.S. human case from a rodent bite, but it can happen:

http://www.health.ri.gov/disease/communicable/rabies/transmission.php

Better safe than sorry.

 

[guitari609]

Quote:
No birds only mammals can get rabies. And also squirrels do not get rabies.

Technically squirrels can get rabies, but the likelihood is next to 0 that one will be found. Rodents in general just don't tend to end up with rabies, despite common thought. Most cases of rodents with are in larger rodents, especially beavers, gophers and groundhogs. By the way, Ive raised several litters of squirrels for the heck of it, and had to do some research to be safe on this one.

However, if you look at the following report, there HAVE been documented cases of squirrels with rabies in the US:

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/22/2/151.pdf

On another note, I don't feed roadkill, but I do feed mice that I trap around the house using a fancy method I've come up with. I take a tall plastic trashcan, 35 gallon or so, and put it right up against a wall in the basement or barn. Then I put a handfull of grain in the bottom, corn, milo, whatever. I do it every so often to snag any mice that are hanging out under the house. I caught five in the last 2 days. They jump down in to get the grain, and can't get back out. I tap them on the head with a broom handle, then toss them to the chickens. The chickens fight over them until they're gone. I've seen my turkeys kill and eat a live mouse before as well.