⠀ Are chickens "garbage eaters" like my mother-in-law says?

[AZGurl]

I know they can eat lots of things but my hens are 15weeks old and she tried to feed them raw pork fat. We live in Arizona and it's 110º out. Is this bad for them?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Swine can have parasites in it- I wouldn't feed raw meat to my chickens. I have no idea if they can contract the parasites or not.

Nothing moldy, nothing spoiled. Moldy food can kill chickens. Stale is OK.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/gen_info/faqs.html
here is one link I just found, don't know if it is helpful or not

 

[21hens-incharge]

Personally I do not feed them fat from any animal type cooked or raw.
Mine do get meat scraps after I have cleaned the meat off the bones for human use and given the dogs their treats. I do let the chickens have the lean meat that is left and I toss the fat to the dogs. I do not let them have much red meat at all.

Really they are omnivores. Pretty much if it don't eat them first they will eat it. Is it good for them to eat scraps....... probably, but like chickensaresweet said nothing moldy.
I do not feed them anything that is not in fit condition for human consumption.
No need to ask for illness to set in. Sour crop is hard to deal with and has a lot to do with what they eat.

 

[junebuggena]

Chickens will eat just about anything. That doesn't mean that you don't have to provide them with a nutritionally balanced diet. More that chickens are not picky. If they are fed a lot of table scraps, processed human foods, things with a lot of fat, or things high in sugar; they can develop health problems. Chickens can develop heart problems and liver problems from eating unhealthy things regularly. They can also become overweight. Basically, if it's not a healthy food for a human, don't give it to your chickens. They should have unlimited access to a good quality chicken feed though.

 

[AZGurl]

Thank you all. I only feed my girls fresh veggies, some fruit, fortified feed, and some dried mealworms as a treat once in a while. They free graze in our large yard and eat anything that moves. My mother-in-law will not listen to me so I'll show her your comments. Thank you!

 

[JeffOeuf]

Careful trying to morph your chickens into children. They are voracious omnivores and eat things much more disgusting than pork fat when you aren't looking. Your MIL is right. The pork fat is just fine for your chickens.

It amazes me that someone who free ranges their birds and knows they'll eat anything that moves, including rodents (if they get the chance) would get squeamish at some pork fat.

Learn from your MIL. She's right...it'll give them shiny feathers!