BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
Bear meat is the most common way folks get trichinosis - they can be really heavily infested. I don't think venison or elk are commonly affected at all...

- Ant Farm

 

[FaerieChicken]

Bear meat is the most common way folks get trichinosis - they can be really heavily infested. I don't think venison or elk are commonly affected at all...

- Ant Farm

Interesting, I never knew that. So then the peeps in Canada and Alaska, how is it that they eat bear? LOL Or Moose even

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
I don't think you get it from moose. But yes, bear meat. You have to cook it into submission - really well done, to kill all the larvae in the meat. Ugh. I read a travel story once of someone traveling in the arctic (a long time ago), and they killed a polar bear for food (they were starving, and also this was pre- endangered issues). They described the meat as being visibly riddled with cysts (with the larvae in them), almost like swiss cheese. Yuck.

I don't know how often folks get trichinosis from bear meat, mind you. It's just that when they DO get it, bear meat is a common source.

- Ant Farm

 

[Leigti]

That being said, I wouldn't feed feral hog/wild boar or javelina raw, and definitely not bear meat. Regular old US agricultural pork doesn't have this issue any more.

what Isa javelina? And I wasn't aware that the US pork was safe to feed raw. That's good to know. Although I still flinch a little at feeding raw pork. I feed my dog and cat a raw food diet but never pork.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
I'm not a vet or anything - you can search online to ease your mind - US domestic pork is free of trichinella. But you can get all sorts of other stuff from eating or feeding raw any type of meat, so I can't comment on that. I'm just talking about trichinosis and whether you need to cook really long and really done.

A javelina is a smallish feral pig-like critter. They dig up the ground in big patches and can be really destructive on one's land...

- Ant Farm

 

[Beekissed]

25 per bag?? We pay 19. That's robbery.

I pay $10. 27 per 50# for layer mash and that's fresh milled at the local mill....you are both being held at gunpoint.

 

[DesertChic]

I do the same, I don't tend to lean at the "Organic" labels, but Non-GMO I try to buy nothing but! I wish I was able to get my feed freshly milled, but we just don't have that option without buying in large quantity. I do buy local, as local as possible and I try to buy through my co-op farm supply. We just got a TSC opened up, I stopped by as a friend told me they had sooooo much chicken stuff, but when I went there, it was all the Big Brother company brands, like Purina, Dumor and Mana Pro! They had some of the organics in those brands, but none had the higher protein I am looking for.

Usually my feed bill is around $200 a month for 2- 50lb bags of Little Farmer Yard Blend, 2- 50lb bags of Little Farmer Free Range Scratch, 1- 50lb bag of the King Brand Freedom Starter/Grower crumble at 20% protein, and if you count the dried Mealworms. I will sometime buy those that have other "bugs" mixed with them, I even will get one that has little shrimp and little dano fish mixed in with the worms. However, I ferment the feed, mostly grains with the high protein starter & grower crumble I add to it, I also bought a 50lb bag of Flax seed to put with it, it has lasted nearly 3 months now. My flock loves the fermented feed. I also put stuff in it like Rosmary, Thyme, Marjoram, Clove, Cinnamon, fresh organic Ginger, Parsley, Oregano and organic pumpkin seeds when I find them cheap enough.

As for the animal protein, we give lots of table scraps, not just veggies, but trimmings and leftovers from our plates. Some things they wont touch, but we have dogs that come and eat it up anyway, sometimes jocking for who gets what! LOL Then there are the barn cats that will later even get whats left as well. I think the worms and bugs count as animal protein right?

I spent Thursday loading and unloading 1400 lbs of feed that will last me two months, so.....I guess I definitely qualify as "buying in bulk".

 

[Beekissed]

How many chickens you got?????

 

[DesertChic]

My DH works at a not-so-fast restaurant chain, Baja Fresh, and they trim the meat before cooking. He is able to bring home the trim and cook it up for the chooks, and dogs...cats too! I am wondering if we should just give it raw, is raw better for them?

Maybe you could go to your local restaurants and ask if they would be willing to give you the trim, as they would just toss it anyway~!

How awesome! Not sure if I can swing that, worth a look...

I DID have the same question, anyone - raw or cooked?

- Ant Farm

More often than not I feed the meat raw. It's actually more nutritious raw rather than cooked. That said, my son has a habit of requesting the I buy a lot of lunchmeat for sandwiches and then not eating yet. When the meat just starts to look iffy but isn't yet spoiled I feed it to the chickens, so there's really no problem with cooked...it's just slightly less nutritious. Eggs are always cooked though, but you guys already know that.

 

[DesertChic]

That being said, I wouldn't feed feral hog/wild boar or javelina raw, and definitely not bear meat. Regular old US agricultural pork doesn't have this issue any more.

Bear meat? Seriously, if I've got a bear around here I've got much bigger concerns than whether to let the chickens eat that sucker raw or not.