Can Chickens eat Shrimp Shells / Tails?

[A.T. Hagan]

Yes, they usually gobble them right up too.

But don't feed lots at one time as they can give a fishy taste to the eggs.

.....Alan.

 

[Ldyjarhead]

I just googled this because I eat a handful of boiled shrimp a couple of times a week and was wondering if I could toss the shells to my pullets (when I get them).

I was thinking it might be a good source of calcium, but nope, they're made from something else, chilatin? Good protein source, but didn't see anything that said they would be harmful to chickens, at least in the amounts I'd be giving them.

Good to know that others do it with no ill effect. I'll offer my girls a treat and see what happens.

 

[maine chicks]

Lobster bodies are one of my chickens favorite foods-the rest of the shells go in the compost for the garden,

 

[Tala]

Mine love them! The birds probably wish that we could afford to eat shrimp more often! My dog likes them ok, but not the greatest.
The cats like to bat around and play chase the tails! I found a few year-old dried out shrimp tails under the TV! Wasteful cats they are, at least the chickens EAT them!

 

[Germangirlygirl]

Thanks for answering that question for me

 

[EweSheep]

Yep, dry them and put them in food processor and they would LOVE them!

Same for catfish or any fish bones, be sure to use your food processor!

Oh when you get those bones in those large cans of salmons, you can feed it to them directly. They are soft enough for them to eat. They love the grey or silver parts of the salmons.

 

[AquaEyes]

I just googled this because I eat a handful of boiled shrimp a couple of times a week and was wondering if I could toss the shells to my pullets (when I get them).

I was thinking it might be a good source of calcium, but nope, they're made from something else, chilatin? Good protein source, but didn't see anything that said they would be harmful to chickens, at least in the amounts I'd be giving them.

Good to know that others do it with no ill effect. I'll offer my girls a treat and see what happens.

They're made of chitin, a carbohydrate derivative that's largely not digestible, acting as a sort of "animal-source fiber." Any protein obtained from eating the shells will come more from residual tissue still clinging to it, rather than from the shells themselves. It's probably not bad for them at all, but I'd guess it's best not to overdue it, to avoid any kind of compaction. I know that insect exoskeletons are made of the same material, and when feeding insects to softbills (aviary birds that eat diets composed of fruit, insects, nectar and/or meat), care must be taken to avoid feeding too many hard-skinned mealworms when parents are raising offspring, because the babies have a hard time digesting them. But it'd probably take a lot of shrimp shells to do any damage to chickens.

 

[mags247]

We just headed 70 lbs of shrimp. We did it outside of course in this beautiful autumn weather. We were surrounded by chickens and they started picking shrimp heads out of the scrap bucket. So we ended up tossing even the heads to the chickens. There were 36 of them around us. They picked them apart very skillfully even though it was the first time they ever had any. We ended up dumping one 2 Gal. bucket of heads for them (not looking forward to the smell if they don't eat them all) and 1 bucket each in my 2 compost barrels (not looking forward to that smell either).
I don't feed the heads to my dog or cats as they can get seriously hurt trying to eat them, but they do love the shrimp. One of the cats devoured about 20 really small shrimp that we tossed to her and the other cat said that he would like his shrimp steamed with some butter cut in small pieces. I am so glad they are not spoiled at all

 

[Slinglings]

i have some cooked shrimp in the freezer with tails that has thawed and refrozen..i assume it is ok to feed this to the chickens? should i put them in the food processor first or just thaw and throw them to the chickens whole?

 

[NYREDS]

Throw them to them whole, they'll make short work of them.