Can I feed chickens last years' deer sausage?

[jennyf]

It's from last year's deer, breakfast sausage made by the processor. I doubt there's any preservative in it and it's not highly salted or seasoned (which is one reason why it's still in the freezer more than a year later). Any reason why I shouldn't split a link or two per day among six chickens? Should be mostly deer but likely some pork mixed in. TIA!

 

[jennyf]

I should have noted, this is NOT summer sausage (like the kind that goes on crackers). I'd figure that would be too full of salt and preservatives. And we've eaten all of last year's anyway.

This is raw links of breakfast sausage.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'd not worry about it at all.

As far as salt goes you have to take what is said with a grain of salt. The studies that were done and results are very loosely reiterated often about the perils of salt for poultry are quite different than you'd imagine. Salt was found to be very beneficial, as it is a building block of life. What the studies did and people don't realize is they literally had to inject saline solution into the birds crops to obtain lethal dosage. Birds will not consume a lethal amount if left to their own accord and a mountain of salt in their pen. Unfortunately the "salt is lethal" part of studies is the only part that is carried forward. It's actually miss information when out of context.