Cannibalism ?

[MuranoFarms]

A chicken is not going to eat a scrambled egg then suddenly look in the nest box and think the egg in there is the same thing! Giving them a raw shelled egg would be a bad idea...plus its messy! Ever see an egg eaters face? lol

I do feed any cracked or dirty egg back to the chickens, after cooking it. What else am I going to do with it? Especially in this weather when eggs are freezing before I can collect them...and they need the protein. Then again, if I stew one of my boys and there's some left over I feed it that to the chickens too. What they don't know can't hurt em

As far as cannibalism, it's surprisingly common in the animal kingdom. Maybe not so much among birds, but rodents, sharks, alligators, spiders, certain chimps, crickets....lions have all been known to kill and/or eat their own kind. Though it is more common for them to kill and eat their young. Ewwwww!

 

[BrewedInNh]

Concerns about cannibalism have more to do with the moral sensibilities of our culture than anything. Sort of like eating a house cat, or a dog, or a guinea pig. It just "seems" wrong, to some of us. In other cultures these have been traditional practices for countless generations. Animals don't make moral judgements about a perfectly good meal, and survival often dictates that it isn't something they can afford to walk away from.

There are very few (I didn't say none) health concerns related to cannibalism, especially if the meal is cooked first. Many carnivores/omnivores in the wild engage in it when the opportunity presents itself.

We eat chicken every week and our girls enjoy all the scraps, never had a problem. If you're squeemish about it I recommend you don't do it, you'll sleep better without the turmoil.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I consider "Cannibalism" to be when a chicken kills another chicken..and then eats it.

I feed my chickens boiled/scrambled eggs alot. Why, just today I fed my 'Chooks 20 little boiled quail eggs..they went 'nutz over them!

 

[Mak]

As far as the chickens are concerned, food is food. They don't know the difference between pork, beef, chicken, turkey, bugs, worms, etc. It's food. Same for eggs, especially cooked eggs. I do agree that I would not just let them at a raw, whole egg, as that could start an association with raw eggs being food and lead to egg eating. But a cooked, chopped egg is a completely different thing to the chickens.

Cannibalism is a human concept. The chickens have no idea what that is. They just know food when they see it.

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
I do not want to argue this at all, but IMO a caged domesticated animal relies on its human keeper, it has nothing to do with the animals choice/instinct/preference/moral judgment or whatever!..

I have ever yet to see a wild turkey, or grouse eating on the carcase of a dead turkey or grouse... I do not see my chickens eating a whole dead chicken if I toss it down? Is that a moral judgement on their part? Or are we just tricking them by disguising it.?

One could feed human flesh disguised to any of us and we would would eat it... Is it a moral judgment if you do not know what it is?


I am in no way saying I think chickens have morals or anything like that... Those are human emotions... HOWEVER, I do not feel it is right to think we know what other animals "think" or do not "think".

We are just animals too.

ON

 

[Organics North]

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

I consider "Cannibalism" to be when a chicken kills another chicken..and then eats it.

I fully agree with your definition...

ON​

 

[BrewedInNh]

Quote:
I do not want to argue this at all, but IMO a caged domesticated animal relies on its human keeper, it has nothing to do with the animals choice/instinct/preference/moral judgment or whatever!..

I have ever yet to see a wild turkey, or grouse eating on the carcase of a dead turkey or grouse... I do not see my chickens eating a whole dead chicken if I toss it down? Is that a moral judgement on their part? Or are we just tricking them by disguising it.?

One could feed human flesh disguised to any of us and we would would eat it... Is it a moral judgment if you do not know what it is?


I am in no way saying I think chickens have morals or anything like that... Those are human emotions... HOWEVER, I do not feel it is right to think we know what other animals "think" or do not "think".

We are just animals too.

ON

ON, that "explanation" seemed quite pointed and emphatic, almost as though you might've been offended by my post. My post was directed at got2bskilled, if it offended you it was unintended.

Most of your post to me is non-sequitur, so I won't even attempt to reply to it beyond saying this.

According to Merriam Webster...
cannibalism;
- the eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of the same kind

Note there's no mention of how the dead animal was killed or by whom, but you and Mrs Fluffy Puffy are more than welcome to redefine the term any way you like, of course.

You may have never seen a wild turkey eating a flock mate, but I have and she looked eager to get it.

My point to got2bskilled about feeding poultry products to her chickens was summed up in the last sentence of my previous post. "If you're squeemish about it I recommend you don't do it, you'll sleep better without the turmoil."

 

[paulandashia]

I feed egg (cooked and mashed), shells and all, as long as it is in bits and pieces and does not look like the egg in the nest box. They're birds, and won't put the 2 together.
I also feed cooked chicken to my chickens. Dinner leftovers, or if I find any leftover frost-bit chicken in the back of the freezer (I boil it first of-course! I NEVER give my birds Raw meat!)...
I also feed fish, moose, pork, and any other sources of food... To me, Meat is Meat.

One thing to consider. Chickens are cannibalistic by nature! They are also scavengers, and opportunists! It's the "Nature of the Chicken".
If you ever had an injured bird in the coop, and there was blood on it, the rest of the flock WILL more than likely kill it, and eat it. (of-course, this is less likely to happen if the bird is black as the blood is disguised in the plumage)


I have had cannibalism happen twice in my own flock.

The first time, my head-honcho black copper marans rooster turned on his son (they got along perfectly until then), and the father ripped out a chunk of flesh from the son's back, along with a bunch of feathers. The rest of the flock turned on the son, and ATE HIM..! ALIVE! By the time I got home from work, he was nearly dead, and they had eaten all around his spinal column. And I mean, all the meat was gone, all you could see was bones sticking out..... It was devastating! Hubby had to end his suffering, and I cried MANY tears that day.....

The second time it happened (some years later, and just recently) I ended up culling half my flock after finding birds half eaten on the floor of the coop.... (I founI blamed myself for a LONG time, and I think I still do.... But to be honest, there was NOTHING I did to cause it.... They were getting PLENTY of protein, had plenty of room, and had food available 24-7. There was NO reason for them to turn on members of their flock, but they did.... I went down from a flock of 43, to a mere 16 in less than 12 hours.... (with about 8 additional birds at my best friends house in "recovery" from their wounds!)... This was also a devastating blow...

What I am trying to say is, I, personally, do not see anything wrong with "recycling" food that will be tossed out anyhow. Cooked chicken, to me, is just meat...
They don't care, they LOVE it. And it's not like you will EVER be putting a dead chicken out there and saying "Here you go girls! Go to town!".

But that's just my opinion...

 

[WI FarmChick]

the yolk is the food that the growing chick embryo will eat and live off of.

the shell is its container, the white is its buffer fluid to prevent bangs, bruises etc, sort of a protective layer, then the yolk is its food its not the baby..

where you see a tiny amount of white thick mucus towards the edge side of the yolk. Not the white, but a thickish dark white mucus.. tiny amount?. this is where the chick would start forming.. it its a fertalized egg, that white mucus would have a tiny blood spot in it..

the growing chick is attached to the yolk through its umbilical cord, the chick gradually absorbs the nutrients of the yolk till its ready to be hatched.

No.... I do not have a problem feeding hard boiled smooshed eggs to my girls.

Because the yolk is their food from the start.

 

[galanie]

I give mine whole raw eggs but only after I've broken the shell open. Been doing this for a couple years and still don't have any egg eaters. Needless to say, I question the advice that "giving them eggs will make them egg eaters." Or maybe no one told my girls about that.

I think of them eating eggs the same way the chicken does: It's food. They get leftover chicken too. My cockatiel loves chicken meat. The vet tells me it's good for them. And so is cheese.

We get our own sensibilities mixed up in this while to the animal, it's just food.