Cannibalism ?

[Zach123]

Giing them eggs is not cannibalism as an egg white and yolk are not actually a chicken. All chicks eat egg yolk while they are still in the shell, thats pretty much the purpose of it.

I do not reccomend feeding them chicken carcass though, and definately not regularly. This is how prion diseases, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, happen and while its mostly noted in the cattle industry (mad cow), it occurs when humans eat other humans (creutzfeldt-jakob disease) and it can occur in our chicken flocks as well, especially if they are eating the brains or spinal cord.

 

[galanie]

These things are caused by raw meat. When it's leftovers, it's cooked.

 

[mancina]

I feed them back their crushed up shells mixed into yogurt with a little flax seed meal. I also wouldn't mind feeding them cooked eggs. I heard you don't want them to eat raw eggs, for fear they might like them too much and peck into their own.

 

[Zach123]

Galanie, TSE's are prion diseases caused by a misfolded protein dubbed a "prion" and cooking does not break them down. TSE's can, and have been, transmitted through cooked meat.

 

[galanie]

Ok but Mad Cow was not transmitted by feeding them properly cooked cow meat. Prions are mainly in the brain. And it takes years of exposure for them to get it. Besides which, science is still not 100% positive that prions are where it came from.

 

[Zach123]

No, your right it wasn't. But, like chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, mad cow is transmissable even through cookd beef or venison that is not through eating the brain or spinal chord. Therefore we can assume we are putting our birds at risk by giving them access to our left overs. Every once in a while I suspect they will be fine, but I wouldn't chance it with regular feedings, especially when a chicken carcass is better suited for the stock pot to make the best chicken soup youve ever had .

 

[CSWolffe]

Chicken's ancestors, much like modern pheasants, were scavagers and if they came across an animal carcass, even a dead chicken, they would not pas up the free protein. Chickens are natural cannibals. Yes, prions are a possibility, but are not really that much of a risk.
I don't plan on feeding my girls the dead carcass of their friends, but I have no problem tossing in the left over bones from a KFC bucket. They love to pick the bones clean, it gives them free protein, and keeps them busy for hours; and I'm not going to give up that free food/entertainment just because I might be a bit squeemish about the word/concept of 'cannibalism'.
Cannibalism is just an idea, and our objections to it are purely artificial, just like incest. And while both incest and cannibalism may have a demonstrably negative affect on society, chickens don't have a society, and breeders have absolutely no qualms about incestuous matings. So why is cannibalism different? Because we have distanced ourselves from anything distasteful in nature, we have sterilized our world. For most of us, chickens eat pelleted food from a bag, we are not accustomed to watching their natural feeding behaviors. Most, not all, calm down. It's the same with dogs. We feed our dogs kibbles from a bag, which are not really that healthy for the dogs. Feeding dogs a more natural diet of raw meat is better for their health in general, and for their digestion specifically. But that's both too expensive and too distasteful to modern man. Of course, you also need a safe meat source and modern intensely industrial agriculture is not really that safe....
Just my two cents.

 

[WI FarmChick]

Chicken's ancestors, much like modern pheasants, were scavagers and if they came across an animal carcass, even a dead chicken, they would not pas up the free protein. Chickens are natural cannibals. Yes, prions are a possibility, but are not really that much of a risk.
I don't plan on feeding my girls the dead carcass of their friends, but I have no problem tossing in the left over bones from a KFC bucket. They love to pick the bones clean, it gives them free protein, and keeps them busy for hours; and I'm not going to give up that free food/entertainment just because I might be a bit squeemish about the word/concept of 'cannibalism'.
Cannibalism is just an idea, and our objections to it are purely artificial, just like incest. And while both incest and cannibalism may have a demonstrably negative affect on society, chickens don't have a society, and breeders have absolutely no qualms about incestuous matings. So why is cannibalism different? Because we have distanced ourselves from anything distasteful in nature, we have sterilized our world. For most of us, chickens eat pelleted food from a bag, we are not accustomed to watching their natural feeding behaviors. Most, not all, calm down. It's the same with dogs. We feed our dogs kibbles from a bag, which are not really that healthy for the dogs. Feeding dogs a more natural diet of raw meat is better for their health in general, and for their digestion specifically. But that's both too expensive and too distasteful to modern man. Of course, you also need a safe meat source and modern intensely industrial agriculture is not really that safe....
Just my two cents.

Awesome 2 cents thou!

 

[galanie]

No, your right it wasn't. But, like chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, mad cow is transmissable even through cookd beef or venison that is not through eating the brain or spinal chord. Therefore we can assume we are putting our birds at risk by giving them access to our left overs. Every once in a while I suspect they will be fine, but I wouldn't chance it with regular feedings, especially when a chicken carcass is better suited for the stock pot to make the best chicken soup youve ever had .

That's exactly what I do with chicken carcasses. THEN the girls get to pick over the bones. hehe. I leave some meat on them just to give them a thrill. No, not very often really. Like feeding them eggs, it's not something I give them on a regular basis. Anyway I have a dog now and she loves the bones too!

 

[galanie]

Chicken's ancestors, much like modern pheasants, were scavagers and if they came across an animal carcass, even a dead chicken, they would not pas up the free protein. Chickens are natural cannibals. Yes, prions are a possibility, but are not really that much of a risk.
I don't plan on feeding my girls the dead carcass of their friends, but I have no problem tossing in the left over bones from a KFC bucket. They love to pick the bones clean, it gives them free protein, and keeps them busy for hours; and I'm not going to give up that free food/entertainment just because I might be a bit squeemish about the word/concept of 'cannibalism'.
Cannibalism is just an idea, and our objections to it are purely artificial, just like incest. And while both incest and cannibalism may have a demonstrably negative affect on society, chickens don't have a society, and breeders have absolutely no qualms about incestuous matings. So why is cannibalism different? Because we have distanced ourselves from anything distasteful in nature, we have sterilized our world. For most of us, chickens eat pelleted food from a bag, we are not accustomed to watching their natural feeding behaviors. Most, not all, calm down. It's the same with dogs. We feed our dogs kibbles from a bag, which are not really that healthy for the dogs. Feeding dogs a more natural diet of raw meat is better for their health in general, and for their digestion specifically. But that's both too expensive and too distasteful to modern man. Of course, you also need a safe meat source and modern intensely industrial agriculture is not really that safe....
Just my two cents.

Now to get my stupid dog to eat raw meat. She just won't! I asked her for her Dog Card. I think the same is true of cats. They too benefit greatly from a raw meat diet.