Chicken Food: Why not fresh raw fish?

[jamesbwood]

I recently read this awesome post about what to feed chickens:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

And in it fish are listed but it says they must be cooked. Unlike some of the other restrictions, there is no explanation. If I catch and filet a fresh fish, why is the remains NOT a good source of protein for my chickens?

 

[Fleabuskitty]

I know onions and some other foods can cause eggs to taste strange, which I would be afraid of with fish, though I don't see how cooking it would affect that. I don't feed my chickens raw meat (though if there is a bit of leftover cooked beef or pork, they get it) because I'm not sure how well they can deal with the bacteria in raw meat. Dogs, for example, have very strong stomach acids that allow them to eat weeks-old roadkill with no problem, but chickens are made for eating grass and bugs so I imagine roadkill wouldn't work out too well for them. I am interested in knowing the answer to this question.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

back when i was younger we fished alot and when we brought them home and processed them the chickens where all ways right there eating any scrap that we let fall... we never noticed any negative affects but they did not get a whole lot at a time eather... i would be curious to see the official reason y not to feed it as well...

 

[donrae]

I can't imagine a chicken's digestive system is too far off from a crows, and they live on roadkill.

Not that I'm feeding roadkill, mind you

We've fed fresh caught trout or bluegill to our birds, and they always get the heads and guts. I've not noticed "fish eggs", but if a fish head gets overlooked by the girls, it kinda throws you for a loop to see that eye looking at you when you walk through the run

 

[jamesbwood]

So far no good reasons to avoid feeding fresh fish have appeared. . . In fact, some of you report doing just this.

I agree that the "fish egg" theory is questionable at best as cooked fish, which is listed as OK, is no more or less "fishy".

This all assumes that the fish is fresh and human edible - the standard held for all the other foods as well.

 

[jamesbwood]

In this older thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/441253/fresh-raw-fish-for-chickens

Others are also feeding raw fish. Some are concerned about parasites, especially in freshwater fish.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

I would think it would be similar to dogs even though digestive systems are different. They could get parasites from eating fresh water fish. However if you freeze it for 12 weeks it kills the parasite and makes it edible for dogs (maybe the same for chickens?).
As a child I remember my dad always giving the "extras" after processing the fish to the chickens. He also would open the chickens gate when a cow or pig was being butchered. It was to eat the flies he says, but I remember them eating all kinds of nasty stuff (blood and fat).

Maybe the source you got the info from just didn't want to be liable if someone fed raw fish and their chickens got sick?

 

[sammyh312]

As an avid, 75-100 fishn trips a year fisherman, my birds eat A LOT of fish! As i clean i thrown the guts and scraps over the fence, and they never leave a crumb. Done it for years with no problems.