Coffee's ready...

[rngrbill]

What about raw fish guts and heads for the girls? Just got a carp. Lotssssss of waste.

 

[vehve]

What about raw fish guts and heads for the girls?  Just got a carp.  Lotssssss of waste.

Nice treat for them, but not on a regular basis. Fish in large quantities will come through as a nasty taste in the eggs

 

[rancher hicks]

Nice treat for them, but not on a regular basis. Fish in large quantities will come through as a nasty taste in the eggs

What about mercury?

Our Onondaga Lake here has lots of it.

 

[vehve]

What about mercury?

Our Onondaga Lake here has lots of it.

That's something to consider too. I don't know how much is absorbed by the chicken, but I would not make fish the main source of protein. But as a treat every once in a while, I doubt it hurts. Chickens aren't supposed to eat bean or tomato leaves either, but our's are still alive after trying to sabotage our garden. If the lake that the fish come from has a really high mercury content, I might not give them fish from it, but I gather that if it's safe enough for me to eat, the chickens can probably handle it too. Just don't feed any thermometers to them

 

[rancher hicks]

That's something to consider too. I don't know how much is absorbed by the chicken, but I would not make fish the main source of protein. But as a treat every once in a while, I doubt it hurts. Chickens aren't supposed to eat bean or tomato leaves either, but our's are still alive after trying to sabotage our garden. If the lake that the fish come from has a really high mercury content, I might not give them fish from it, but I gather that if it's safe enough for me to eat, the chickens can probably handle it too. Just don't feed any thermometers to them

I have a friend who feeds fish meal, but I don't know where she gets it. I wonder how they deal with that. Does it have mercury in it? I do know some kinds of fish are more prone to having lots of mercury.

I don't feed fish meal or fish, but I do put the guts in my compost. I have fed my chickens Cod liver oil when I can get it.

 

[vehve]

I have a friend who feeds fish meal, but I don't know where she gets it. I wonder how they deal with that. Does it have mercury in it? I do know some kinds of fish are more prone to having lots of mercury.

I don't feed fish meal or fish, but I do put the guts in my compost. I have fed my chickens Cod liver oil when I can get it.

I've heard that in the 80's most of egg production chickens in Finland were fed fish meal, which really made the eggs taste bad. I'm too young to remember such things though. I wouldn't worry too much about the compost, and the cod liver oil is usually sold as a human supplement and is recommended for kids too, if it had high mercury content I'm sure they wouldn't be allowed to market it the way they do. My view is from Finland though, I don't know how food safety monitoring works on your side of the pond.

 

[quercus21]

Morning People,
I never fed fish or meat to our chickens, but I have found remains in their coop and run. Good discussion about it though. My fish remains go into the compost heap (buried).

RngrBill: How do you prepare the carp? Did you spear/bow or hook them? We have a pile of them in the Hudson. Personally the only thing I would eat out of the Hudson are the migratory fish.

Out of 3 quarts of pickles, all 3 we eaten. I have to make more. Does anyone know if I can use what I believe to be mothers apple vinegar or does it have to be filtered and pasteurized?

Hopeful today is the last of the rain for a bit. We had our first tomatoes last weekend.

Enjoy your day

Kaj

 

[vehve]

Kaj, without any knowledge of pickling whatsoever, I would assume your vinegar is just fine. It's pretty acidic, so a tough environment to survive in, and from the recipe I saw earlier, I understood that you boil them when canning, so that should take care of any nasty bacteria. And seems to me, there won't be time for anything to grow in there anyhow, as you gulp the pickles down immediately after they're done

If you don't give the chickens fish, but find remains in the coop, you must have some pretty skilled fishermen (or fisherhen) among your flock.

My fishing is limited to catching tiny perch out at the cottage. They make a nice soup though.

 

[karl E lutz]

Good morning chicken wranglers,
I have never given the flock fish but I do know that they love to eat frogs and small mice . Bugs such as jap beetles and spiders are high in demand also. I have watched chickens stalk bugs just like a wild bird would, so they are hunter gatherer's also. Part of a good Saturday is to throw a live frog in the coop and watch the chickens chase each other and battle over the frog until it is reduced to small portions.
MY contribution to the fish discussion is amphibious to say the least.
God Bless!

 

[vehve]

Good morning chicken wranglers,
I have never given the flock fish but I do know that they love to eat frogs and small mice . Bugs such as jap beetles and spiders are high in demand also. I have watched chickens stalk bugs just like a wild bird would, so they are hunter gatherer's also. Part of a good Saturday is to throw a live frog in the coop and watch the chickens chase each other and battle over the frog until it is reduced to small portions.
MY contribution to the fish discussion is amphibious to say the least.
God Bless!

I must admit I actually laughed at that one. It seems your sense of humor is a tad polished.