Could I feed them vegan?

[Free Feather]

Wait, who harassed this person for being vegan on this thread?

People are not necessarily harassing him, but putting the concept of veganism down. Not cool.

I am vegan and love it. I give my chickens plant proteins, and they free range all day. A big part of being vegan for me is things being as natural as I can make them. So, even though chickens are domestic, man made creatures, I feel it is only fair to let them eat bugs and such. And feeding them vegan would require keeping them inside all day, and that is cruel. They do not need dairy or honey, or large animal flesh, but bugs and occasionally small rodents they would eat in nature. Most plant proteins in commercial feed is factory farm feathers and CAFO by-products. Eew. They DO NOT NEED animal proteins in their regular feed, just wild protein.

As for what to do with the eggs, you can feed them back to your birds. Most will gasp and frown at this, but seriously, who laid the egg? Not the person, that is for sure. Most breeds lay abnormal amounts of eggs, and they will love the much needed protein found in eggs. My chickens are given raw eggs all the time, just thrown on the ground, but they will still set eggs.

Completely ignore what everyone says about roosters. Ignore all of it, completely wipe it out of your brain. Now try having them in ways considered illegal in the chicken community and figure things out for yourself. If you have issues, like real issues with injuries or completely bare backs, you can separate them into two groups. Boys in one, girls in the other with maybe a few boys thrown into the latter group. If your property is a couple acres or so, you can have them free ranging on opposite sides and see if they stay away from each other. If they still mingle, put the smaller group in a pasture, or do rotational free range. The majority of people who have chickens have less roosters because they either do not give them near enough room so they have issues, or because they do not like "wasting money" on roosters who do not lay them eggs. If you really care about chickens you will try to find a way to make things work. I have 12 mating boys with 21 girls free ranging and I only have six hens with varied back wear, and that is because my massive Jersey Giant rooster favors them. I fully intend to have a 50/50 ratio this year. It helps if they are housed separately for winter because they get more rowdy when there is nothing to do.

Good luck. Being an animal lover while keeping chickens requires a LOT of wading when it comes to finding good information.

 

[Free Feather]

I believe in letting folks leads their lives as they see fit....however, I have also seen evidence that some pets food suppliers (especially for cats, who are ultimate carnivores) push the meme for vegetarian diets, which in the long run will lead to kidney failure, among other things). Never seen a cat I owned chasing down a carrot for lunch. We can't impose our personal choices for dietary nutrition on pets that are genetically inclined for specific dietary nutrition. My stupid chickens have free range but have yet to hit the veggie garden....prefer bugs and the hunt, I guess. But I hold no animosity to those who follow a vegan regime. Different strokes...Just send me the eggs....

Pets that are not even natural, but ones bred to be lap creatures who are reliant on factory farm diets...

 

[Oliver Douglas]

"The majority of people who have chickens have less roosters because they either do not give them near enough room so they have issues, or because they do not like "wasting money" on roosters who do not lay them eggs. If you really care about chickens you will try to find a way to make things work."

Where we live, roosters are illegal, so your statement about having less roosters is a rather "broad brush" insinuation, I would have kept mine if it wasn't a legal issue.

If we "really care about chickens....???" We wouldn't be posting on this website if we didn't care about our pets.

"I have 12 mating boys with 21 girls free ranging and I only have six hens with varied back wear, and that is because my massive Jersey Giant rooster favors them. I fully intend to have a 50/50 ratio this year."

Right....., I'm sure the six hens with back wear are fine with the situation. Whatchagonna do when the 50/50 ratio of hens to roosters becomes a free for all for the roosters? Sell tickets to a fight to the death? Eventually the Jersey Giant will meet his match....and the pecking order will begin anew...

"So, even though chickens are domestic, man made creatures, I feel it is only fair to let them eat bugs and such."

Wrong on so many levels....yes, chickens have been bred for specific use, but their primal urges remain. They are still wild animals, and will continue to be so, no matter how much we try to improve the breed. "Fair to eat bugs and such..." well, so much for domestication....my dog doesn't eat bugs and such...prefers ALPO....

"Most breeds lay abnormal amounts of eggs, and they will love the much needed protein found in eggs."

Define "abnormal". Will wait for an answer.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

Pets that are not even natural, but ones bred to be lap creatures who are reliant on factory farm diets...

Reliant on factory farms diets? Not if the pet owner is responsible and provides a balanced diet for their dog, cat, goldfish, or parrot. Not even "natural"....? What, then are "natural" pets? I sense an agenda here...Dogs were domesticated over 8000 years ago. We humans have assimilated them into our collective as family members. We love them, we care for them, we miss them when we are away, and we cry when they are gone....we remember them and miss them. We don't consider them "lap creatures", as you described them. We call them "friends".

 

[JoshTheVegan02]

This is getting a bit out of hand so I would like to make a few things clear. I would like to feed them vegan food but I am fine with them eating bugs and insects because that's nature. I am not buying them as chicks, I am getting them from an egg farm that is selling them because they are required by law to get rid of them at 72 weeks and that would mean they get killed. I am saving them from their early death. I know what happens to male chicks in the egg industry and that is why I'm vegan. Plants can provide all the nutrients that people need so why can they not do that for chickens.

 

[keesmom]

Have you tried looking up the ingredients on the different brands of feed available in the UK? The vast majority of feeds in the US do not contain any animal proteins, and in looking I do not see any products that are animal based.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

I applaud you for taking in "unwanted" chickens to a good home. Hopefully, they will live to a ripe old age until the last cluck is "clucked". However the following information I am providing might be of use...

"The issue with today’s modern vegan diets has nothing to do with meeting recommended amounts of protein –vegan diets can easily reach the .08g/kg of protein required by humans. It has everything to do with the quality of protein consumed. Animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy supply the body with all of the essential amino acids that it requires. By and large, plant protein sources do not. Unless one carefully plans out a diet to include complementary protein sources, protein deficiency can often rear its ugly head."

If your chickens free-range, and there are a lot of bugs and critters around, their needs might be met. Your babies probably would ignore a carrot in favor of a mouse or lizard! Mine like cottage cheese and yogurt....I don't want this thread to devolve into an omnivore/vegan/carnivore vs chicken health argument. They will eat anything! Don't wear open toe-d shoes....they will peck at your feet. Just keep them healthy, and I am glad that you are willing to take in birds that apply for social security....most people won't do that...my stupid birds haven't given me an egg yet, but lots of fertilizer...can you take them off your taxes....

 

[Ballerina Bird]

This is getting a bit out of hand so I would like to make a few things clear. I would like to feed them vegan food but I am fine with them eating bugs and insects because that's nature. I am not buying them as chicks, I am getting them from an egg farm that is selling them because they are required by law to get rid of them at 72 weeks and that would mean they get killed. I am saving them from their early death. I know what happens to male chicks in the egg industry and that is why I'm vegan. Plants can provide all the nutrients that people need so why can they not do that for chickens.

I think it's great when someone is mindful about animal welfare in any of the food choices they make, and I respect all of those, whether that means slaughtering one's own birds and confronting that process rather than getting shrink-wrapped meat at the store, or keeping rescue hens and never eating their eggs. I am sort of in the middle -- I eat only the eggs that my girls lay, because I feel OK about the conditions under which that has happened, and I do not purchase for my own consumption eggs, dairy, meat, or products made with these ingredients. There are certainly logical and philosophical inconsistencies in this position, of course, but it's the structure I've created to do the best I can by animals and also have a diet I can live with.

Anyway, that's my overall perspective for context, and my sense is that most hens have significant protein and calcium needs because they have been bred -- even heritage chickens -- to produce more eggs in their lifetimes than their wild ancestors did. It's a lot on their bodies, and if they are going to produce a lot of eggs, it's important that they can do so comfortably and safely and not be threatened by problems like egg binding when they are low on calcium. For this reason, I will buy my chickens yogurt, because it's very good for their health, offering a dose of protein, calcium, probiotics, good bacteria, etc. I can see that yogurt makes them feel really good (this is a choice I make, not a directive -- just offering info in case useful). And definitely feeding their own eggs back to them is a good thing to do (I would scramble/cook before serving to discourage any potential raw egg eaters, who if they get the idea will make a big mess in the coop and lead to bacteria/pest hazards even if you don't care about collecting the eggs). I give mine a high-calcium, high-protein organic feed; the main protein source seems to be soy, and I imagine you could find a similar product. Hope that helps.

 

[Free Feather]

"The majority of people who have chickens have less roosters because they either do not give them near enough room so they have issues, or because they do not like "wasting money" on roosters who do not lay them eggs. If you really care about chickens you will try to find a way to make things work."

Where we live, roosters are illegal, so your statement about having less roosters is a rather "broad brush" insinuation, I would have kept mine if it wasn't a legal issue.

If we "really care about chickens....???" We wouldn't be posting on this website if we didn't care about our pets.

"I have 12 mating boys with 21 girls free ranging and I only have six hens with varied back wear, and that is because my massive Jersey Giant rooster favors them. I fully intend to have a 50/50 ratio this year."

Right....., I'm sure the six hens with back wear are fine with the situation. Whatchagonna do when the 50/50 ratio of hens to roosters becomes a free for all for the roosters? Sell tickets to a fight to the death? Eventually the Jersey Giant will meet his match....and the pecking order will begin anew...

"So, even though chickens are domestic, man made creatures, I feel it is only fair to let them eat bugs and such."

Wrong on so many levels....yes, chickens have been bred for specific use, but their primal urges remain. They are still wild animals, and will continue to be so, no matter how much we try to improve the breed. "Fair to eat bugs and such..." well, so much for domestication....my dog doesn't eat bugs and such...prefers ALPO....

"Most breeds lay abnormal amounts of eggs, and they will love the much needed protein found in eggs."

Define "abnormal". Will wait for an answer.

Just want to say that I have had my males for a while, and they do not bother each other.They will spat occasionally, but that is expected. If anything gets out of hand I will separate them. I already have way more roosters than most say you can have. The hens are fine, and if I separate their favorite roosters from them, they will pace the fence and call for him. Not joking. And even if they hated the boys, I would not kill them, just separate them.

I do not understand your domestication argument. Chickens are like dogs...what...? And if you want to say chickens are the same as they were before, I could also make the argument that jungle fowl live in a 50/50 ratio in the wild, and sometimes with more boys than girls. That is proven.

And yes, the number of eggs they lay is completely abnormal. Chickens went from laying 20 to 50 eggs a year to 300 in some cases. That is definitely abnormal.

 

[torilovessmiles]

hmm I think this thread has gone a little bit off-topic, hasn't it?
I'm pretty sure OP can raise his chickens on vegan feed if they are able to free-range to eat bugs as they would if they were living in the wild. They would probably be pretty happy that way.
Remember everyone, there are a lot of ways to do the same thing. Not every way is for everyone