Dried river shrimp

[dishrag]

I've noticed these days feed stores sell dried river shrimp, alone or mixed with dried mealworms. They are a little cheaper. Anyone know if this is healthy and where the heck they come from? Looking at a few different brands, mealworms and dried river shrimp seem to come from China or are unlabeled (i.e. China probably). I know it's just a snack, a very minor part of their diet, but ultimately I'm eating this stuff when I eat the eggs!

 

[KaleIAm]

I assume it is fine, wild ducks would be eating similar foods in their natural environment, right? The mealworms are grown in China, too.

I asked my vet about feeding my ducks freeze dried salmon cat treats as an occasional snack food. She said it was fine as long as the pieces were small enough to not be a choking hazard, and I had water near since it would be dry. I assume the same applies to dried shrimp. My ducks thought the salmon was poison and my cats are thrilled.

 

[Ratchnick]

If your worried about food stream contamination i probably would not. Pet foods are not held to the same standards as food for human consumption. Its one thing to use worms that are farmed in captivity and another to use wild caught or farmed shrimp that live in a river with unknown contaminants. I know this is a somewhat patinoid outlook but its something to think about. As a whole, store bought eggs are much safer because the birds are raised in a controlled environment. A little research on lead contamination in poultry yeilds horrifying stories about poultry that are raised on a homestead free range finding lead contaminents, either from shooting or lead paint ect that happened 3 owners ago. The current owners feed the "super healthy free range eggs" to their kids and neighbors and actualy are poisoning them with lead. I have also heard anecdotal reports of oyster shell contaminated with lead. I was talking to a miner just last week and he said all the ore that comes out of the mine gets shiped to china where the metal is leach out with chemicals. The point I'm making is china has no EPA, who knows what sort of chemicals are in their rivers.

 

[KaleIAm]

If your worried about food stream contamination i probably would not. Pet foods are not held to the same standards as food for human consumption. Its one thing to use worms that are farmed in captivity and another to use wild caught or farmed shrimp that live in a river with unknown contaminants. I know this is a somewhat patinoid outlook but its something to think about. As a whole, store bought eggs are much safer because the birds are raised in a controlled environment. A little research on lead contamination in poultry yeilds horrifying stories about poultry that are raised on a homestead free range finding lead contaminents, either from shooting or lead paint ect that happened 3 owners ago. The current owners feed the "super healthy free range eggs" to their kids and neighbors and actualy are poisoning them with lead. I have also heard anecdotal reports of oyster shell contaminated with lead. I was talking to a miner just last week and he said all the ore that comes out of the mine gets shiped to china where the metal is leach out with chemicals. The point I'm making is china has no EPA, who knows what sort of chemicals are in their rivers.

If one is that concerned probably human grade shrimp from the grocery store is best.