Feeding aquarium culls to chickens?

[DelBlueHen]

Raw fish carry certain nematode and cestode parasites that affect human. Occasionally in other species the fish parasite will cause problems by migrating to the brain or eyes or encyst in muscle tissue and are unable to finish their life cycle. In this case my concern would be humans eating infected chicken meat and possible infection by that route. A distant possibility for sure, but I wouldn't want to risk it. Cooking the fish would eliminate that problem.

Maybe I could nuke the fish?

 

[DelBlueHen]

So would thorough cooking of the chicken.

I wonder if regular worming of the chickens would also help with these parasites?

If I have to worm the girls in order to feed them the fish, I'll probably go the turning culls into fertilizer route!

 

[DelBlueHen]

Raw fish carry certain nematode and cestode parasites that affect human. Occasionally in other species the fish parasite will cause problems by migrating to the brain or eyes or encyst in muscle tissue and are unable to finish their life cycle. In this case my concern would be humans eating infected chicken meat and possible infection by that route. A distant possibility for sure, but I wouldn't want to risk it. Cooking the fish would eliminate that problem.

I def do not want to risk my girls getting a disease...you know a lot about this; thanks for your ideas.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I'd like to breed platies. What do you breed? Thanks for the tip about the feeder guppies. I'll check it out.

Platies are fun - all the live-bearers are, really. I started out with live-bearers, raised them for years. Then I ventured into mouth-brooding African Cichlids, dabbled in convicts, have raised bettas and we currently raise bristle-nose plecos, freshwater angels and a variety of rainbows with the occasional batch of giant danios. I say "we" because both my kids got into it a few years ago and have their own breeding projects for 4-H and DD also used her's for SAE/Proficiency and STAR Agribusiness through FHA, in fact she's going to be competing at National Convention next month as one of four nationwide for specialty animal production. They have taken turns with Grand and Reserve Grand for their 4-H projects the last three years, as well, but this summer was DD's last year for both 4-H and FFA as she graduated in June

 

[DelBlueHen]

Platies are fun - all the live-bearers are, really. I started out with live-bearers, raised them for years. Then I ventured into mouth-brooding African Cichlids, dabbled in convicts, have raised bettas and we currently raise bristle-nose plecos, freshwater angels and a variety of rainbows with the occasional batch of giant danios. I say "we" because both my kids got into it a few years ago and have their own breeding projects for 4-H and DD also used her's for SAE/Proficiency and STAR Agribusiness through FHA, in fact she's going to be competing at National Convention next month as one of four nationwide for specialty animal production. They have taken turns with Grand and Reserve Grand for their 4-H projects the last three years, as well, but this summer was DD's last year for both 4-H and FFA as she graduated in June

Yes, platies are fun, gregarious fish and so many color variations! You have a lot of experience -- hope you won't mind if I pick your brain a little from time to time.. I used to have aquaria when I was a teenager and young adult, ahem, decades ago. So much has changed now with the internet! So much info out there!

I was in FFA in high school, but we focused on agribusiness, Best of luck to her with her competition!

 

[centrarchid]

I raise fish for a living. Most raised in ponds and they can harbor a range of parasites that require fish eating birds as final host. I also raise crayfish that can harbor parasites that can cause serious damage to lungs and / or brain of critters not adapted to the parasites. The same fish species spawned and reared indoors in what is essentially an aquarium setting are "bug" free. To produce animals for research where broods are desired to be parasite free, we keep the system clear of snails, birds and raccoons that either bring parasites in or serve as intermediate hosts. Freezing does appear to kill most but not all pathogens / parasites.

 

[SavageDestiny]

Hmmm...that's something I hadn't thought of. Good idea of freezing them first; in addition to protecting the chickens (or humans) from parasites, it would also euthanize the fish in a way that wouldn't affect the chickens. (I have read about how freezing as a means of euthanasia is not necessarily the best way to euthanize the fish.) I'm pretty tender-hearted and worry about hurting anything.

Clove oil is the best way to euthanize fish. It puts them to sleep instantly and then they slowly pass after that. Can't imagine the amount of clove oil needed to euthanize a platy would harm a chicken.

 

[centrarchid]

With tropical, immersion in a slurry of ice water is even faster. After about 30 seconds transfer fish into Ziploc bag and freeze them. Clove oil is no longer available for use in food-fish.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

With tropical, immersion in a slurry of ice water is even faster. After about 30 seconds transfer fish into Ziploc bag and freeze them. Clove oil is no longer available for use in food-fish.

Yep.

 

[Folly's place]

All 'freezing' is not created equal; For example, to kill trichina in meat, it must be frozen below a certain temperature for a certain length of time. There are specs for this and underdoing the time or temp is not effective. (All I remember from meat inspection many years ago) Mary