Feeding deer meat scraps

[OurLittleChickenFarm]

My DH has killed a deer. He quartered it and boned out some of it. The chickens went crazy over the meat still attached to the bones. Is it good for them to let them enjoy this? I saved a few bags of the scraps in the freezer to feed them along on days when I don't have extras for them.

 

[MaggieRae]

I feed mine left over cooked deer meat all the time but I don't know if raw is good for them or not. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will post once the morning starts to wear off.

 

[jhm47]

I've never seen a chicken cook a bug or mouse before eating it, and they're eating the entire creature, including the digestive system, which contains fecal matter. I would think that eating raw deer meat would be pretty safe for them.

 

[thechickenchick]

I did a search on this a while back. What I found is that it is just fine, same with raw fish. What I did learn though is that some suggested you at least freeze it first to kill any bacteria.

 

[OurLittleChickenFarm]

Thank so much everyone! I felt like it would be good for them but just wanted your take on it.

 

[mendygnl]

Mine love deer meat & I think it's a good protein source - no hormones or chemicals.

 

[PeepsInc]

I've seen my friend's chickens eat mice whole. I'd just assume pop a piece of deer meat in my mouth than a nasty old mouse. The wild birds love the back fat I hang in the tree for them. Just like a sewit cake with protein.

 

[OurLittleChickenFarm]

Quote:
Excellent point!

 

[ray2310]

I did the same thing this year. Threw a couple deer legs with some scrap meat still on it in the yard. They spent hours and hours picking at them.

 

[gsim]

One post in predators was a guy who had shot a coyote. He threw the carcass in the run and opened it with a knife. He said by dark they had eaten one side pretty well and he was going to flip the carcass over the next day. I have thrown turkey bones in and they go nuts over them. They absolutely clean them off to nothing in short order, kind of like time-lapse photography.