feeding fish parts to chickens

[pshuman]

Ok, so I see a lot on here about people feeding chickens lots of different stuff. Being an avid, although ,not very successful, at times, fisherman. I was wondering, about feeding the fish entrails to my hens, any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is nothing in fish entrails that will hurt them. There is a lot of good nutrition. They should really enjoy them.

Chickens are omnivores. They eat vegetables and meat. They operate on a “do lunch or be lunch” system. If it doesn’t eat them first, they will normally try to eat it. I get a real laugh every time I see a chicken feed advertised as all-vegetable, no meat products. There is nothing normal or natural about an all-vegetable diet with chickens.

Chickens will catch and eat mice, frogs, crawfish, small snakes, as well as all kinds of creepy crawlies. Some people open a predator they catch like a raccoon and let the chickens feast on it. I’ll confess to that occasionally. When I butcher chickens I have a special bucket for the parts I’ll feed back to the rest of the flock, including entrails. Some people go as far as feeding roadkill (hopefully fairly fresh) to their chickens. It’s all good protein and nutrition.

I would not feed them more than they can clean up before dark, the smell of leftovers could attract predators. But they will consider that a great treat and it will be good for them.

 

[donrae]

We feed fish cleanings to the flock. They eat the entrails happily. Heads, not so much. I've never had eggs that tasted like fish either.