Fish for chickens?

[ORChick]

I was looking at this site yesterday - http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html - and saw their recommendation to feed fresh, wild fish to chickens. Does anybody do this? Wouldn't it give the eggs a fishy taste?

Another suggestion of theirs makes more sense to me, to feed them seaweed as a treat for its mineral content. Does anyone do this? I may need to collect some the next time I am at the coast.

 

[kstaven]

I use kelp and seaweed in with there mix all the time in a small quantity. They love it and will pick it out of the mix first.

I have fed them salmon also. Fish is only a problem if fed in quantity. Then the eggs will aquire an off taste.

 

[SeaChick]

I offered some rehyrdated seaweed the last time I made dashi for miso soup.... the girls turned their noses up at it. What type of seaweed do you feed?

 

[debashan]

I think seaweed tastes more like fish than fish.

 

[schmoo]

I fed mine some cooked fish -they loved it.

 

[greyfields]

Chickens are omnivores. They do eat meat. The best thing to do is to supplement with fish meal on occassion. I know people who show birds swear by it, since they get amino acids and proteins from the fish meal that aren't present in vegetable seed meal (which is what makes up the protein in chicken feed).

 

[bayouchica]

I've fed my chickens & ducks,live minnows every month or so.They love them.

 

[SandraChick]

My chickens get fish and other meats all the time.

They not only get the dinner leftovers (so long as they're not too salty), but they get butchering leftovers after hunting and fishing....yes---RAW. I also take the extra meat that usually would get thrown away when we butcher meat and I grind it up like burger and freeze it for the chickens to have meat treats when I don't have much for them.

I believe chickens need more real meat proteins--not just the soy proteins in the feed. So they get some kind of meat treat almost every day---along with all the bugs they eat in my yard!

Fishy flavor of eggs is typically a problem from feeding them too much fish. A day or two of fish treats won't do this...but daily fish treats will....

Give your chickens the fish....THEY WILL LOVE YOU!

Sandra

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

When we have schrimp we give the chickens the steamed head and shells they love them, they also like to eat the steamed fish head an bones.

 

[picklespickles]

sandra chick, i am interested in giving mine meat leftovers, too. my one question is does this draw strange dogs? (or maybe you don't live where tha'ts a problem?) maybe i could just put out a little at a time where it's sure they would finish it all up and not leave any for attracting things that go bump in the night.