fish-how do you feed chickens fish

[mirsy09]

I stupidly left a salmon out of the freezer yesterday and it thawed out. I read here recently that you can feed fish to chickens. It even said the eggs get bigger??? Does the fish need to be cooked or can they eat it raw? I could cut up pieces of it and feed it to them over a few days. I don't want to make the eggs stinky as I sell them and my customers love them. I have 15 hens.

 

[crawfordmama]

If it's good enough for you to eat (not starting to rot or anything), cook it up, make sure there aren't any bones in it, and let the chickies at it. It's good protein they can use this time of year. I would only give them enough to be a treat, not the entire salmon. I'm not entirely certain it won't make their eggs "off" tasting, so I would stretch it out over a few days. You're going to have some very happy chickens on your hands, my friend!

 

[bantams in Maine]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I have enjoyed raising bantam chickens in Maine for a long time. Winters are long and cold, and my hens do not lay until the days grow longer
and the temperature begins to rise. I supplement their feed during these long, cold months with sardines. I have twenty five bantams, and every few days I supplement their feed- layer pellets, kitchen scraps and hulled sunflower seeds, with three cans of sardines packed in soybean or olive oil. I open the cans and put them in the coop, and everyone is happy.

I do not buy expensive sardines- I buy sardines in cans that are fit for human consumption of course, and I get the cans for 70 cents each. It is a treat, but I believe the additional olive oil or soybean oil and protein helps keeps everybody warm. They sure look great!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

fish must be cooked. period. I just finished CEU's on the subject

http://ce.nurse.com/CE609/CoursePage

Although, someone I know only feeds frozen rats to their rare breeds snakes, because deep freezing for a certain period of time will kill parasites, too. And an ounce of prevention can save pounds of gold when it comes to our animals' health! Canned fish is cooked to the right temp to kill parasites.

 

[Chicken Lover7]

Quote:
Hi All...I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I am looking into supplementing my hens with sardines and I'm wondering if bantams in Maine can tell me whether or not the eggs get a "fishy" flavor or not? From all the research I've done, I don't see any evidence of this but I want to hear from someone who give their chickens sardines (or other fish) before I try it out.

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer

 

[Ohhhdear]

Quote:
Open up the pen door and toss it in. Raw is just fine. Fishermen friends feed their chickens heads-tails-guts all the time and their eggs taste normal.
We worry too much about our pet chickens and forget they're farm animals who eat all sorts of raw critters (like mice, slugs, snakes) naturally.

Oh, and the extra protein will help the eggs be bigger and your chickens' health will improve, especially in very cold weather. I also pour a bit of olive oil on their feed in the morning.

And welcome to BYCF! Glad you're here

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
X2 ..

Raw or cooked either way..
Keep in mind fish meal is a good poultry feed ingredient.. Don't worry about fishy eggs from just one salmon.. Now if you started feeding them salmon every day in large amounts then you could begin to worry.

(I do not add olive oil to their feed though. Mine get plenty of BOSS, Flax, Fish Meal and a little venison fat sometimes as a treat..)

ON

 

[swimmer]

Quote:
X2 ..

Raw or cooked either way..
Keep in mind fish meal is a good poultry feed ingredient.. Don't worry about fishy eggs from just one salmon.. Now if you started feeding them salmon every day in large amounts then you could begin to worry.

(I do not add olive oil to their feed though. Mine get plenty of BOSS, Flax, Fish Meal and a little venison fat sometimes as a treat..)

ON

x's 3. I had a few trout in our freezer we never ate. I threw them in and they loved them.

 

[AlaskaChicks]

love this thread! I have leftover fish all the time and wondered if I would be able to feed it to my chickies

 

[Rvl Rookie]

I have friends who bow-fish, and I'm planning to get a freezer so I can stock up with fish they've shot.
I just need to find a cheap one.