Herring!

[BackyardinWales]

Saw a comment on here where someone had commented about giving their girls some herring, so yesterday I bought some to treat my girls. They ate it ravenously and even fought over pieces. Great, I thought. A nice treat.

It came from my local store but was covered in foreign writing, but since it was an onlne order I didn't worry.

This morning when I took out their food and let them out, all bar one were drinking as though desperate, and when I cleared their cwt the product was much wetter than normal.

Needless to say they WON'T be getting that again.

Since the writing was all foreign, I'm wondering if there was a lot of salt in/on the fish.

They did eventually eat their breakfast, and they seem fine now, but that was definitely concerning this morning. I guess the moral is don't buy something if you can't read it, and by extension, don't feed it to your girls.

I had thought about giving the second pack to my cats ... ermmm NO. lol.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, Salt is always a concern. Reading the labels is always wise.

Though I am suprisied they weren't drinking ravenously yesterday, too. Long term, there are concerns (depending on your sourcing) w/ heavy metal accumulations if you then take your organ meats (liver, kidneys) and feed those back to your other birds during the culling process. But that's a multi-generational thing.

 

[Perris]

Since the writing was all foreign, I'm wondering if there was a lot of salt in/on the fish

it may be vinegar with herring, as that's a common way to serve it. That apart, if you type the principal text from the container into google translate, it should give you some idea of what else it contains besides herring.

edited to add, a little wet poo would not deter me from giving it again if the birds ate it with gusto as you describe. I'd trust their instincts.

 

[BackyardinWales]

Fortunately I don't feed them anything chicken meats related.

I never noticed them drinking yesterday, but then they often have a couple mouthfuls of water before they go to bed. The lack of fish odour should have clued me in, but I generally don't touch fish, except canned tuna and that's very smelly.

 

[BackyardinWales]

it may be vinegar with herring, as that's a common way to serve it. That apart, if you type the principal text from the container into google translate, it should give you some idea of what else it contains besides herring.

Thank you. Sadly the second one went in the bin, and I can't read the writing anyway ... sight impaired. Needless to say, won't be going down that road again. Back to their usual.

 

[Altairsky]

Where I live, herring is always salt preserved. It has an awful amount of salt, and it needs to be soaked (usually in milk) for 24 hours and then cooked before it became edible.
I would never give it to chickens. Too much salt even after soaking and steaming.
My rule is, if it's edible and healthy for me, it's edible and healthy for chickens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pickled herring, a Christmas Eve tradition with my wife's family. I enjoy that.

There are three traditional ways to preserve herring; salted, smoked, and pickled. I have no idea which yours was. All three methods use salt to help maintain the texture of the fish, it goes mushy otherwise. Herring is nutrient rich, a good source of Omega-3's for example. Do not consider herring as bad for them, it's not. Salt is required for chickens but it doesn't take much salt to become too much. So, yes, salty food can be a problem.

If you want to give them the great nutrients in herring I'd consider rinsing the fish to remove a lot of the salt. That removes the problem. I still would not give them huge portion sizes, I don't recommend that for any treat, but they's get the benefit of those nutrients.

@BackyardinWales I understand it is probably a small pretty inconsequential tin of herring. It is not a huge loss if you or the chickens do not eat it. I think there is a pretty good chance that herring was the reason they were so thirsty. I don't think you harmed them in any way, they should recover well. If you are not comfortable with it and don't want to try it yourself, getting rid of it is probably a wise decision. Another alternative would be to donate it at a food bank so someone that enjoys it could have it. It is nutrient rich. Not worth the trip for one tin however.

 

[BackyardinWales]

I was able to Google the one word the stuck and it meant soused in salt.

I didn't think about the food bank, else that would have been the best place to send the second one. And yes, the girls are seeming much more themselves now, and so is their pooh.

I think I'll stick to tuna in future though if I want to give them a fish treat.

 

[Sic]

I was able to Google the one word the stuck and it meant soused in salt.

I didn't think about the food bank, else that would have been the best place to send the second one. And yes, the girls are seeming much more themselves now, and so is their pooh.

I think I'll stick to tuna in future though if I want to give them a fish treat.

Sardines canned in water would be a better option than tuna, sardines are low in mercury because they are low on the food chain and they are canned with skin and bones so you get the benefits of vitamin d and calcium as well. My poultry and dogs love herring and herring eggs, lucky for us the herring spawn on our island beach in early spring, when fresh they eat it raw, otherwise I can them and also freeze-dry.