In laws threw rotten eggs into coop

[cadiecat8907]

My in-laws decided that my chickens (23 of them, about 15 weeks old) need the old rotten eggs and food from the fridge. I found out a little bit ago, too late. Will my chickens get sick by eating a dozen rotten eggs and bad food from the fridge? I'm trying not to get too upset at the moment, I don't want to freak out or anything, but I'm worried they might get sick! Any advice?

 

[Perris]

It really depends on what you mean by rotten. Red and orange mould is bad, as a rule of thumb. Blue-green could be penicillin and therefore fine. No mould is better than mouldy. Other pathogens are invisible to the naked eye. But maybe the food in question was just old and out of best before date or suchlike. In any case, if they ate it all, there's really nothing you can do now. If there's any left lying around in the coop, go clear it away and put it in the compost or the bin. Talk to your in-laws about asking you before they feed your chickens.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I hope you had a stern word with them about that! That is something worth being plenty mad at.

Chickens are usually pretty good about knowing what to eat and not to eat...usually. There are some exceptions (I lost my original roo to one such case, but it was a poisonous caterpillar not spoiled food). However, if you can clean anything out that they haven't eaten I would do so ASAP both to remove temptation and to avoid predator/pest issues. Also make sure they have plenty of clean water on hand for the next couple days and maybe offer a waterer with electrolytes as a precaution; eating a bunch of something out of the ordinary can cause a bit of temporary diarrhea even if it doesn't really make the chicken sick beyond that.

If the eggs were just old and kept cold I'd suspect they're not necessarily rotten. The main risk there I think is if they didn't eat it all, egg goop is a huge pest/predator attractor.

If it helps at all, my chickens recently played keep-away with me over a nasty, long-dead frog corpse that that they kept running around with and then dropping it out in their foraging field where I couldn't find it until it was mushy enough for them to finally tear it apart and eat it. They did this for several days and were all fine. I have to think there was worse stuff growing on that poor dead frog after several hot summer days than what I might find in the average fridge.

 

[3KillerBs]

Define "rotten".

My chickens routinely benefit from my Clean The Fridge Day finds. If it's not moldy or decaying, just dried out or somewhat dubious, well, chickens are scavengers by nature and may have self-domesticated by foraging in early humans' midden heaps.

In fact, today I found some beans with pantry moth larvae in them and some rice in a bag that the cat played with. I'm firing up the crockpot to cook them for my birds, who will love it. (Raw beans are not particularly digestible).

 

[cadiecat8907]

Rotten as in the entire yolks were almost dissolved into the white, not old. The food was yucky and moldy, I went ahead and cleaned out what was there, the chickens really didn't seem too interested, I think they'll be okay. I'll keep an eye on them over the next few days. Thanks for the advice and information!!

 

[Brooks_]

I'm firing up the crockpot

I've read not to cook beans in a crockpot*. Something about not getting to temp fast enough (tannins, maybe). I have no idea how this would apply to chickens, if at all.

* I've done it without issue, but I did boil the broth before adding to the crockpot.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’ve given mine some nasty stuff before. If I find old nests I give them rotten eggs. I try to avoid giving them molded food, but when I have it hasn’t been an issue. I think human food that is molded is less dangerous than molded chicken feed.

I give my dogs anything and everything and nothing hurts them. Sometimes my chickens get the nasty scraps from the dogs to no ill effect.

 

[cadiecat8907]

I’ve given mine some nasty stuff before. If I find old nests I give them rotten eggs. I try to avoid giving them molded food, but when I have it hasn’t been an issue. I think human food that is molded is less dangerous than molded chicken feed.

I give my dogs anything and everything and nothing hurts them. Sometimes my chickens get the nasty scraps from the dogs to no ill effect.

Thank you! Ok, I feel much better now. I'm pretty new to chicken keeping, and I'm learning as I go.

 

[Apis mellifera]

but I'm worried they might get sick!

They wont. The stuff chickens will pick at and the water they will drink free ranging has it over anything that came out of your fridge.

 

[3KillerBs]

Rotten as in the entire yolks were almost dissolved into the white, not old. The food was yucky and moldy, I went ahead and cleaned out what was there, the chickens really didn't seem too interested, I think they'll be okay. I'll keep an eye on them over the next few days. Thanks for the advice and information!!

I wouldn't recommend that sort of rotten, but if it's not the only things they have available they probably wouldn't eat it anyway.

I've read not to cook beans in a crockpot*. Something about not getting to temp fast enough (tannins, maybe). I have no idea how this would apply to chickens, if at all.

* I've done it without issue, but I did boil the broth before adding to the crockpot.

I am not a fan of beans, but I have long found that the crockpot is the best way to cook them without them getting scorched.