meat for chickens?

[PattyO]

I am absolutely new to the art of keeping chickens. I would love to hear some different opinions about feeding meat to your chickens especially poultry meat. I dont feed dog to my dog or human flesh to my husband. Isnt there some inherent danger to eating your own species? What about the disease Kuru which started with human cannibalism or Mad Cow w hich started with the cows eating sheep protein. I think if my chickens eat the field mouse out in the yard then so be it even Chimpanzees eat meat on occasion. Fish, dairy, eggs sound better to me as far as animal protein. What do you think?

 

[Amyable]

there was another thread on this a while back...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=356257&p=1

I feed mine all kinds of meats. I balk a little at giving them chicken, but I have done it.

 

[Judy]

Along with a lot of other people, I feed my chickens chicken, or whatever else is handy, nearly anything I eat. And nearly everyone on here, judging from the posts, feeds their chickens chicken eggs.

I believe Kuru and the like are viral but I'd have to research them.

 

[jomoncon]

I think leftover fried chicken was the first treat I gave to my chickies when they were about 2 weeks old. Even at they age, they just loved it!! Now, it's a toss-up between who gets any leftover meat - doggies or chickies.

 

[OkChickens]

I have seen people feed hens deer meat to increase protein in the hens to increase there egg production. Also feeding the hens scrambled eggs. I think chicken would be fine, I would not give them fried but cooked is fine!

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Birds are birds, as far as I know there wouldn't be any bad outcomes if you fed them some. Since those "Eating your own species disease" mainly applies to mammals. Mine don't care much for the cooked stuff, they devour it raw. But I'm not to keen on giving them the raw stuff.

 

[RL]

The feed I use has pork in it and the birds love it. They are out in the yard all day so the feed is more of a supplement in summer. I feed chicken to mine every once in awhile too, cooked leftovers. I had a mean Roo that would just beat the crap out of some of the girls. I feed him to them for extra protein while they were healing. Chickens need some kind of meat type protein I think, be it bugs or mean roos. It’s all good.

 

[OkChickens]

Quote:
This is a great idea! Chicken is good for everything and everyone! Live ones and also cooked!

 

[gritsar]

It's only cannibalism by human standards. It's the sight of blood that causes chickens to attack a flock member, sometimes to the point of death. That would be cannibalism to my way of thinking.

Feeding them leftover chicken, which is a good source of protein for them, is just that. Protein and nothing else.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

My girls go nuts for any kind of meat! I have had some people tell me its wrong to feed chickens chicken but if they were in the wild, they would eat whatever was available, including other chickens. In fact, I had 3 of them chasing a small bird that made the mistake of landing in the yard to try and get some of their scratch. If they had caught it, they would have killed and eaten it. I think meat is fine for chickens. Mine love chicken and turkey carcasses and went crazy over the venison scraps and leavings when we processed our deer. Unlike herbivores, who are not meant to eat meat, chickens are omnivores. It is a survival strategy that has been in the genes since they came about.