Ok to feed raw hamburger meat?

[chickens really]

Oh ....lol...I toss it on the ground..........Mine gobble it up...

 

[Parront]

I used to feed pig slaughter scraps to the chickens. It was home grown, and raw. This was in the 80's so a while ago, now. The trimmings were about 1/2 fat, 1/2 trim like skin, meat edges, etc. I put it in the freezer with string wrapped around it in about 1 pound size, and then hung it in the run. They pecked it as it thawed, it did not last long! Lacking pig, I would use hamburger. Now, with the e-coli in our meat I would cook it. Then mix the grease from the Hamburger might need to have some filler/binder to get it to hang together like I would want, so I think I will be adding some oatmeal before freezing with the string wrapping. Bird Meatloaf, anyone?

 

[Folly's place]

I still think that meat is way expensive to feed, when better chicken/ game bird feed is available.
Fresh meat; 80% water. Dry feed; maybe 10% water. Paying for water doesn't make sense to me!
I also have issues (tremors!) feeding chicken to chickens, so wouldn't feed a pet food containing chicken to them. My birds will eat cat food happily, but I don't feed it to them. Again, it's expensive compared to many other things. Mary

 

[Parront]

I still think that meat is way expensive to feed, when better chicken/ game bird feed is available.
Fresh meat; 80% water. Dry feed; maybe 10% water. Paying for water doesn't make sense to me!
I also have issues (tremors!) feeding chicken to chickens, so wouldn't feed a pet food containing chicken to them. My birds will eat cat food happily, but I don't feed it to them. Again, it's expensive compared to many other things. Mary

For some amino acids, meat is just the thing to balance out the protein in the dry feed. I also want the fat content, which dry food lacks. One pound a week is not a very expensive price to pay for healthy shiny birds.

 

[Parront]

Do not over-feed anything, you don't want fat birds!

 

[Wolfgang B.]

As long as it's fresh you can feed them raw hamburger meat for sure!

I want to add something to what I said on Monday. Yes, as long as your ground beef is from the local butcher, as long as it's as fresh as tops 2 hours (ask your butcher to make it just for you) and as long as the cold chain of 41 F (5C) is uninterrupted the intire time you and your chickens can eat it raw.

If it's store bought I would cook it real quick....

 

[Parront]

I want to add something to what I said on Monday. Yes, as long as your ground beef is from the local butcher, as long as it's as fresh as tops 2 hours (ask your butcher to make it just for you) and as long as the cold chain of 41 F (5C) is uninterrupted the intire time you and your chickens can eat it raw.

If it's store bought I would cook it real quick....

lol! Cook it before it grows! I get it at Costco, the same day I make Hamburgers. They grind it every day!

 

[rjohns39]

I want to add something to what I said on Monday. Yes, as long as your ground beef is from the local butcher, as long as it's as fresh as tops 2 hours (ask your butcher to make it just for you) and as long as the cold chain of 41 F (5C) is uninterrupted the intire time you and your chickens can eat it raw.

If it's store bought I would cook it real quick....

@Wolfgang B. You live in a different food stream than we do. I love hack fleich and wouldn't think twice about eating it in Germany. Some mornings I'd walk to work about 4:00 AM and the local butcher was walking that day's meat into the shop. The steer pulled the cart with the chickens and the pigs walked along behind the cart. But any time I wanted to see how they were raised, all I had to do is walk down the street and out into the pasture.

Back to the OP's question.

Yes, you can feed your birds raw meat. Yes the risks pointed out here are real. I prefer to get my meat from a known source or grow it myself. I tend to lean on the same items as @21hens-incharge but I prefer canned pink salmon. Truth be known the nutritional profile between mackerel and salmon are almost identical and I find salmon cheaper.

Just for reference, whole roasted soy 38% protein, alfalfa meal 17% protein and loaded with amino acids, hard boiled egg 12% and has the perfect balance of amino acids for a chicken, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds 18% protein, flax meal 37%, fishmeal 62% (be careful make sure its MENHADEN).

The really tricky part about boosting protein while they are in a molt, is maintaining the vitamin, mineral, amino acid, fat balance. Personally, for a molt, I lean toward about a table spoon of raw liver per bird twice a day. I like it because of the extra iron and b complex vitamins. along with it I'll give alfalfa, either as meal or hay for the extra amino acids. It's hard for me to find non-GMO alfalfa or alfalfa hay without preservatives, so I buy organic goat pellets and grind them into a meal. That's just me. I also have a bag of Menhaden fish meal organically grown and harvested in my pantry, but I'm weird like that.

 

[Parront]

You live in a different food stream than we do. I love hack fleich and wouldn't think twice about eating it in Germany. Some mornings I'd walk to work about 4:00 AM and the local butcher was walking that day's meat into the shop. The steer pulled the cart with the chickens and the pigs walked along behind the cart. But any time I wanted to see how they were raised, all I had to do is walk down the street and out into the pasture.

Ain't that the truth! That is why once upon a time I raised my own pork. And, then paid for others to raise home-grown pork for us! Now, where we live, Costco is as fresh as I can find. I use ground turkey in spaghetti, &"cook the livin' crap out of it"!

 

[rjohns39]

Ain't that the truth! That is why once upon a time I raised my own pork. And, then paid for others to raise home-grown pork for us! Now, where we live, Costco is as fresh as I can find. I use ground turkey in spaghetti, &"cook the livin' crap out of it"!

Off topic, but I need a meat grinder for 3 year old toms.