OMG my chickens ATE Mice, HELP!!!!

[ochochicas]

One of my hens was "foraging" along the edge of the arena today and came out with a dead shrew. She ran around with it for a while before settling down to pick it apart. I think one of the cats caught it and left it for the chickens to eat. The cats think the chickens are their babies.

 

[RezChamp]

My sweet little SS ate the grossest thing today.i saw her dragging something with her beak that had flies buzzing around it. Turned out to be a dead sparrow. Before I could get it away from her she had pulled out the guts and eaten them leaving a neat round opening in the middle of the abdomen. I looked like a pale worm.....to her I guess. .
Did throw the remainder in the trash.....poor birdie.

As I had stated earlier in this ?thread?(is that the right terminology?) that especially the new comers knew what a chicken will eat they would be so brooded out if they knew what a chicken would eat.
!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!
(not yelling)
Chickens exude the exemplary model of omnivore

I do a lot of hunting and fishing and a little trapping. That's the main stay in my world. Even my buddies bring their harvested meat here for me to process because they know I don't waste anything.
We end up with chunks of unusable meat and what we refer to as gut piles laying about. The dogs get served whatever they will eat. They don't eat the contents of the stomach or intestines. That is left to become fertilizer for the soil. In a cpl of years the color and grow of the fauna is so much more vibrant,... .....until the chickens found the gut piles.
Hey newcomers, rats, mice, yup dead sparrows too, leaves, squirrels, stones, fish, deer, elk, beef, bones, liver, intestines, fur, bugs, nuts, berries,.......anything a chicken can peck into pieces small enough to invest, they most likely will "have at er." Ironically, these eggs and flesh make for a more delectable flavour in soup, roast, fry..........
In the event that you are, what we older country boys refer to as, "prissy" please absolutely ensure that nothing can get in or out of your "domesticated fowl enclosure". If you are one of the more squeamish types I give you encouragement to use 3/8" hardware cloth coupled with a metal small mesh insect screen all the way around, over and under.
But if you think you can handle good ole fashioned chicken the way they evolved in the jungles, open range free roaming birds is so tasty. The eggs are more nutritious too and a heck of ALOT tastier than large intensive farming technique production eggs.

Footnote, Chlorophyll is one of the best natural detoxifiers available. Grass and dandelions have chlorophyll..

Anecdote, Back yard chickens = Natural weed reduction and fertilizer engineers + mini garden tillers + insecticides.

 

[enola]

As we say here, chickens will eat anything that doesn't fight back, run away and will go down their throat..........

 

[The Yakima Kid]

As I had stated earlier in this ?thread?(is that the right terminology?) that especially the new comers knew what a chicken will eat they would be so brooded out if they knew what a chicken would eat.
!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!
(not yelling)
Chickens exude the exemplary model of omnivore

I do a lot of hunting and fishing and a little trapping. That's the main stay in my world. Even my buddies bring their harvested meat here for me to process because they know I don't waste anything.
We end up with chunks of unusable meat and what we refer to as gut piles laying about. The dogs get served whatever they will eat. They don't eat the contents of the stomach or intestines. That is left to become fertilizer for the soil. In a cpl of years the color and grow of the fauna is so much more vibrant,... .....until the chickens found the gut piles.

Anecdote, Back yard chickens = Natural weed reduction and fertilizer engineers + mini garden tillers + insecticides.

Biddy's view of the universe, "Oooh! Gut piles! This is the best feed I've had in a week."

And if they can't get it down their throats, they'll food run it until they can.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

You know what I don't understand? People who freak out at what chickens eat and then let dogs lick their faces and even their mouths.

Dogs love to roll in carrion. They like to eat it AND bathe in it. They lick portions of themselves not mentioned in polite company.

To me a dog or cat is a lot more disgusting than a chicken, horse, cow, sheep, or hog.

 

[Nofowlplay]

As we say here, chickens will eat anything that doesn't fight back, run away and will go down their throat..........

My question is.....please don't laugh.....

Is it safe to eat eggs from the chicken that eats old raw bird guts? Bugs I don't mind....but raw guts....should I feed the first few eggs back to the hens or give them to the cats?

 

[enola]

The ONLY times I don't eat my hens eggs is after worming them and if I find a hidden nest. Hidden nests don't happen often since I cannot free range.

When I did free range, I did not worry about what they ate! Your eggs will not be "flavored" by bird guts.....

 

[ochochicas]

You know what I don't understand? People who freak out at what chickens eat and then let dogs lick their faces and even their mouths.

Dogs love to roll in carrion. They like to eat it AND bathe in it. They lick portions of themselves not mentioned in polite company.

To me a dog or cat is a lot more disgusting than a chicken, horse, cow, sheep,

100% agree!

I don't know how people let their dogs lick their faces or any other body part for that matter. Chickens might eat moldy food or intestines, but at least they don't eat the feces of other animals (or their own...I've seen that happen too). I knew a lady that used to let her dog eat off her fork, and then she would continue eating using the same fork. It is no wonder that she's single.

 

[RezChamp]

My question is.....please don't laugh.....
Is it safe to eat eggs from the chicken that eats old raw bird guts? Bugs I don't mind....but raw guts....should I feed the first few eggs back to the hens or give them to the cats?

I wouldn't feed the eggs back to my chickens. I would dare say it's like drinking your own blood. You would be essentially be ingesting your own DNA to which your system would make it's own anti bodies to which your immune system would making an immune system to fight your immune system.
Kinda like when they fed beef meal back to beef and created that ?mad cow disease thing across the pond.
Besides that, you may inadvertently create egg suckers. Yeah, egg suckers (chickens eating eggs of chickens) happen anyway, but in the rare case it happens in my flock I usually cull the bird when I find it.
Safe to eat? Can't say for sure. But, as Iv'e said before if you knew what my chickens eat you would most likely be grossed out to the max.
I eat the eggs from my chickens and the flesh. Been eating eggs from practically wild chickens since I was born. I'm 56 now and still in better health than most of the 20 yr olds I've met. I think you have little to nothing to worry about with your chicken eating one little wee set of sparrow intestines.
But if you don't feel comfortable ingesting the eggs from that chicken, don't feed them to your chickens either because you'll be indirectly eating the eggs anyhow. That's my way of thinking.

 

[enola]

I wouldn't feed the eggs back to my chickens. I would dare say it's like drinking your own blood. You would be essentially be ingesting your own DNA to which your system would make it's own anti bodies to which your immune system would making an immune system to fight your immune system.
Kinda like when they fed beef meal back to beef and created that ?mad cow disease thing across the pond.
Besides that, you may inadvertently create egg suckers. Yeah, egg suckers (chickens eating eggs of chickens) happen anyway, but in the rare case it happens in my flock I usually cull the bird when I find it.
Safe to eat? Can't say for sure. But, as Iv'e said before if you knew what my chickens eat you would most likely be grossed out to the max.
I eat the eggs from my chickens and the flesh. Been eating eggs from practically wild chickens since I was born. I'm 56 now and still in better health than most of the 20 yr olds I've met. I think you have little to nothing to worry about with your chicken eating one little wee set of sparrow intestines.
But if you don't feel comfortable ingesting the eggs from that chicken, don't feed them to your chickens either because you'll be indirectly eating the eggs anyhow. That's my way of thinking.

When chickens are free ranged they eat many things like a few bird guts ! Are you saying that people who are not sure exactly what their chickens are eating should not eat their eggs?? And that feeding chickens their own eggs should not be done?