raising pinkies

[Judy]

Subscribing.... I can see how this could turn into new ideas on things to raise to feed our birds....

 

[tinychicky]

it's a good idea for saving money, but is it really that good for the chickens? they are, after all omnevorous, so they need plant material too! they birds would be very malnourished if they lived on the mice; as an occasional treat or supplement to thier diet it would be okay, but it shouldn't totally replace all other sources of nutrition. none of us can pretend our chickens never catch mice that are stupid enough to wander into the coop, but it's a bit brutal to feed defensless baby mice to them when they don't really need it. also, they cost of feed and materials for the mice are probably about the same as a bag of chicken feed, plus you have to deal with breeding the mice and then you'll get attached to them and you'll end up with another pet. i think the whole project would end up as a disaster.

 

[colowyo0809]

Sweet! I was going to ask about rats

I actually have a limited amount of experience with rats

Next question: Would it be better to feed the babies alive or dead and chopped up?

And as far as containment goes, all you really need to do is contain the breeding pair(s). you use the babies when they are only several days old, no real chance of them growing up to cause mayhem However, when I brought up this subject to SO I was told that I had to keep them outside. I could not have rats or mice inside, anywhere they would be seen

 

[Ibicella]

I think this is a great idea. We've raised mice for all our animals. Dogs, cats, ferrets, chickens, reptiles...They are excellent food for pretty much all meat eating housepets.

I do suggest mice over rats though. Rats can be kind of big and I think the chickens like mice better. From my experience.

 

[colowyo0809]

Quote:
I can see where you would have some good points except for a couple things
1. I wasn't planning on using them as their sole source of food. Even without the wealth of information just on this site alone about healthy feeding and rounding the diet I know better than that

2. I don't really consider mice or rats to be pets. At least, not for me. When I had rats the last time, I had them because I was in an apartment, they were incredibly cheap to care for, didn't require a whole lot of work, and fun to play with occasionally when I would get home from work.
3. defenseless they might be, but they grow out of that awfully quickly, much like chickens or snakes. And, chickens as a general rule (if they've been allowed free range at all) don't think twice about eating the babies just as quickly as they do the adults. Heck, they'd probably eat the tiny birds that come to steal their food if they could catch them

4. Since I buy my feed loose, not by the bag, and buy it organic I'm pretty sure the cost of feeding the rats, or mice, would be rather less. And, as I stated I could use the extra pinkies to sell to area pet stores or just people in the area who own snakes, turtles, even chickens or other animals that eat things small and furry.
5. Also, something that was something to form on my mind that Ibicella raised is that, with us looking to convert the dogs and the cats to a BARF diet next year, we can use them to supplement the pets feeding

Granted, it'd take alot to feed a dog or a cat, but as a supplement or add in to what they are getting it would be ideal

Thank you for your post though, you do raise valid points that some people might not consider before starting something like this

 

[mkearsley]

Another issue to think about is if your "certified" organic, everything you feed must be organic too. I would assume that would include any meat sources (you'd have to feed the mice organic food to maintain organic certification).

Personally, I'd have issues feeding chickens pinkies, simply because that'd be a horrible way to die - being pecked to death. At least with snakes, its suffocation or one quick snap. I did raise them to feed my snake, though, but eventually got rid of the whole lot because of the smell of the mice. On the plus side, the ones that bit me were the next to be "dinner."

 

[colowyo0809]

Quote:
Again, good points

However
1. I imagine that the hawk doesn't necessarily make sure the rodents they catch are fully dead before they start pecking at them

2. We aren't certified organic. In fact, I don't plan to ever be. They can't even nail down what organic actually is, and what they call organic I wouldn't.
3. I was thinking more along the lines of maybe chopping off the heads and doing that, although i'm not sure the chickens will eat them if they aren't alive?

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Mice are mammals and no feeding of mammals allowed in organic certification...

IMO flawed thinking but you can see where and why it exists...
ON

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This really is an interesting question. It would take someone with more knowledge of nutrition and economics to decide if it were a worthwhile effort. There are other things folks raise in order to supplement protein to their poultry like mealworms & maggots, and again, your nutrition-and-economics expert would have to figure out if pinkies would be a better choice.

I don't think it would hurt to give it a try. I raise feeder mice for our pet snakes. All you need is a big aquarium with a lid that fastens well, a hanging water bottle, and a breeding trio of mice. They can live in shredded junk mail or other free materials like pine needles and nest in pasta boxes. I feed mine lab block which I buy at the pet store for $.99 a lb. Or cheap dry cat food. I keep the tanks in the barn.

Check with pet stores & pet owners in your area before you go into the project expecting to sell the extras. Many stores breed their own or have a source already. Like with anything, you can expect your best profits to come if you do things on a large scale.

But just for your own flock's consumption, why not start small & see how easy/difficult it might be for you, and how your birds seem to benefit from it.

When you do get your breeder mice, make sure you're getting different sexes! When I first started we were all excited with our first pair, named Adam & Eve. After a month, when there were no pinkies being produced, we realized that we had Adam & Steve.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I'm going to try to not use heartfelt reasoning here and use simply reason.
1. I used to raise rats and to be honest, they weren't nearly as cheap and easy to keep as many here seem to believe. They have highly concentrated urine that reeks, they often go cannibalistic, they require constant cage cleaning, they may bite, and did I mention that their litter stinks?
2. All the above said, I love rats. Some of my fondest memories of pets are of my pet rat Peekaboo and her antics. So, heartfelt reasoning or not, I must ask: would you toss newborn baby chicks to pet cats as "supplemental protein" when you could just as easily spend 1.98 on a quart of plain yogurt and get the additional nutritional benefits that the yogurt would supply without changing a rat cage every other day and taking a chance on a nasty bite?

This thread makes me feel bad.