raw fat?

[watchdogps]

I feed my dogs a raw diet and sometimes I trim the big blobs of fat off the chicken backs. Is that okay to give to the chickens? No arguement about whether it's okay to feed chicken to chicken, please. I'm okay with that.

 

[bufforp89]

I feed my chickens anything and everything. I say go for it, I dont see how it would hurt them.

 

[chicmom]

I wouldn't feed fat to my chickens, but I'm firm believer that you should not feed your chickens people food, unless it's fruits or veggies or a certain grains. Too much people food can cause fatty liver disease and causes laying problems, and early death in chickens.

(I know, I know, nobody want's to hear that because it's so much fun to watch your chickens gobble up leftovers.)

Fat would not be good, because it's fat.

 

[bufforp89]

I doubt a few pieces of fat would hurt them though as long as it is not making up a large part of their diet. My chickens get into far stranger things free ranging. Ever see a group of chickens kill and ear mice, snakes, chipmunks and frogs

 

[brahmakid11]

chickens will eat anything and it is totally fine to give chicken to a chicken as long as it is cooked i would think

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
No, this would be raw. I'm not going to cook scrap fat for my chickens. Also, cooked fat is far harder to digest than raw, due to chnages in molecular structures. That holds true for all species. The reason WE need it cooked is because we have weak guts that will allow bacteria to multiply. I'm not concerned about that with chickens considering they eat dirt. I was just worried about if it was harmful from a nutritional standpoint.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Fatty Liver Disease (Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome) is caused by feeding a diet containing high levels of dietary energy but it may also be related to exposure to the mycotoxin aflatoxin, calcium deficiency and stress. An incorrect protein: energy balance may be to blame.
Some strains of laying hen appear to be more susceptible. Birds within a flock that are most affected tend to be the higher producing hens. Fatty liver syndrome has been seen in conjunction with cage layer fatigue.

Fatty Liver Disease (Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome) is large amounts of fat is deposited in the hen's liver and abdomen. The liver becomes soft and easily damaged and is more prone to bleeding. The liver contains many blood vessels that rupture easily during egg laying, resulting in massive bleeding and death.

I believe feeding table scraps as a treat is just fine. Cant be any worse than over feeding protein.

Chris

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

My chickens get all of my butchering left overs - they pick thru first and then the dogs finish what the chickens don't like. And no, I do not cook it for them

Some of my birds really like the chicken fat and some don't. I actually find it interesting what the chickens actually "like" when they pick thru the stuff. I have a couple hens who have "favorites" and they will grab those first from the pile/collection.



So far I have not had any problems with it, and I have been doing it for a couple years.




You could also save the fat for winter, roll it in some seed and feed it that way - a nice winter boost.