RAW goats or cows milk for chickens...

[BastyPutt]

Opposed to hijacking the thread where this came up, I figured it start a new one

There is a a lot of speculation and old wives(boys) club responses here on BYC, but does anyone have any legitimate sources on why feeding fresh, raw livestock milk in moderation can be harmful to your flock?

I don't argue that supermarket milk is pointless (for the flock and for us) the dense nutrients have been pasteurized out.

Matt

 

[Folly's place]

Too bad you dislike pasteurization, it does not destroy nutrients, and has saved many many lives.
Mary

 

[BastyPutt]

Too bad you dislike pasteurization, it does not destroy nutrients, and has saved many many lives.
Mary

Aside from the fact this doesn't contribute at all to the thread - Most of the information you will find would lead you to believe that. We buy all kinds of "raw" foods at supermarkets, why wouldn't we be able to safely harvest and package raw milk.

Raw milk is the only complete food on the planet - you could safely drink exclusively for the rest of your life, and be deficient in nothing.

Here is a factual, unbias and in-government funded website with more info that I would recommend you give a read if you have a minute.

https://www.realmilk.com/pasteurization-does-harm-real-milk/

 

[saysfaa]

I don't think there is any. Although many of my friends with cows clobber the milk before feeding it. I think they do that because it is easier to manage in feeders rather than waterers. Feeders are much easier to clean than most types of waterers. It is raw but not fresh, at least by some definitions of raw and of fresh.

Milk was very common in the rations recommended by universities back when most farms had at least a few dairy cows, a much higher percentage of people lived on farms, and pellets weren't available yet.

 

[BastyPutt]

Too bad you dislike pasteurization, it does not destroy nutrients, and has saved many many lives.
Mary

If you don't

I don't think there is any. Although many of my friends with cows clobber the milk before feeding it. I think they do that because it is easier to manage in feeders rather than waterers. Feeders are much easier to clean than most types of waterers. It is raw but not fresh, at least by some definitions of raw and of fresh.

Milk was very common in the rations recommended by universities back when most farms had at least a few dairy cows, a much higher percentage of people lived on farms, and pellets weren't available yet

I read something about a guy in Europe who feeds a mash of grain and raw goats milk everyday and he is known to have the worlds best eggs. Local restaurants buy them for $4.50/egg!

 

[BastyPutt]

Here it is!

https://www.lastampa.it/esteri/la-s...st-delicious-egg-in-the-world-1.35766061/amp/

 

[saysfaa]

I read something about a guy in Europe who feeds a mash of grain and raw goats milk everyday and he is known to have the worlds best eggs. Local restaurants buy them for $4.50/egg!

I wouldn't count on finding such buyers.

My friends haven't said anything about the eggs being noticeably different than when they aren't feeding milk.

I read the link. I noticed it said "rich whites" - seems odd, usually yolks are rich - that is where the fat is. And it said "soft" yolks - sorry, that sounds unappetizing to me. It might not have before I tried preserving eggs in lime water. They stayed edible but the texture was really weird - maybe not "soft" in the same way but that is what I associated.

 

[BastyPutt]

I wouldn't count on finding such buyers.

My friends haven't said anything about the eggs being noticeably different than when they aren't feeding milk.

I read the link. I noticed it said "rich whites" - seems odd, usually yolks are rich - that is where the fat is. And it said "soft" yolks - sorry, that sounds unappetizing to me. It might not have before I tried preserving eggs in lime water. They stayed edible but the texture was really weird - maybe not "soft" in the same way but that is what I associated.

Oh haha! Yeah, no way could you ever get someone to pay something like that here. Says he has been doing it for 30 years too, so he has quite the reputation.

 

[Shadrach]

Opposed to hijacking the thread where this came up, I figured it start a new one

There is a a lot of speculation and old wives(boys) club responses here on BYC, but does anyone have any legitimate sources on why feeding fresh, raw livestock milk in moderation can be harmful to your flock?

I don't argue that supermarket milk is pointless (for the flock and for us) the dense nutrients have been pasteurized out.

Matt

I drank unpasteurized milk as a child; not gallons and not every day. It was fairly common for rural people get a small half gallon churn of milk straight from the local farm 50 something years ago.
I occasionally drank it in Spain a few years ago.
Yep, some people did get sick but people still get sick from processed foods these days. I've not tried to research the relative percentages of deaths and sicknesses.

Some unpasteurized milk used to get fed to the breeding sows on my Uncles farm and while the chickens didn't get fed such milk some farmers did used to make a chicken mash with such milk, mainly for young chicks.

Tell rural French farmers that they should make one of their national cheeses, Brie with pasteurized milk and you are likely to stir up a small riot.

So no, I don't have and haven't read any studies on possible negaive effects of feeding milk of any sort to chickens. I think the risks of all unpasteurized milk and related products are well documented.

I wouldn't go so far as to state that feeding supermarket milk should one not be able to get unpasteurized milk as pointless, but there is no doubt that some of the nutrients in milk are reduced by pasteurization.

 

[BastyPutt]

I wouldn't go so far as to state that feeding supermarket milk should one not be able to get unpasteurized milk as pointless, but there is no doubt that some of the nutrients in milk are reduced by pasteurization.

True and yes, a bit of an exaggeration.

We have goats here, but also belong to a herd share where we get weekly allotments of raw milk from a local farmer.

The reason for folks getting sick is from the harvesting and/or handling. Hairs, blood, etc. Most herd share farms encourage you to visit the operation to see first hand how they milk the cows and bottle it for you.

recently my wife and I did a 2 week "detox" where all we consumed was the milk, and water. It was an incredible experience, and what was totally cool is that there was absolute no feelings of hunger the entire time. The "cravings" became pretty extreme, but overall it was an awesome experience. Look forward to doing it again.