The 'wisdom' of Reddit: "It's completely fine to give your chickens French fries"

[BuffNumber14]

the issue is more the fried salty food part.

They're okay in moderation but eating too many will give you diabetes and make you fat - something chickens tend to struggle with and die of often (fatty livers from high starch.) It's really only okay as a small treat at best, and not often.

Fatty liver is one of the most common killer of chickens.

This was what alarmed me in the Reddit discussion -- the majority saying French fries have never killed their chickens. (Yet.)

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Tbf fries aren't great for humans either. Seagulls attack for fries here in the north coast. They gang up outside the fish and chip shops. Maybe the odd fry/chip doesn't do any harm .

Haha, they do that on the west coast, too! Seagulls are consummate thieves. I miss hearing them and watching them.

I've never fed chickens french fries but I'm a little on the picky side as to what our hens eat.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Tbf fries aren't great for humans either. Seagulls attack for fries here in the north coast. They gang up outside the fish and chip shops. Maybe the odd fry/chip doesn't do any harm .

Haha, they do that on the west coast, too! Seagulls are consummate thieves. I miss hearing them and watching them.

I’ve heard of them stealing food straight out of people’s hands too. Them and pelicans.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I’ve heard of them stealing food straight out of people’s hands too. Them and pelicans.

Oh yes, they're great at that! They even steal bags of chips from shops.

I know some people consider them pests but I think they're hilarious. Their eggs are supposed to be good, too. I've never had one but I'd love to try one some day.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh yes, they're great at that! They even steal bags of chips from shops.

I know some people consider them pests but I think they're hilarious. Their eggs are supposed to be good, too. I've never had one but I'd love to try one some day.

Oh wow that’s hilarious! I love sea gulls too LOL and pigeons. People hate pigeons and call them flying rats, rats with wings, etc. or shoo them out of the way or whatever but I love them. And WE created the problem when we brought them here and then released them all when they were no longer useful. Or some escaped. But yeah. I love pigeons, seagulls, etc.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Raw potatoes, no. Cooked are ok.

The problem is not the potatoes, whether raw or cooked. The problem is green potatoes. If the potato is exposed to the sun it turns green. I've grown potatoes. If the potato does not stay covered it will "sunburn" and turn green.

Technically the "green" itself is not a problem, but it is a sign that the potato also has greatly increased levels of solanine. So don't eat the green potatoes yourself and don't feed them to your chickens.

moderation.

I agree, moderation. All potatoes contain solanine, it's just that normal not-sunburned potatoes don't contain them in high amounts. Someone calculated that a normal sized healthy adult human would have to eat about 50 pounds of potatoes at one sitting to get enough solanine to cause a problem. A human just can't eat that much at one sitting. Their stomach isn't that big. A chicken would not need to eat 50 pounds to have an issue but their crop isn't that big either.

Fried salty potato sticks are a bad idea. .....the issue is more the fried salty food part.

Yes, excess grease or excess salt is bad. The potato itself isn't the issue, it is the excess grease and salt.

If you look at the analysis on a bag of chicken feed you'll see that small amounts of fat and salt are required. You do not want to eliminate all salt or fat, that would be unhealthy. But too much is also unhealthy.

Moderation. It would not bother me to see a chicken eat a French fry or two. It would bother me to see them eat a lot, especially on a regular basis.

 

[kattabelly]

A kid gave crisps (potato chips) to some of my chickens today. Probably my fault, think it was one of the same boys I'd sent to pick some grapes if they wanted to give the chickens a treat the other week and I never said then that they couldn't eat other things. I got rid of the handful I could easily scoop up but didn't worry too much about them eating a few. Not the healthiest thing but a small amount that one time probably won't do much harm

Tbf fries aren't great for humans either. Seagulls attack for fries here in the north coast. They gang up outside the fish and chip shops. Maybe the odd fry/chip doesn't do any harm .

Gulls are suspiciously well-mannered up here. I have an entirely un-thought-through theory that the ravens keep them in check.

 

[akitafriendakita]

Oh wow that’s hilarious! I love sea gulls too LOL and pigeons. People hate pigeons and call them flying rats, rats with wings, etc. or shoo them out of the way or whatever but I love them. And WE created the problem when we brought them here and then released them all when they were no longer useful. Or some escaped. But yeah. I love pigeons, seagulls, etc.

Pigeons are kind of similar to rats with how they carry disease. They even have unique diseases like pigeon herpes. Many falconers refuse to feed them to their raptors because they are such common carriers of many bird diseases, unless it's some kind of farmed pigeon known to be free of disease.

That being said, I like pigeons (and all birds,) just commenting that they're quite dirty diseased little birds.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Pigeons are kind of similar to rats with how they carry disease. They even have unique diseases like pigeon herpes. Many falconers refuse to feed them to their raptors because they are such common carriers of many bird diseases, unless it's some kind of farmed pigeon known to be free of disease.

That being said, I like pigeons (and all birds,) just commenting that they're quite dirty diseased little birds.

Oh wow! I had no idea! Thanks for the info! That’s too bad because they’re so cute IMO LOL

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

One reason pigeons and seagulls go after human food is because of their own lack of food. Both are not uncommonly born without feet or have leg issues. Many have imbalance in nutrition which leads to a high death rate in chicks. They're too prolific for their own good. I love both birds, but the fact of nature being that there are too many for the area they occupy to the point of common disease is very sad. Still, feeding them fried salty starches is only helping them fill their bellies in the short run, while in the long run it is detrimental to their health.