Voles as chicken feed?

[kevlar]

Okay so yesterday I started my big spring clean out of my coop and since this is still my first year of keeping chickens there is always something new and exciting to experience and learn about. So I did the deep litter (I think) by just adding more and more pine shavings to the floor of my coop all winter. It was time for a spring clean out and in the process of raking/shoveling/etc...I came across what I am now sure to be Vole tunnels. My coop has just a dirt floor surrounded by a concrete foundation and I found quite the network of tunnels going all over the place and especially in the area of my feeder. I had a great time digging up and tracing these tunnels around my coop. I am now going outside to place a bunch of traps to kill the little buggers. My question is can I feed the dead Voles to my Chickens Tomorrow for breakfast or might they have some disease that I don't want my girls to ingest?

thanks for any replies

Kevlar

 

[centrarchid]

Disease I do not consider to be an issue. Chickens will eat one as an occasional treat but quickly tire of effort required to dismember them prior to swallowing parts. Pinkies and fuzzies will be consumed with more zeal since they can be swallowed whole.

 

[kevlar]

I figure I could cut them up in to nice bite sized pieces for them and then watch the mad feeding frenzy ensue

 

[geoff40]

Vole=AKA field mouse. I have them all around mine too. I don't care. They are part of the landscape, trying to get rid of them where I am is a waste of time. They eat a bit of cracked corn, the chickens will chase them off if they show up before roosting time.

 

[RedDrgn]

Oh, they'll eat them alright. In fact, if they see them and manage to catch them, they'll kill and eat them all on their own!

 

[nthehunt]

mine will eat ANYTHING that moves, snakes, lizards, mice, I feed them left over minnows after fishing, had them find a rabbit nest in the edge of the yard and ate all 4 hairless young from it, they are very oppurtunistic foragers.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

The only thing you might have to worry about are parasites. Also, do not use poison for bait.