What is wrong with feeding chickens meat?

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Same here. Except fuzzy hairy catapillars.

 

[Wifezilla]

you can give them TOO MUCH protein

No true. Animals self-regulate protein intake. Too much protein by itself isn't a problem, it is protein replacing essential fatty acids or micro-nutrients that is the problem...and that only happens when they don't have access to the right feed.​

 

[sksmass]

So...the power went out and the round beef in our freezer got a little thawed and then refrozen within 12 hours. Frankly, I'd still eat it myself but my wife refuses to.

So, I suggested that we fry it up and give it the chickens. She also refuses to let me do that.

Anyone out there with an opinion on whether I can safely feed the chickens slightly thawed ground beef that has been thoroughly cooked?

The flock is a mixture of meaties and egg layers?

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
When i took my culinary safety course. i was told as long as the meat is partly frozen it is still good. Why can't you just finish thawing it out and cook it? once it is cooked it can be refreezed

 

[sksmass]

Quote:
Dang, that would have been a good idea!

 

[tammyd57]

I think it's just folks who don't eat meat themselves who don't feed meat to their chickens. I'm not saying that is right or wrong. I respect everyone's beliefs when it comes to food.

Gritsar says the chickens will wait a half hour if you fall down in the yard to see if you really are dead. Well, from personal experience, I've found that they won't wait a split second! I fell down in my chicken yard once and they all came running immediately like they had just discovered the biggest treat they had ever seen in their lives!

I thought they were gonna eat me! It was scary cuz I have a really hard time getting up if I fall and no one else was home.

I feed mine meat anytime I have any left over that we don't want, the dog turns her nose up at, or the cat refuses to chew it. The dog and cat are both pretty finicky about what they'll bother eating. Of course my parrot will eat anything and everything. He loves chicken!

 

[tellynpeep]

I would be concerned about feeding them RAW meat. Cooked meat is fine. Raw meat can harbor pathogens. I imagine some (eg Salmonella, Campylobacter, etc) could then get into your flock and pose a risk to them and you.
Cook the meat first!

 

[Akane]

Animals over all have better resistence to things found in raw meat than humans do. Salmonella is pretty unheard of in pets fed raw meat diets. Parasites are a concern with game meat but most modern farming techniques eliminate that risk. In fact the USDA recently lowered the required cooking temp for pork because of improvements in parasite prevention. Freezing also kills off alot of parasites and other pathogens. Personally if I have meat go bad or sit in the freezer too long the dogs get it first and if it's too bad for the dogs or too much at once the chickens get it. I never cook it.

 

[tellynpeep]

Quote:
I don't want to start a raw diet debate here (I believe it has its merits) but.... Salmonella is far from unheard of in pets on raw food diets. Many dogs and cats fed raw diets will shed salmonella in their stools, though be asymptomatic themselves. This poses a serious risk to humans, especially children or immunosuppressed individuals. And if dogs actually get sick from the disease, they are REALLY sick. Puppies often die with it. Bad news.

See:

The risk of salmonellae shedding by dogs fed Salmonella-contaminated commercial raw food diets
Can Vet J. January 2007;48(1):69-75.

Also:
Preliminary assessment of the risk of Salmonella infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets.
Can Vet J 43[6]:441-2 2002 Jun

Joffe DJ, Schlesinger DP
Landing Animal Clinic, C155-1600, 90th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2V 5A8.
This preliminary study assessed the presence of Salmonella spp. in a bones and raw food (BARF) diet and in the stools of dogs consuming it. Salmonella was isolated from 80% of the BARF diet samples (P < 0.001) and from 30% of the stool samples from dogs fed the diet (P = 0.105). Dogs fed raw chicken may therefore be a source of environmental contamination.

 

[write2caroline]

It does make their poop smelly but I feed mine meat from time to time
Caroline