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Chicken keepers

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Original poster

Is it "wrong" to give my hens chicken fat/skin as their treat?

14 replies

AnonymousBird · 14/05/2011 19:04

We recently started giving our girls some "treats" - tail ends of bacon fat, scrapings off nice juicy joints, rice with gravy, or whatever... as a result their egg production became much more reliable!!! So, we try to give them some little extras a couple of times a week. They go mad for it. They see me coming to the orchard with a bowl, and they charge over in expectation....

We eat quite a lot of roast chicken etc, and there is always some fat/skin left over - would it be "wrong" as it were to give them this as their treat?

Strikes me as cannibalistic (unbeknownst to them of course!). DH and I are unsure on this one....

OP posts:

Punkatheart · 14/05/2011 20:20

It is strictly against DEFRA guidelines to feed chickens meat. It is about disease control - as mad cow disease started from cannibilising cows. Actually it is against DEFRA guidelines to feed them KITCHEN scraps! Strange but true - although I don't know a chicken owner who doesn't do that!

Chickens are potentially cannibalistic by nature - you really do not want to encourage them to eat one another!

SybilBeddows · 14/05/2011 20:22

I feed my chickens everything except chicken.

I spent some time agonising when we had roast duck, I think I decided not to feed them poultry full stop.

Dropdeadfred · 14/05/2011 20:25

Yuk - don't do it!!

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 14/05/2011 23:09

Hmm. I think I agree, it just was the fact that over the last couple of weeks I seemed to have various chicken "scraps", and it felt like a shame to waste them.

BUT I couldn't quite bring myself to give it to the girls, it didn't feel right to be honest, but I just wanted to seek some other views.

Yes, we won't do it!

OP posts:

ayeayecapn · 14/05/2011 23:16

That's why you should keep dogs and chooks.

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 15/05/2011 09:57

I have a dog, but chicken fat/skin is the one thing that sends her digestive system into meltdown!!

Ah well.

OP posts:

SybilBeddows · 15/05/2011 10:00

use the fat as dripping - yummy on toast and marmite
skin goes into stock.

mummymeister · 15/05/2011 10:59

Agree with other posts. It is a really bad idea to feed meat of any sort to your chickens and against Defra guidelines for a reason. If you have scraps then see if there is someone else nearby with a dog who would welcome them. Once i have "souped" everything i can there is usually not much left anyway.

SybilBeddows · 15/05/2011 11:07

chickens aren't meant to be vegetarian though - unlike cows and sheep.
it's against Defra guidelines to feed them kitchen scraps of any sort, but most of us would probably think that is overkill.

Punkatheart · 15/05/2011 11:29

Yes, chickens are omnivores but they will eat worms, snails etc. Also, in extreme cases, they have cannibalised one another. But it's not the norm!

SybilBeddows · 15/05/2011 11:32

I just find it hard to believe I am putting my chickens at risk by letting them pick at a lamb bone. How does that compare with letting them free range knowing that they will eat dead baby birds, frogs and mice?

Punkatheart · 15/05/2011 12:48

As I said, it is disease control. If there is a disease in the eaten meat that might be communicated to the chickens - such as CJD which was present in spinal tissue of cows. There is a reason. CJD is still a problem, people are still being diagnosed with it. It's simply not worth the risk of setting off another disease into the food chain. Remember - even if you don't eat your chickens - you do eat their eggs. I would be horrified to know that any eggs I bought were from deliberately fed carnivorous chickens. Most people would.

Punkatheart · 15/05/2011 12:51

I am not saying that CJD is in chickens - it is not. But there is always the chance of another similar disease incubating. It is therefore good practice to follow DEFRA guidelines. It is not simply bureacratic red tape.

I would however question that kitchen scraps rule - it is non-meat, I don't see the problem?

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 15/05/2011 12:55

I had absolutely no idea about the DEFRA thing - we simply keep a few chickens for ourselves to lay eggs (for us to eat, we do not sell). We started off feeding them meal worms as a treat. It was costing a fortune, so DH and I just thought next best thing, scrap tasty ends of meat (on the basis that worms are meat, we genuinely saw no harm!). They don't touch any veg scraps that we give them and the addition of the tasty scraps seriously boosted their egg output!

it was only when we had left over chicken fat that we thought we should draw the line (and it appears everyone agrees with that at least!) and I was simply interested in the views of others on the point.....

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