DEFRA- what you can and can't legally feed to chickens.

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http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/managing-disease/animalbyproducts/collection-feeding-abp/Ban-on-feeding-of-kitchen-scraps-to-pet-poultry-and-other-pet-farmed-animals.asp

So now we know!
 
Thank you for that Marigold - it couldn't be clearer and should stop advise being given to feed cat/dog food, in tins or not, and raw meat of any kind.

A surprisingly clear piece of information from Defra as well !
 
I'm not sure I quite agree with you Chuck about cat/dog food, although I am not much inclined to feed it anyway.

The document states: The reason cooked products are also included in the ban is that, although cooking may reduce the risk, there are difficulties in effectively controlling cooking temperatures, to ensure virus destruction, or storage to prevent re-contamination with raw product. This would be absoloutely true for a domestic or catering kitchen, but would not apply to a canning factory where processes would be tightly controlled and there should be no possibility of cross contamination.

The only was to be absoloutely certain of what the legislation says is to read the Act or Statutory Instrument, whichever type of document contains the legislation - but life's too short...!
 
Fortunately we are no longer governed by DEFRA. Bottom's favourite food is cooked chicken, with maggots coming a close second followed by ham and cheese. Supermarket eggs over here taste great. Don't know what they feed them on, but we haven't been ill yet.
 
I understand there will be resistance from many keepers who have been led to believe that it is OK to feed dog and cat food, all of which does not come in tins.

Most of the legislation which we adhere to in this country are EU directives. That many other EU countries ignore these rules and get away with it just confirms to me that it's time for us to leave and conduct our own affairs. It's now not what I voted to join up to in the early 1970's.
 
I don't always agree with the government, but on this occasion I can see where they're coming from. As the intention is to prevent the spread of avian flu, to save us all from having to cull our birds, I'd suggest that we listen to them.

It was through feeding forbidden foods to sheep that the foot & mouth outbreak started 9 or 10 years ago, resulting in thousands of sheep & cows having to be killed. Let's learn from other people's mistakes, not make them again for ourselves...
 
If Botty wants some ham from my baguette Icemaiden, he gets it. He hasn't read the regulations.

But yes, the problems stem from commercial abuse of feedstuffs. Everyone knows instinctively you shouldn't be grinding up male chicks alive and feeding the bits back to the laying hens.

Thanks to Edwina Currie for putting her career on the line and bringing to the attention of the public what everyone in Commercial circles already knew. Disgraceful the way she was treated for it.
 
I think you have got the wrong end of the stick icemaiden It was feeding the wrong stuff to sheep and cattle that caused mad cow disease Foot and mouth is caused by a virus .
 
Actually Icemaiden is not completely wrong Weaselmum:

"Animals pick up the virus either by direct contact with an infected animal or by contact with foodstuffs or other things which have been contaminated by such an animal, or by eating or coming into contact with some part of an infected carcase. In the past, outbreaks of the disease have been linked with the importation of infected meat and meat products."

quote from http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-z/foot-and-mouth/

I agree with Chuck, although I don't remember voting either way. Many other European countries ignore directives - we closed all our small abattoirs because they did not comply exactly whereas I believe France did not. As in all things, some directives are sensible, others are not or are simply "knee jerk" reactions to a situation. I dread the time when we all have to drive round in the daytime with our lights on; it is a totally unecessary use of energy (cars consume more fuel the more "gizmos" that are swtiched on) and it will probably lead to MORE accidents as it is much more difficult to judge distance and speed.
 
In France slaughtering individual animals requires no licence. So if you want to eat your pig the Chasse member neighbour comes and shoots it (he has the weapon and the ammunition), you hang it up and butcher it, using some of the carcass to pay off the favours you have had during the year with veg and fruit from others. Before that they used to cut its throat -at least its quick now.
 

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