Do chickens eat meat?

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Hi
Is it Ok to feed chickens meat/ meat fat? My pal tells me no but I haven't see anything to the contrary..........she tells me they lack the enzyme to digest it and it can make them ill?
 
i dont know about feeding them all meats but i do know cat food from time to time doesnt do them any harm someone esle who knows more will no doubt answer your question :D anyway if they can eat most meats mine would not get it anyway they would have to fight of the dogs first :lol: and seeing the dogs live in the house and the chickens dont then they get first helpings .
 
Hi,

I am a bit worried now..... I have given them all a little sachet of cat food- (tuna) during their moult, as I understood it was high in protein. Mind you, they do like Tuna, and thats loaded with protein too. So they have had about 3 sachets, one per week, which they all scoffed. NOW i realise I should have given them dried cat food? Any advice?

What about grated cheese? they love a handful of that too, if there are no other treats around or we have run out of mealworms?
 
Chickens used to be kept just on meat and scraps when I was a kid. Any left overs--including meat and bones went to them.They will eat frogs, mice etc.(all meat) Id be happier giving them 'meat' cat food than biscuit form as dried foods of any type can swell and cause gut obstruction. All the treats mine get is an occasional dried meal worm if I need to catch them! If they are free roaming they will find worms, insects etc themselves. Cheese , and other dairy produce , is not advisable as they do not produce the lactase needed to digest it. Hope that helps! Ros
 
Ros, thankyou,

I now have another confession- I give them a bowl of warmed milky Ready Brek and probiotic yogurt weekly. As these are both dairy based, I reckon they are difficult to digest too! Ready Brek was the only thing which tempted my poorly girl to eat a few weeks back, as she was starving. I thought yogurt improved the "good" bacteria etc......

They all free range too, plus their corn now has added grit- (one handful of corn of an evening daily)
 
Not sure where your friend got the information that chickens can't digest milk! We used to have cows, and a goodly portion of our chickens' food was milk set until it naturally clabbered. They will drink it fresh, but prefer it as curds and whey. My children took their chickens to the local fair, won blue rosettes, and were asked to be sure to have their parents talk to the judge after the show. :-)09
We went up after the show was over, and the judge was all excited about the condition of our birds, and the feathers in particular. He said he hadn't seen such feathers in ages, and told us we really needed to take our children and their chickens to the state fair - a 3 hour drive each way! We thanked him for his input, but it didn't seem likely.
He finally asked what we fed them. We mentioned the sour milk, and he said, "Of course! All the old farmers used to feed their chickens milk - that's why they had such beautiful feathers. :)

Now mind you, we fed unpasturized milk that was naturally soured, but I don't see why yogurt or kefir wouldn't do just as well. Cultured milk is cultured milk!
 
--Its nice to get some discussion rather than questions and answers!! --Thats what a 'forum 'is about. I am happy to stand corrected on this one. I understood (albeit from studies many years ago!) that poultry did not produce lactase and as such were not able to digest milk and that dietary milk could produce a malabsorption syndrome in them resulting in specific deficiencies . ? OK --who else has some thoughts on this one? :? Ros
 
i was told you can never feed chickens milk so when mine get a warmed up porridge in the winter they have it mixed with water as they say you learn something new everyday :lol:
 
OOh my girls looked a bit miffed when I didn't give them their treat of a little bacon and fat when they went straight back into the coop tonight. But I will start again tomorrow. Celia set up a clucking for the first time and there was stunned silence after. She probably thinks she has been very naughty and that's why they didn't get the fat tonight! Sigh!!! This classical conditioning lark of Pavlov's aint so straight forward is it??!
 
I understood (albeit from studies many years ago!) that poultry did not produce lactase and as such were not able to digest milk and that dietary milk could produce a malabsorption syndrome in them resulting in specific deficiencies . ? OK --who else has some thoughts on this one?
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I've read this a few times now in various places on the internet too! My nan has had chickens for over 50 years and still gives them excess milk as well as the buttermilk when she makes butter and they look okay to me though! :lol:
In my opinion most scraps and treats are fine in moderation (as long as they are not processed or poisonous to chickens- Tim has made a list somewhere...) We have a fair few chickens and the leftovers are shared out amongst them so they all eat the pellets which do, after all contain everything the chickens need. :D
 
Hi, i do give them meat now and then, but not all of the time. i like to give them mostly vegtables etc. But it is entirly up to you, what you feed your chickens on.
 
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