Lorax Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I'm sure I've read on here that some of your chickens love eating fish, ergo you feed it to them? I've never done this so far but have a bit of cooked tuna left over that no-one wants and wanted to give it to them. But someone told me it's against the law to feed fish to chickens? I wondered if that was on a commercial scale? Would I be hurting my girls if I gave them some fishy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 DEFRA states that hens should not be fed on kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s, however the reality is that most of us give s"Ooops, word censored!"s to our hens as treats. Hens are omnivores, and they do eat meat and fish - personally I don't give it to my chickens, I give them vegetable s"Ooops, word censored!"s only, but it certainly won't do them any harm in small quantities. Some people recommend tuna to help hens recover after a moult. I wouldn't feed anything salty, or feed too much, but that goes for all s"Ooops, word censored!"s as they won't eat enough pellets if they have too many other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I don't give my hens fish either (for not particularly rational reason) but one of my larger Silkies did once help herself to one of my little gold fish. It did her no harm, but she hasn't done it again, so perhaps it did not taste all that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi-Hi Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I had a poorly girl over the weekend, and she didn't want to eat anything. I tried her on all sorts, but she just turned her nose up. Out of sheer desperation I gave her a bowl of my kedgeree, and there wasn't a rice grain left after she finished it!!! She loved it, and it is all she would eat until she went back to the others. She is back now with the others on layers. (She even said no to pro bio yogurt with layers, mixed corn and dried mealworms mixed in ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer_chicken Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Mine love fish, like above though, only give it in smallish quantities. Some people say it makes the eggs taste fishy, but we give ours the fish heads (they love them ) every time we have whole fish and the eggs have tasted normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I sometimes feed my girls tinned tuna or salmon, particularly if they need building up a bit. They love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenopolis Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 When one of my girls is looking a bit under the weather, I usualy feed her a few spoonfuls of tuna - if you buy it in brine, make sure to rinse it first. I sometimes buy it in olive oil and although I drain most of the oil off, I leave a little bit, so it looks like tuna mush. I then give it to the girls in a white ramekin - and I don't think they actually breathe when they eat it, because the scoffing noise they make is just so funny. Mind you, every time they see a white ramekin now, they think it's tuna, and I get mugged - and this is in my own kitchen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 When one of my girls is looking a bit under the weather, I usualy feed her a few spoonfuls of tuna - if you buy it in brine, make sure to rinse it first. Same here - they're quite happy to eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rhode Island Red Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I haven't tried giving them fish. And I don't let them eat any kind of meat. That doesn't mean you can't give it a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharLeila Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Yep, mine love it. I occasionally give a tin of tuna for my 5 to share and like the others say, they don't stop until the bowl is empty! Surley Omega-3 is good for chickens too!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 If mine are a little under par (moult etc) I mix some rinsed sardines in with their evening mash 'porridge'...there's rarely any left after a few minutes Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 the thing is they are omnivores so fish/meat is part of that. you just have to look at the amount of posts saying my chook ate a mouse/frog/bird/slow worm/lizard/crocodile (maybe that's an exaggeration ). so I give mine tuna from time to time - less than once a month I should think. and if we've had a shepherd's pie and there are s"Ooops, word censored!"ings in the dish I will give them that as well. (it does go in the dishwasher afterwards!) I wouldnt give them a big bit of meat though, it doesnt seem right somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Mine have had left over fishfinger before and scoffed it down. Wouldn't give them meat of any shape or form though.How do you get those smilie things to go on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Mine have had left over fishfinger before and scoffed it down. Wouldn't give them meat of any shape or form though.How do you get those smilie things to go on? I'm going to try them on a fishy treat this evening but agree that meat does not seem right somehow. (To add a smilie thing just click on the pictures on the right of your reply box as you write it. Then when you have written your message click on the preview button at the bottom of your message to check it has come out right. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 that is how it comes out though in text here...how do the pictures come on? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer_chicken Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 that is how it comes out though in text here...how do the pictures come on? Thank you To get mine I went to post a reply and clicked the icons I wanted and copied and pasted it into my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I think it must be your PC being disabled for Smilies (one of the mods may know more) as I can see four little hens, a rabbit and a purple cube on your post now. For more about adding pictures see Adding chicken/eglu pictures to your signature and Adding photos to your posts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Edit...! -Go to here and enable smileys to make it your default. -Under each individual post, if you scroll down to the options (before you post a post) you can enable/disable smileys for that one post. Phew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
