kitchen scraps.

Interesting ... and what was the reason behind the law?

I think my chickens would go nut without their kitchen/garden scraps to scratch around in.

No offense, but I don't think our government has gotten that intrusive into our chickens.

Like Sundancers, I am interested in why. I remember when I was stationed in the UK in the early 80's I had Kentucky fried checken that tasted like fish though!

Following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001, the Government introduced a ban on the feeding to animals of catering waste that contains or has been in contact with animal by-products (ABPs). This ban was subsequently reflected by the EU Animal By-Products Regulation and became mandatory in all Member States. Catering waste is defined as 'all waste food including used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens'.

Thank you Rob. Does this apply to only fowl?

this is an extract from the goverment site. it affects all farmed animals including chickens kept as pets. it defines farmed animals as......

• any animal that is kept fattened or bred by humans and used for the production of food, wool, fur, feather, hides and skins or any other product obtained from animals or for other farming purposes
• equidae (horses).

ComputerGuy said:

...I remember when I was stationed in the UK in the early 80's I had Kentucky fried checken that tasted like fish though!

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Heh! You probably got some chicken that was cooked in oil that had already been used to cook some fish.

Somebody was saving a few pennies by re-using their oil too much. Fish-flavored oil should only be used to cook more fish.

rob said:

Following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001, the Government introduced a ban on the feeding to animals of catering waste that contains or has been in contact with animal by-products (ABPs). This ban was subsequently reflected by the EU Animal By-Products Regulation and became mandatory in all Member States. Catering waste is defined as 'all waste food including used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens'.

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Thanks for the info.

Chicken scraps are legal for chickens everywhere in the US, as far as I know.

Interesting, but no I have never heard of this before. My chickens get all kitchen scraps from the kids cereal to spagetti dinner and everything inbetween.

well im sure they wont find out if i give them the odd treat

scraps

Rob - I'm in the UK and manage to avoid the kitchen scrap police... they love our kids' crusts and other leftovers - we don't give them any chicken-related leftovers and nothing with obvious sugary or salty content (ie any leftover processed food). When we have spuds or pasta, we shove an extra portion in and give it to the girls - I don't see these as 'kitchen scraps' as they are cooked specially with them in mind! (DEFRA may have a different opinion...)

Can you give them things from the garden? (or the fresh fruit section from the store ) Which is from the kitchen, if you take it there first.

But I'm talking about non cooked food, leafy greens, tomatoes skins and such.

you can give fresh veg etc. just ne cooked food or left overs, they love the lettuce straight from my garden, i hang it on the wire and they peck away all day.

Inglewoody said:

Rob - I'm in the UK and manage to avoid the kitchen scrap police... they love our kids' crusts and other leftovers - we don't give them any chicken-related leftovers and nothing with obvious sugary or salty content (ie any leftover processed food). When we have spuds or pasta, we shove an extra portion in and give it to the girls - I don't see these as 'kitchen scraps' as they are cooked specially with them in mind! (DEFRA may have a different opinion...)

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ive heard they like pasta, i will have to try it.

If you are giving chickens scraps you should be careful of what you give them, they can't digest all foods easily and food such as grain that would be in bread can get stuck in their crop...if untreated hen/rooster will get I'll & could suffocate...cut grass is another thing that they can not digest...

Ours get every thing but chicken and bones. They LOVE their extra protien.

We give ours any left over food from the previous nites meal, and now that the garden is "coming in" all the scraps from the veggies we feed to the flock...they love squash and eggplant! On occasion I boil up a big pot of rice and give it to them and they love it.

Word of caution* if you feed them "people" food,..make sure they have adequate roughage and grit to help them digest these foods

I do understand why the EU brought this law into force and, although it's easy to make fun of it, I don't think it's intrusive because it was designed to keep the products of factory farmed animals and large herds as healthy as possible. There was evidence in the UK and elsewhere (and I'm sure this doesn't only apply to Europe) that farm animals were being given all kinds of rubbish to eat (including dead pigeons) which caused the inevitable unhealthy results - unhealthy both for the animals and for the people who later ate them or their produce.

But to be honest, in terms of small "backyard" owners, who's going to know? As long as the food they're given is healthy in itself and (in my view at least) doesn't involve feeding chickens chicken meat or chicken products, I don't have a problem with it. I live in rural Italy where most families keep chickens for eggs and meat, and feed them on kitchen scraps. Mine are very partial to pasta - well they are Italian, after all!