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!
