Giving chickens and dogs table scraps

[JJsMom]

I know that seems funny to have them both in the subject line but I've been wondering about both of them. My dh is pretty firm on not giving our dog table scraps but since we eat healthy, wouldn't it be possibly better for him to have some of what we eat? If we were giving him fast food and ice cream and potato chips, well, I think that would be an obvious no, but what if we give him leftover cooked meat and veggies?
And I read in the other thread that chickens can eat table scraps, but what does that include? Can I give them cooked food or just raw fruit/veggie scrpas? What about meat? How about cooked food coated with oil?
Right now we compost all of our raw fruit/veggie scraps but we throw our leftover dinner stuff away (it's not a whole lot, just the bits left on plates). I'd rather give it to one of the animals if it will be beneficial. :)

[Iarwain]

Chickens are omnivorous so they can eat any of your scraps. Their natural diet is not vegetarian. I've found that mine aren't too fond of pineapple or citrus fruits but they go nuts over leftover oatmeal. They love meat scraps too.

Part of the objection to table scraps for a dog is that sometimes that encourages them to beg from the table. Mine gets occasional healthy scraps, but only after we have left the table and only in her own eating place.

[Littledisciples]

For Chickens you give them bread and veggies leftover. For Dogs you give them Raw Carrots and Scraps of food. No cooked chicken bones though. Raw Chicken Bones are ok. Yes Dogs can eat raw meat. So when you cut fat off meat throw the leftovers to the dog. Its good for them and it won't make them mean. Thats a old wifes tale. My Dog is living proof of that. She couldn't hurt a soul.

[JessicaTX]

I give the chickens way more scraps than i give the dog. I even find it oddly humorous to feed them chicken nuggets.

[JJsMom]

I give the chickens way more scraps than i give the dog. I even find it oddly humorous to feed them chicken nuggets.


:laughtears

[Amber]

The main concern with giving dogs table scraps is that it can cause them to become overweight. I don't believe that all table scraps are bad, but I do think that you need to be cautious about how much you give dogs and maybe cut back on the regular food to compensate for it.

[Johns_Gal]

Chickens can eat anything, just about, but anything with alot of onion or garlic may give their eggs an off flavor. Mine got bred, pasta, veggies and fruit, meats... you can even give them milk! They love the grease from cooking... I used to save the grease from burger, bacon and such in a can, stir in some BOSS when I had enough, and voila... homemade suet.

Seriously, they would probably eat us if they were big enough. :shifty

Dogs... mine get meals gone awry a few times a year, and I often buy meat just for them. Toby, my little sheltie, LOVES raw heart cut into small chunks. He knows what it means when he's called into the kitchen, lol! Sits at my feet waving a paw at me and doing the happy dance. If you do feed heart, cut it very small, since it is tough and they tend to try to bolt it down and choke themselves. One beef heart usually feeds Toby eight times.
My outside boys have been known to bring home rancid roadkill back when they were getting out. :sick They've also killed and eaten possum, rats and so forth, so err... I wouldn't worry about meats. Don't give them too many fatty foods (very bad for pancreas/liver) though. Alot of folks feed their dogs raw; chicken leg quarters or whole rabbit is often a favorite. In the winter, I have been known to cook up huge pot of lentils, split peas, sweet potatoes, carrot, and whatever else I have around and feed it to the outside boys, or I make broth, shred the meat into a bowl, add their kibble and moisten with the hot broth. Very happy, full bellied, warm puppy dogs. :rockon

Just no cooked bones, please.

[Mama Calidad]

:yes Our chickens will chase each other all over the place fighting over corn tortillas. We always give leftovers to the dogs, too. The occasional chicken tries to get at it, but the dogs generally...don't share. ;)

[Lavender Lily]

:scratch all our dogs hate veggies. Bu they love beans and spaghetti sometimes mixed together :sick

[krysmh]

Both of our dogs love veggies - raw and cooked. That's pretty much all they get from table scraps, though sometimes I'll boil ground beef of chicken for them. The main things to be careful with are that it doesn't make them overweight, they are getting all the nutrition they need, and that they aren't being fed things that are dangerous such as onions and grapes/raisins. Things high in sodium are bad too, so if you have salted or seasoned it heavily, I'd pass. If you're unsure about a certain food, look it up or ask your vet.

[Littledisciples]

I think it helps to start veggies young for dogs. I used to give my dog raw carrots as a treat when she was a puppy. I plan on doing so with the next puppy. I think they love the crunch. One bonus to starting that as a pup is its healther then a dog treat everytime. Esp during training where your constantly giving them treats. :giggle

[krysmh]

Just don't make the mistake of feeding them raw green beans fresh from your garden. They quickly figure out where those yummy green beans came from and learn to help themselves. :giggle

[Rabbit]

Some people foods are poison for dogs, and dogs will eat them anyway, so you have to be discerning in your table scraps.

[tree_hugger]

We give our chickens all of our scraps. I also give them garlic in their food once a week as a tonic and to prevent mites. :)

[JJsMom]

I've started giving our chickens some scraps and so far they have eaten most of it. They ate cereal, grapes with the vines, and they picked at the watermelon rinds until there was a very thin layer of green rind left and a banana peel is leftover.
My dh said we can give them eggshells but that doesn't seem right to me for some reason.
I haven't given my dog too much. I'm giving him a little here and there but this is really working out because we have very little food waste going into the garbage. :rockon The chickens, dog or compost gets pretty much everything leftover. :) Thank you everyone!

[Iarwain]

Eggshells are beneficial for laying hens. I sometimes save ours for the hens when we're out of oyster shell. It is a good calcium supplement and layers need to have plenty of calcium. Just be sure to crush the shells before giving them to them to prevent it developing into an egg eating habit.

[JJsMom]

Eggshells are beneficial for laying hens. I sometimes save ours for the hens when we're out of oyster shell. It is a good calcium supplement and layers need to have plenty of calcium. Just be sure to crush the shells before giving them to them to prevent it developing into an egg eating habit.


:ty