Member Photo

Greenleaf Farms

Ameraucanas and Araucanas on the range
(Forest City, Pennsylvania)

Fish meal for chickens

Fish meal is the clean, dried, ground tissue of undercomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, sometimes both,  with or without the extraction of part of the oil, and containing not more than 3 per cent salt.  Some salt is beneficial to chooks, but after 3% it starts to accumulate in their livers and kidneys and starts to cause some health problems -- much like too much of salt would to ours.  So keep the salt in the water, during the extremes of summer and winter, lower than that.  I put a 1/4 of teaspoon in 3 gallons, alternating that with vinegar & plain water, so they get a variety of flavours but also don't overload on the salt.

Fish meals vary in composition and feeding value, so check for those from the white fish group which typically live near the sea or lake floor.  These are chub, trout, lake bass,cod, pollack, whiting, grouper, hake, snapper & tilapia and for chooks they are superior to those made from dark oily fish that have oils throughout their flesh.  Typical of the latter group are salmon, trout sardines, herring, tuna, mackerel and anchovies.

Fish meals made at low temperatures are superior to those processed at high temperatures as a general rule, and fish meals containing much of the viscera, as are obtainable from some fish canneries, are superior to meals made from whole fish.

The average fish meal has about the same composition and feeding value as meat scraps. In coastal regions, fish meal is as cheap or cheaper than meat scraps though of course the further inland you go, it becomes more expensive. White fish meal made by the low temperature or vacuum process contains protein of very high biological value and is a good source of vitamin G, riboflavin, which chicks need to avoid curled toe paralysis -- this is notable when a chook is born with toes that curl typically towards the body

The white fish meal also compares favorably with milk as an animal protein feedstuff so weighing the cost benefit could be pivotal in which to choose.  I have gotten fish heads & tails  from my local Wegman's fish department for about 3.99 a pound and typically make a soup out of it and give the fish, bones and all, to the chooks particularly during moult when they need the extra protein,


Suki
09:01 AM EDT

Bone meal as grit

Bone meal consists mainly of calcium phosphate (Ca3P04). It varies in composition, depending on method of manufacture. Poultry bone meal, sometimes called raw bone meal or steamed bone meal, consists of bones which have been thoroughly cooked, dried, and ground. This product contains 20 to 25 per cent protein.

Bone meal is added to poultry starting and growing rations which contain less than about 10 per cent animal protein feedstuffs and is an important ingredient of mineral mixtures that are often sold separately.

Special steamed bone meal is a by-product of gelatin or glue manufacture. It is cheaper than poultry or steamed bone meal and is as satisfactory as a mineral feedstuff. It contains more calcium and phosphorus and much less protein than poultry bone meal.

Fertilizer bone meal is unpalatable, has a disagreeable odor, and is unsuitable for a poultry feedstuff.


Suki
12:00 AM EDT
 

TOPICS