{"id":87276,"date":"2021-06-08T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=87276"},"modified":"2022-04-21T12:31:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T16:31:01","slug":"chickens-arent-vegetarians-give-them-meat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/chickens-arent-vegetarians-give-them-meat\/","title":{"rendered":"Chickens Aren&#8217;t Vegetarians, So Go Ahead &#038; Give Them Meat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">W<\/span>hen my wife (aka our livestock manager) Chris and I first became acquainted, she told me that she had previously been a vegetarian for a number of years. I asked her why she had come back to the dark side of eating meat (but not our chickens).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">She said there were two reasons. First, socializing had been difficult. Some dinner party hosts thought she would be happy with a minimalist salad. Second, potlucks were unlucky affairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">This was decades ago, a time when general knowledge about vegetarianism was limited. During those old, backward days, I told my sister over the phone, that my girlfriend-at-the-time was a vegetarian. She paused, and I\u2019m sure she was trying to imagine what she would serve us for dinner when we visited. Then she asked, \u201cCan she eat rice?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p5\">Meat &amp; Veg<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\">Knowledge and acceptance of vegetarianism has grown at a similar pace to the adoption of backyard chicken-keeping since then. And somewhere along the way, it seems that some chicken-keepers have conflated the two things a little bit and believe that chickens also have a culture of vegetarianism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">I mean, the ingredients on the bags of some organic chicken feed don\u2019t list any animal products, right?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Granted, everyone knows that chickens eat bugs in addition to seeds, fruits and greens. But I believe that most people don\u2019t think of bugs as meat. And therefore, the notion of our sweet little hens as being essentially peace-loving vegetarians has become commonplace in <span class=\"s3\">some <\/span><span class=\"s4\">circles. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s4\">But chickens are really just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/science-nature\/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pocket-<\/a><\/span>sized dinosaurs, descended as they are from mouthy beasts such as <i>Tyrannosaurus rex<\/i>. Have you ever seen a chicken chase, catch and eat a little toad or a mouse? If so, you might think that the chicken\u2019s Latin name should be <i>Tyrannosaurus pecks<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">If your yard sees few toads or mice, your hens can also get their chase-thrills met with a bag of live crickets bought from the pet-supply store or a bait shop for a backyard cricket rodeo.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Poultry Pyramid<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s3\">A colleague of mine described what he thought of as a four-layered food pyramid for chickens.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\">Starting at the top is their favorite: bugs<\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\">Then: fruit<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\">Next: seeds<\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\">At the wide bottom of the pyramid: greens<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p3\">But I think that\u2019s incomplete. It makes more sense to think of our hens\u2019 food pyramid as having five levels. At the top is: meat.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">And to meet their desire for meat, my wife and I let our chickens pick clean bones of lamb, pork and beef. We don\u2019t give them poultry bones. That would be weird.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">They also get in a tizzy for shrimp shells, lobster shells and fish skins. We haven\u2019t noticed those aromatic scraps messing up the eggs\u2019 flavors at all.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_87282\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-87282\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87282\" src=\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/2021-Ladies-in-Waiting.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/hc2kzacJ-2021-Ladies-in-Waiting-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/2021-Ladies-in-Waiting-434x250.jpg 434w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/2021-Ladies-in-Waiting-600x346.jpg 600w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/2021-Ladies-in-Waiting-625x360.jpg 625w, https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/2021-Ladies-in-Waiting.jpg 800w\" alt=\"chickens meat chicken\" width=\"800\" height=\"461\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-87282\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Hyman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"p5\">Bacon Bits<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s3\">Another reason my wife gave up vegetarianism? She missed bacon. And, it appears, so do our chickens. Whenever I cook up a mess of bacon (I\u2019m a Southerner, and I need my daily dose of pork products), I pour the hot, liquid bacon fat into two small bowls. This goes into the fridge to solidify. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s3\">We keep one bowl to cook with, and we give the other to our chickens. We\u2019ve even trained some of our neighbors to bring bacon fat to the chickens in exchange for a few eggs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">I\u2019m sure some readers cringed at the mention of bacon fat. My Yankee wife didn\u2019t want it in the house. But she came around when I pointed out how many of the chefs she admires cook with it.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Bacon fat that doesn\u2019t get repurposed for cooking in American kitchens or fed to animals either goes down the drain or ends up in the landfill. Did you know that fat from food companies and restaurants often gets added to animal feed?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Read more: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/the-farm-can-feed-your-chickens-a-non-gmo-diet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Let the farm feed your chickens with healthy, non-GMO feed.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Benefits of Bacon<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Fat poured down kitchen drains creates what are called \u201cfatbergs,\u201d congealed fat blobs that cause wastewater to back up in the sewer pipes. That\u2019s just as yucky as it sounds. I recommend that you don\u2019t look online for photos of fatbergs. You can\u2019t unsee those images.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Fat and other organic matter in the landfill isn\u2019t much better. It turns into methane gas that escapes into the atmosphere. Methane is even worse than carbon dioxide from your car at causing the climate disruption that melts ice caps and inflames other environmen<\/span>tal disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">So not only is re-purposing bacon fat a tasty option, but it\u2019s an ecological imperative that we turn excess bacon fat (and other cooking fats) into delicious fresh eggs \u2026 if you ask me.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s4\">I\u2019m not worried that our birds will get too much salt from these drippings. They pace themselves. That little bowl of fat lasts two or three days. As omnivores, chickens like to switch things up. After a few sticky mouthfuls of bacon fat, they scratch for some bugs or scavenge other vegetable scraps from our kitchen or beak-tap the vermin-proof, 5-gallon bucket \u201cvending machine\u201d for some organic layer pellets.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_87283\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-87283\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87283\" src=\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/shutterstock_1688107978.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/liEWApSS-shutterstock_1688107978-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/shutterstock_1688107978-433x250.jpg 433w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/shutterstock_1688107978-600x347.jpg 600w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newhobbyfarms.com\/shutterstock_1688107978-623x360.jpg 623w, https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/shutterstock_1688107978.jpg 800w\" alt=\"chickens meat chicken\" width=\"800\" height=\"462\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-87283\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivan Protsiuk\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"p5\">Meating Their Needs<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Historically, chickens were never vegetarians. Even as Southeast Asian jungle birds millennia ago, they were opportunistic omnivores, like us. And their food decisions only had to meet four opportunistic criteria.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Can I catch it?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Can I fit it in my mouth?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Having answered question Nos. 1 and 2 in the affirmative, does the taste or smell indicate that I\u2019ll barf my guts out if I swallow this item?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">If the answer to question No. 3 is \u201cinconclusive,\u201d swallow it anyway, because if I spit it out, <\/span><span class=\"s3\">someone else will eat it and then I\u2019ll feel like a fool.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/5-essential-chicken-feed-nutrients-healthy-flock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>These are the 5 essential nutrients your chickens need.<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The Food Chain<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">And chickens\u2019 diverse dietary tastes aren\u2019t unique. Surprisingly, the division between herbivores and omnivores in the natural world isn\u2019t as clear-cut as we once thought. It\u2019s more of a spectrum than a yes-or-no option. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">You can find videos online of these healthy herbivores eating scav<\/span><span class=\"s3\">enged meat: deer, antelope, cows, horses, hippos<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, orangutans, chimps, gorillas, squirrels, elephants, manatees, kangaroos, goats, giraffes and, yes, even rab<\/span>bits have been caught on film eating fish, birds and mammals.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Evolution has always favored animals that are opportunists over the picky eaters. Two of the most endangered animals on earth are koalas and panda bears. The first only eats a few species of eucalyptus leaves. And the second is mostly jonesing for a few species of bamboo shoots and leaves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Critters with the widest interest in types of foods are more likely to survive the erratic seasons and changing conditions that existed even before we humans skewed the climate.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">So, for backyard chickens to eat meat isn\u2019t some urban anomaly. It\u2019s how they roll.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">I\u2019m not saying that if your household is vegetarian, you have to feed meat to your chickens. I\u2019m just saying your chickens would welcome the sort of nonjudgmental inclusiveness that permits your neighbors to earn a few eggs and help save the planet by recycling their meat scraps in your hen pen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><i>This article originally appeared in the May\/June 2021 issue of\u00a0<\/i>Chickens\u00a0<em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a voracious appetite for barnyard bugs, chickens are not naturally vegetarians, and it&#8217;s OK (even beneficial) to give your flock meat now and again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":87281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[424,10728,10456],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals","category-health-and-nutrition","category-poultry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.0 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chickens Aren&#039;t Vegetarians, So You Can Give Them Meat - Hobby Farms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With a voracious appetite for barnyard bugs, chickens are not naturally vegetarians, and it&#039;s OK (even beneficial) to give your flock meat now and again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/chickens-arent-vegetarians-give-them-meat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chickens Aren&#039;t Vegetarians, So Go Ahead &amp; 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