feeding milk to chickens?

[ainslie]

Could anyone tell me if feeding milk to chickens can really be done or is it just a joke to catch fools like me? My calves are about ready to be weaned off the goat milk I feed them, but my goats are still in full production which is way more than my family can consume even when I make it into cheese etc. ( a good problem to have, for sure ). It will be another month before I get four 3-week-old piglets so I can always freeze it until I can feed it to them but right now I have about 80 broiler chickens and wondered, if it can be done, how would one do it? Feed milk to chickens that is!

[Odsox]

I've never done it but I imagine that if you mixed chicken mash with milk it would be a very good fattening diet.
That would probably use up a couple of gallons a day.

[farmerdrea]

We feed a lot of excess milk, both goat and cow, to our chooks. They love it, especially if you let it clabber (set it in a warm place for a few days and it goes like yoghurt - but only with raw milk). Been doing it for years, and no ills or troubles as far as I know.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[Thomzo]

Yep - certainly can. TMine loved all dairy products (particularly cottage cheese).

Zoe

[ainslie]

Yep - certainly can. TMine loved all dairy products (particularly cottage cheese).

Zoe

how did you do it? ie. what did you "serve" it in, how much at a time, other?

[Thomzo]

As it's illegal in this country to feed food waste to chickens so, of course, I only did it when my ex-bats had stopped laying. But, if I had some cottage cheese and salad left over I'd just sling it on the floor of the run.

You could put milk in their water container - or turn it into yogurt.

I never give them very much at a time as it's only if I have it left over from my lunch or whatever.

I do know an ex-farmer who swears by warm milk with their mash in the winter. Great source of protein for them.

Zoe

[Odsox]

Is it really illegal to feed food waste to chicken ?
Surely not if you eat the eggs (or the chicken) yourself or has the world gone mad.
Half of my hens diet is cooked vegetables, potato peelings and bread crusts, I think they would go on strike if I told them no more extras.

[Ratty]

I think milk to chickens is OK according to this from Defra (or am I reading that chart wrong?) http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/Bse/con ... d-ban.html

[marshlander]

I thought we put this one to bed in another thread - illegal only if you're selling eggs wasn't it?

[ainslie]

You have to remember I live in Ontario Canada - we have abundant restrictions but not this. At least not yet. We were very fortunate to escape the hoof and mouth tragedy here... Anyway, I have an abundance of milk and chickens, feed prices are through the roof here too, and I wanted to hear more about how milk can be fed to chickens rather than having to waste it or having it go bad or freezing it (it's not nice after freezing). If I produce milk, I have to use it on-farm - it's illegal to sell, trade or even give milk or milk products away without a licence which is quite a proceedure to go through (for good reason I'm sure). It is also difficult and prohibitively expensive to get equipment small enough for my "operation" to meet the codes, at least so far as I've researched. So, feeding the extra goat milk (that my self and family can't drink or make into cheese) to livestock, and perhaps chickens, it has to be. Cause I seem to have to keep producing goat milk. I can't help myself. I really appreciate being able to get advice from other people who "are in the know," - thank you, by the way! - the internet has a lot of info, but I've found nothing on this topic.

[Thomzo]

Sorry Guys
I didn't mean to restart the debate about feeding left over food to chickens. I was only trying not to incriminate myself by making the point that I only fed waste cream cheese to my girls after they had stopped laying.

If you make cheese, you can give the whey to the chooks as well. I put it in the water dispenser. But don't leave milk or whey in there too long as it smells and attracts flies.

Zoe