Peeps in Europe!

[chickengr]

Wow didn't know that! i'm not going to stop - I think that the scraps of cabbage / lettuce etc is good for them - I like them to have a varied diet and I think part of that is having fresh greens from my cooking![/QUOTE]


that applies to the farms only, not to our backyard flocks.

 

[sumi]

I knew feeding chickens kitchen scraps was illegal in the UK but apparently it's EU as well.https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supplying-and-using-animal-by-products-as-farm-animal-feed

I toss kitchen scraps and more out onto the compost heap for birds to pick through. My hens are usually first in line. It adds some "interesting" to their diets. I believe the practice is banned for bigger farms because of health concerns. If people can cut corners on feed costs...

Talking of which, I don't know if it's legal here (probably not), but I used to have a "pig bucket" at local restaurants in town for food scraps and leftovers for my pigs when I lived in South Africa. I got tons of food for them that way and good food too.

 

[sumi]

my poultry have been enjoying spring time BUT we are going to have some snow (in athens!) this weekend. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

We're having spring weather here too and apparently it's going to last for awhile still.

 

[Shadrach]

I toss kitchen scraps and more out onto the compost heap for birds to pick through. My hens are usually first in line. It adds some "interesting" to their diets. I believe the practice is banned for bigger farms because of health concerns. If people can cut corners on feed costs...

Talking of which, I don't know if it's legal here (probably not), but I used to have a "pig bucket" at local restaurants in town for food scraps and leftovers for my pigs when I lived in South Africa. I got tons of food for them that way and good food too.

It's one of those laws with good intentions but completely unenforceable.
I don't feed the chickens here any meat, or dairy kitchen scraps; mainly because my cooking is so bad they probably wouldn't eat them. I don't eat a lot of meat anyway.
I do feed them fish and bits of wild boar two or three times a week though. If I cook say sardines for them then I'm breaking the law. If I feed them raw straight from the tin or fishmonger I'm okay.
They could have passed a useful law like prohibiting sending chicks through the mail.

 

[Perris]

I believe the practice is banned for bigger farms because of health concerns

It is [human] health concerns driving this, but more specifically it is to do with traceability: food producers in the EU (all of it, in theory if not in practice [hi Shadrach!]) must know where every bit of their animals' food comes from, and via kitchens is specifically excluded as a locus of potential cross-contamination. Fortunately people with fewer than 50 birds are excluded from much of the relevant legislation (and boy is there a lot of it ), unless they are selling eggs to the general public.

 

[Loopeend]

Is anyone from Europe, UK (Somewhere between London, Canterbury, Brighton, it has to be reachable by car with at most one night on a camping/Airbnb so further is also ok) Or somewhere ranging from Portugal to Italy to Czech to Poland (again, somewhere in Europe with at most one overnight in the middle) going to have high quality, good breedings standard Indian runner ducks in the colours;
Blue
Black
Silver/Splash
All unbibbed.
Ducklings Or a reálly good Blue male, black and/or silver/splash adult duck.

We can pay offcourse (duh), but since we are making the travel anyway we can also bring ducks or fertile eggs (except to UK due to rules) from the Netherlands or Belgium or other countries (we are planning to get ducks from 3 countries because of too much the same blood in the Netherlands) we visit before and play a little duck-taxi.

Two night overstay is also possible, if campings are nearbye, and depending on the age of the duck(lings). We are planning to change the whole interior of the car to make the trip as comfortable as possible for the duck(lings), but the less travel the better for their stress-levels. New-borns will probably sleep the whole ride through under de heating-system, two or more adults are stronger and have each other, but an adult alone or some older ducklings rather not a 2 day trip. It depends a bit on factors like how much your ducks are used to travel and the quality of roads, etc. etc. etc.

Thanks!

 

[PouleChick]

Is anyone from Europe, UK

I'd suggest posting on the UK thread - someone on there may be able to help you!

 

[sumi]

How is everyone doing? We're enjoying our spring break in February over here, yesterday's high was 16C! Can't believe this time last year we were bracing for our biggest snowfall in 30 years.

 

[Phill98]

How is everyone doing? We're enjoying our spring break in February over here, yesterday's high was 16C! Can't believe this time last year we were bracing for our biggest snowfall in 30 years.

Hey, it was really nice weather last few days, but today is just grey and sort of boring. no wind, no rain, but also no sun. I don't even know how it is predicted to be this week, but I hope for sun.

I don't know about all of you, but I am 100% ready for spring. I was just talking to my sister how dead everything looks today. Since it's overcast you can really see it.

Was quite surprised to find 4 eggs yesterday from our two hens. We didn't collect them on saturday, but it surprised me to get four since the older one doesn't even lay every other day, it more like every third. I would really like to get some chicks from her since she layed this whole winter after she finished moult and she is 8 years old. My other hen we got last year in September- person we bought her from said she started laying in August and was born in February or March and she has been laying ever since we got her.
Do you think that they will stop laying during summer heat since this is the first year that they are laying this good in this part of the year?

 

[sumi]

I can say I'm ready for spring, but we barely had winter so far. About a week of real cold, a bit of snow twice. But for the ridiculously short days you would've have known it was mid-winter here!

I would really like to get some chicks from her since she layed this whole winter after she finished moult and she is 8 years old.

Oh you should! She sounds like a fantastic layer and if she passes that trait on to her chicks... Yes!

Do you think that they will stop laying during summer heat since this is the first year that they are laying this good in this part of the year?

She'll probably continue laying through summer and then take fall/winter off to molt and catch a break. My Sussex hen starting laying in August (2015) and only took the last 2 winters off finally.