What to feed chickens during Pesach (Passover)

[Petra Pancake]

It's that time of the year again - at least for religiously observant Jews. This topic was discussed on BYC last time in 2011, so I think a memory refresher course would be in order.
Pesach does not only affect human nutrition, some of its rules also apply to animals as well, and especially to chickens, as they basically eat grain based feed.

The basics:
One may not eat, own or derive benefit from chametz.
Chametz (simplified for practical purposes) is any food substance made of or containing wheat, barley, rye, oats or spelt which has been leavened or come into contact with water any time.

While animals obviously don't have to keep religious commandments, feeding animals which one owns with chametz during Pesach would mean that the owner "derives benefit" from chametz and therefore is not permitted.

Grains of the five species mentioned above are in and of themselves theoretically not leavened, but a) it's impossible to rule out that they have come into contact with water before one bought the feed or during its production and b) chances are high that they will get wet or moist through water, dew, rain, condensation etc. in the coop or run. Most chicken food preparations also contain additives like brewer's yeast which is not permitted on Pesach because it's a by-product of barley fermentation in beer production.

Therefore commercial chicken food is generally not suitable for Pesach. (Exception: In Israel many feed stores and pet shops actually do sell certified chametz-free feeds for pets, including chickens, before Pesach. I don't know if there are any in the US who do that).

Where special chametz-free chicken feed is not available, it may be necessary to improvise. It's important to know that even Jews follow the custom to not eat kitniyot during Pesach are still permitted to derive benefit from kitniyot. That means that chickens can be fed rice, corn (maize), lentils, peas, and soybeans. (Rice, whole peas and soybeans should be boiled so that the chickens can digest them without problems).
Potatoes and sweet potatoes, cabbage, apples and generally all fruits and vegetables make a good addition.
For protein, cottage cheesse and spare eggs can be added.
Gefilte fish should be served to the chickens only without chrein, lol

Feeding chickens Matzah is probably not a good idea (think "constipation").

General practice in Israel is to switch animals to a chametz-free diet some time before Pesach, that way one can assume that they have found and eaten any chametz remains in their coop/run/stable/whatever housing when the time comes. A few days should be enough for that. If there are still any clearly visible chametz remains, the owner should remove them.

For those who find all this too difficult to cope with, there is the alternative option of selling one's animals/pets together with the traditional chametz sale for the duration of Pesach to someone who is not Jewish and who takes then care of them during this time. However, in that case they should be brought to the place of the person who is taking care of them - with chickens that might be a bit more problematic than, say, with a hamster...

As many chicken owners have other animals and pets as well - all this applies to other animals just as it does to chickens. Cat and dog food can't be automatically assumed to be okay for Pesach, they often contain flour.

Disclaimer: I'm not a rabbi, just a religious Jew. In cases of doubt, anyone should turn with specific questions to their rabbi.

Chag Pesach kasher ve'sameach to all!

Here are some links that deal with the topic pets & Pesach:

http://www.cor.ca/view-515-pet-food-on-passover-and-throughout-the-yearhtml.html

http://www.star-k.org/articles/articles/seasonal/375/feeding-your-pet-barking-up-the-right-tree/

http://zootorah.blogspot.co.il/2009/04/feeding-pets-on-pesach.html

http://www.aish.com/atr/Passover_Pet_Food.html

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm not Jewish, but thanks for all the interesting information. I had no idea.

 

[ellsafir]

With only a day to go, I have to thoroughly clean my chicken coop and I plan on feeding mostly corn, leftover veggies and I don't know what else, over Pesach. I hope to let them scavenge in the yard for bugs as well. Thanks for the info!

 

[Petra Pancake]

@ellsafir, I also still have the coop cleaning ahead of me... as far as chicken nutrition during Pesach is concerned, I'd recommend giving them something that contains some protein, as well, in addition to corn and veggies. It could be cottage cheese or boiled eggs or cooked bits of meat for an example. Bugs from the yard of course as well, if they can catch enough of them. Chag sameach.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Leavening is to make rise, use of yeast which back then was a wild yeast and unknown reason of leavening to the bakers. Feeds are not leavened. There is no rising or puffing of the grain. There is no yeast, baking powder or baking soda used in the making of poultry feed. By all counts it could be blessed and made kosher.

We should add corn to the list of grains that can't be leavened too. What is prohibited is the leavening of grain. Corn bread would be on that list if corn itself was availible at the time. Being from the America's it wasn't discovered yet but the intent of rule is clear. These two ideas would make for an interesting conversation with a rabbi or priest. Intent of observing lent opposed to exacting words. Adding water to grain will create an invitation of wild yeast causing it to leaven and corn bread were both unknown. Yeast and corn both being unknowns at the conception of rules of Passover observation.

 

[Petra Pancake]

@Egghead_Jr, of course I can see your point, but what I wrote above is the accepted orthodox rabbinic ruling for Pesach for our times. Therefore there is no way around it, at least not for orthodox Jews. Jewish law uses definitions of "permitted" and "forbidden" that are not necessarily in line with modern science but those who adhere to it keep it for spiritual reasons. Judaism tends to wrap spiritual intentions into detailed ritual laws but even if one understands the intention one is not supposed to drop the ritual aspect. Anything made of the five grains wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt is considered "leavened" (chametz) if it has been exposed to moisture or water for more than 18 minutes at any time. It doesn't matter for Jewish law if any wild or domestic yeast is present or not or if the substance actually puffs up or not. By the way, brewer's yeast is an ingredient of poultry feed, at least here. It's written on the package ingredient list. And asides from that, with feed one can't guarantee that it never was exposed to moisture, that's why one should not use anything with the five grains in it. There are the alternatives I mentioned above, rice, corn (maize), lentils and millet, that can be fed to poultry during Pesach instead (and Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews eat them as well during Pesach, while Jews of European descent abstain from eating them as an additional stringency but aĺl permit giving them to livestock).

 

[casportpony]

@Akrnaf2, thought you might find the thread interesting..

 

[MenachemEliyahu]

Passover is around the corner and I'm bumping this post up as a refresher. Just as an additional note, processed foods such as canned fish would also need to be certified kosher for passover.

 

[ILChickenTV]

Great tips! I plan to add fish carcasses from a local fish market to bump up the protein this year. Chag kasher ve'sameach!

 

[Sheepheart]

Never knew that! Very interesting. I feel like kalmbachs henhouse chicken feed might be an option? I don’t know right off the top of my head but I thinks it’s supposed to be a feed that’s ingredients are pretty much raw, besides being dried. I’m going to see if I can find the ingredients list .