Leftovers for Chooks

[Hans Mum]

please can someone advise me, if i give my girls left over spuds, rice or pasta, etc., does the fact its been cooked with salt matter? Also if i give them peelings from the veggies should they be cooked first (cept for the greens i just throw those in) thanks

[Bephlam]

I don't ever add salt to the food I make for the girls - but if I have initially cooked it for us, and had some left over...I just make sure I give it all a good wash.

[frias]

Potatoes have to be cooked and the girls prefer other root veg cooked as well. Although they shouldn't have salt I tend to think any leftovers shared between 6 won't have much salt in anyway. (Not that I would give leftovers to my girls 'cos DEFRA says I can't!)

[Snadger]

Potatoes have to be cooked and the girls prefer other root veg cooked as well. Although they shouldn't have salt I tend to think any leftovers shared between 6 won't have much salt in anyway. (Not that I would give leftovers to my girls 'cos DEFRA says I can't!)

They just steal mine off my plate!

[shirlthegirl43]

I don't use salt when I am cooking food for the hens. We enjoy the leftovers and sometimes we sprinkle salt on ours at the table.

[frias]

Yep, terrible thieves chooks. Steal everything I put out for the wild birds.

[Dane End Dolly]

I always boil potato peelings before giving them to the chickens as i was told it was not good for them raw.

[HayleyB]

Mine had Lasagne last night with some Taramasalata, sunflower seeds and cauliflower leaves. I don't worry about salt as it don't amount to much between 24 of them. They have roast pototoes tonight, with buttered cabbage and green beans, Of course all this food is specially prepared for the girls and not actually leftover

[Flummery]

I don't cook OUR food with salt either - not since Himself had a heart attack 4 years ago. After the first week I never missed it.

[terrier]

When I stopped using sugar in drinks (too long ago to remember when) I got used to it within a few days, but when I stopped using salt on/in food (when I was in my mid twenties) it took over twelve months to get used to it. It was worth it in the end because the food now tastes so much better instead of just tasting of salt. Animals and birds don't use salt in their food .. do they know something we don't?

[MaureenHall]

My lot have had the most expensive treat ever today! Not quite caviar but almost - they've had some seafood risotto containing salmon and lobster, and I've given them the lobster carcasses and coral to peck out the bits. They think they're in heaven! Just hope the eggs don't taste fishy tomorrow

[Hilary B]

When I stopped using sugar in drinks (too long ago to remember when) I got used to it within a few days, but when I stopped using salt on/in food (when I was in my mid twenties) it took over twelve months to get used to it. It was worth it in the end because the food now tastes so much better instead of just tasting of salt. Animals and birds don't use salt in their food .. do they know something we don't?

Most grass-eaters will go miles (in the wild) to find a salt-lick. Livestock farmers provide them (so do horse owners?). Meat contains a fair bit of salt, so those who enjoy meat are unlikely to be short, but SOME is essential. If food tasted of salt, you were using too much anyway. Salt stimulates the tastebuds, so you notice tastes more, but taste (apart from a few basic 'background' tastes) is smell, which is why food is tasteless when you have a cold. Salt. sweet, acid and bitter are true 'tastes', and more recently they have identified 2 more, one of which is the 'harsh' taste of very strong cheese, but anything else is really the smell.

[terrier]

Where do horses find salt in the wild? Anyway, horses are nosy and will try out all sorts of tastes to see if they like it. As you say HilaryB, there is natural salt in food, that stimulates the tastebuds and you taste the food better. Adding EXTA salt to food has the opposite effect and masks the taste of the food. People who put salt on their food to 'enhance' the flavour are fooling themselves. They have desensitised their ability to taste the natural flavours of the food by using salt, therefor, they need extra salt. What they now taste is salty, bland, food.

[Patsy]

My friends 32 yr old horse was not pooping as he should, vet advised adding plenty of salt to his feed as it would help his digestive system. Result! Horse started pooping properly again. My 28yr mare loves her natural stone salt lick and always has a good go at it after eating carrots and apples. No bodies told her to like salt ,horses usually just seek out what they know they need. (She loves meadow herb and thistle flowers too, absolutely fascinating to watch her carefully picking the prickly flowers and buds off before very gently chomping them!) Long distance riders give their horses electrolytes in their water to help their salt and mineral uptake after hard work. We all need some salt after we've sweated to replace what's been lost.

[frias]

Try telling any chef he can't use salt.