[doganjo]

Methinks some people on this subject are rather pedantic

[Anke]

Methinks some people got on a very high horse and can't get off it....




This was a simple question that got answered by the first person replying....

[doganjo]

Methinks some people got on a very high horse and can't get off it....




This was a simple question that got answered by the first person replying....

  Indeed I did

[arobwk]

sardines are not an animal by-product. Where in the relevant legislation are they banned? and why?
They contain lots of good nutrition, including significant quantities of protein, calcium, and all the amino acids chickens need ...

My dogs LOVE their occasional sardine dinner.  Aldi and Lidl offer in sunflower oil for quite a few pennies less than the others (if one can find any left on their shelves !).  Feeding both of my 2 small dogs for about £0.32 a can (split between them !) is just brilliant:  they always seem very satisfied after scoffing their half-share of a sardine meal (which might be one of their 2 meals a day).   

[Perris]

as it happens there was a news item yesterday on the EU dumping the relevant legislation that bans mealworms
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/22/eu-to-lift-its-ban-on-feeding-animal-remains-to-domestic-livestock 

[Fleecewife]

As a pedant, I'm guessing now is the time to say that any change to EU legislation will be irrelevant to the UK until such time as our own legislators decide to change our legislation...

Nothing wrong with pedantry - keeps the world going round!  Well of course it doesn't but.....

May I also add that just because legislation changes to suit the whims of politicians doesn't mean I would want to eat or keep animals raised in the new conditions with lesser standards of care.  I don't think it's something to be excited about that the EU will now be feeding  and ground up dead animals to livestock.

[Anke]

May I also add that just because legislation changes to suit the whims of politicians doesn't mean I would want to eat or keep animals raised in the new conditions with lesser standards of care.  I don't think it's something to be excited about that the EU will now be feeding  and ground up dead animals to livestock.

Actually the UK is now one better than the EU, now we will be able to get the double dose from the US - not just fed growth hormones and AB's (and most likely undustrial food waste as well), but also washed in chlorine....


But this morning I saw one of my hens eating the leftovers from Quentin's (our cat) midnight hunts.... and she was mightily pleased with herself for spottting it before the others did, and I was pleased that I didn't have to move it out of the way... and yes it was very dead. So given the choice the hens will eat any kind of protein, alive or dead. My problem with feeding animal proetins to omnivores is not the principle, but the scale of industrial production.... but then I try not to eat chicken that hasn't run around my place.

[Fleecewife]

Hens love a dead mouse don't they.  They also catch baby frogs up to about 2" long, the one who caught it chased by the rest of the flock to grab the prized delicacy. Of course we also eat 'ground up dead animals' (mince and tatties), but I understand that the stuff reclaimed for animal feed is far from of a standard which could be used for human consumption, and contains some pretty dodgy bits and bobs, with a wide interpretation of 'meat'.
And yes, the chlorine - possibly acceptable in certain circumstances but it's what it's used to disguise that's disgusting. I had forgotten about growth hormones - could that have anything to do with the oversized specimens of humanity many of us are becoming 
I don't eat chicken at all, never buy it and we let our hens live out their days here in retirement. My reasoning isn't very logical in this instance 

[Perris]

I am right with you there Fleecewife: "the stuff reclaimed for animal feed" is the problem. Personally I don't want to feed my animals unspecified 'meat derivatives' or unspecified 'fish derivatives' (or indeed chicken that's eaten bits of pigs that are not fit for sale to humans, as per new EU law).

At the end of the day it is all about the quality of the foods in the human food chain, and knowing what animals in it have eaten. That's hard to do with processed animal feeds.

And mealworms only got caught up in all this because poultry were classified as livestock, and mealworms as PAP. Hopefully we will get some sense from legislators going forward.