Smoked bacon rind

[Sacha]

Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

[Mike Coon]

"Sacha" wrote in message news:bkeuhm...@mid.individual.net...

> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!

I shouldn't think it is addictive!

Mike.

[Sacha]

;-) Could always try them with some Nicotiana plants first!

[Spider]

On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!

I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to risk
it. Sorry.

--
Spider.
Love birds - wish I knew more.

[Sacha]

On 2014-01-24 23:08:05 +0000, Spider said:

> On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
>> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
>> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
>
>
>
> I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to
> risk it. Sorry.

But the green back rind is okay, do you think? I was under the
impression that people always cut up rind for the birds! Perhaps I
should stop.

[Mike Coon]

"Sacha" wrote in message news:bkhi33...@mid.individual.net...

> But the green back rind is okay, do you think? I was under the impression
> that people always cut up rind for the birds! Perhaps I should stop.

I prefer to cut up everything into robin-sized pieces. Otherwise something
larger, e.g. magpie, might carry away a large part of the offering in one
go!

Same principle in scattering peanuts for badgers; that way they have to
forage for their freebies, and several get to eat at once. (And guest
watchers in our hides - see http://binfieldbadgers.org.uk/ - get a better
view...)

Mike.

[Gordon H]

On 24/01/2014 23:08, Spider wrote:
> On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
>> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
>> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
>
>
>
> I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to risk
> it. Sorry.
>

I like bacon, but smoked bacon is too salty for me, so I can't see it
being safe for birds.

--
Gordon H

Remove Invalid to reply

[Gordon H]

On 25/01/2014 07:21, Malcolm wrote:
>
> In article <bkga2n...@mid.individual.net>, Spider
> <spi...@invalid.com> writes

>> On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
>>> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
>>> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
>>
>>
>>
>> I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to
>> risk it. Sorry.
>>

> If birds eat salt food or drink salt water, it won't hurt them. They
> will excrete any surplus.
>
Tha6t surprises me Malcom, I have read that salt is 'poisonous' for birds.

[Gordon H]

On 25/01/2014 11:06, Malcolm wrote:
>
> In article <pEMEu.12309$Dj6....@fx29.fr7>, Gordon H
> <Gor...@g3snx.demon.co.invalid> writes

> Well, an awful lot of birds manage to survive without being poisoned,
> e.g. all seabirds, many wildfowl, gulls, etc., etc.
>

:-)

[Alf King]

All bacon is salted, that's why it is bacon.

Most supermarket smoked bacon isn't actually smoked in the traditional
way but treated to give it a smoked flavour. If its not doing you any
harm then it is unlikely to harm the birds either.

Alf King

[Sacha]

On 2014-01-25 11:06:28 +0000, Malcolm said:

> In article <pEMEu.12309$Dj6....@fx29.fr7>, Gordon H
> <Gor...@g3snx.demon.co.invalid> writes

> Well, an awful lot of birds manage to survive without being poisoned,
> e.g. all seabirds, many wildfowl, gulls, etc., etc.

But isn't that because their livers are particularly adapted to deal with salt?

[Sacha]

I don't buy any meat from a supermarket. All our meat, including bacon
comes from a butcher in Ashburton, Devon. I'll ask where the bacon is
smoked, over what and how but I'll probably choose a quiet moment in a
busy and popular shop to do that!

[Alf King]

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 23:23:29 +0000, Sacha <not...@landscovedevon.com>
wrote:

My misunderstanding. If it is a "proper" butchers then it may well be
traditionally smoked. The easiest way to tell is by looking at the
price.

:)

Alf King

[Spider]

On 25/01/2014 07:21, Malcolm wrote:
>
> In article <bkga2n...@mid.individual.net>, Spider
> <spi...@invalid.com> writes

>> On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
>>> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
>>> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
>>
>>
>>
>> I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to
>> risk it. Sorry.
>>

> If birds eat salt food or drink salt water, it won't hurt them. They
> will excrete any surplus.
>

Oh! That surprises me, but helps Sacha. We learn something new every
day. Noted and thanks.

[Spider]

On 25/01/2014 10:30, Sacha wrote:
> On 2014-01-24 23:08:05 +0000, Spider said:
>
>> On 24/01/2014 10:45, Sacha wrote:
>>> Is it safe to give smoked bacon rind to birds? I always put out snipped
>>> up bits of green bacon rind but am unsure about the smoked variety!
>>
>>
>>
>> I would have thought it was too salty for them. I wouldn't want to
>> risk it. Sorry.
>
> But the green back rind is okay, do you think? I was under the
> impression that people always cut up rind for the birds! Perhaps I
> should stop.

I've put out unsmoked bacon rind in the past, but have never done so
with smoked bacon. As you now know, Malcolm believes *some* salt is
safe enough. Have a go.

[Spider]

On 25/01/2014 10:44, Mike Coon wrote:
> "Sacha" wrote in message news:bkhi33...@mid.individual.net...
>> But the green back rind is okay, do you think? I was under the
>> impression that people always cut up rind for the birds! Perhaps I
>> should stop.
>
> I prefer to cut up everything into robin-sized pieces.

Isn't that quite large for tiny birds to eat? Even I wouldn't want to
swallow a robin! ;~).

Otherwise
> something larger, e.g. magpie, might carry away a large part of the
> offering in one go!
>
> Same principle in scattering peanuts for badgers; that way they have to
> forage for their freebies, and several get to eat at once. (And guest
> watchers in our hides - see http://binfieldbadgers.org.uk/ - get a
> better view...)
>
> Mike.

[Sacha]

On 2014-01-26 07:29:50 +0000, Malcolm said:

> In article <bkiv7c...@mid.individual.net>, Sacha
> <not...@landscovedevon.com> writes

> Kidneys, actually. And seabirds also have a salt gland, the nasal
> gland, which discharges excess salt through the nostrils.
>
> If you fed the birds at your birdtable a very salty diet AND didn't
> provide fresh drinking water, then it wouldn't do them a lot of good IF
> they ate nothing else over a period. That is very unlikely and, as I've
> said, bits of bacon, including rinds, will be OK in a mixed diet.

With 3 ponds and a granite water trough, there's plenty of water
available! The rind is a rare treat for them, so it doesn't sound as if
it's going to do any great harm.

[Sacha]

Yes, I did and it seems to have gone down well! We have a flat
cardboard box on the table near the till in the biggest greenhouse.
That's always got some crumbs and bird seed in it, and the birds are
astonishiingly tame about feeding from it. I put the rind in there and
it's almost all gone.

[Sacha]

Ahem. Yes. I really should do that! I'll have a look when I go in on
Wednesday! The butcher knows all the farmers he deals with and is
related to many of them, I think! They also have their own abbatoir a
bit outside town so it really is a sort of 'field to fork' operation.

[Spider]

Lovely! They need all the help they can get. I often put out spare raw
pastry - that doesn't hang about!

[Alf King]

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 23:23:29 +0000, Sacha <not...@landscovedevon.com>
wrote:

[Sacha]

Never thought of that! Good idea.