Does Feeding My Chickens Meat Render Them Impermissible for Slaughter?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I own and raise some chickens. Chickens, by nature, are omnivores. In the colder winter, feeding them meat is recommended as they require more protein in the colder months.
Does this make their slaughter automatically non-zabiha since they are fed meat? Assume they are being fed zabiha meat scraps. What if it was non-zabiha meat that they’re being fed?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
It is impermissible to feed meat of any kind to chickens and cattle. It is a communal obligation to strive to stop and condemn such practices.
However, This does not render the meat itself impermissible and haram if properly slaughtered. If there are negative health implications, then eating such meat would be better to avoid, mainly if other alternatives are readily available.[Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
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Related:
Who Has to Perform the Ritual-Slaughter (Udhiya)?
Halal Meat Archives
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.