Kitchen Scraps and Farm Animals: Why the Answer Is Usually No

Don't feed kitchen scraps to pigs, poultry, goats, sheep or cattle. In the UK it's illegal to feed catering waste or kitchen scraps to farmed animals, including pets and including vegetarian or vegan food from a kitchen, and EU rules ban it too. Australia bans feeding pigs anything that has touched meat, and the US regulates it state by state. The reason is disease.

Peelings go in the compost, not the run.

The kitchen-scraps rules in brief.

Kitchen scraps rules at a glance
UK	Illegal for all farmed animals, pets included
EU	Catering waste banned for farmed animals
Australia	Swill (meat or meat-contact food) banned for all pigs
US	State by state; garbage feeding to pigs needs a license where allowed
New Zealand	Meat-containing waste must be heat-treated for pigs
Why	Food waste can spread serious animal diseases

Why It Matters

Some of the most damaging livestock diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever, can survive in meat and other foods and spread to animals that eat them. Feeding food waste to farm animals is a well-known way for these diseases to reach new places. That's why many countries ban or tightly control it, and why the rules cover pets of farm species too: a disease doesn't care whether a pig is a pet.

The Law: Rules Differ by Country

The general rule: don't feed kitchen scraps to farm animals. Here's how it works in the main English-speaking countries.

United Kingdom: it is illegal to feed catering waste, kitchen scraps, meat or meat products to farmed animals, and farmed animals include those kept only as pets. The ban covers household kitchens and vegetarian or vegan kitchens too. See APHA's warning and keeping a pet pig on gov.uk.
European Union: catering waste may not be fed to farmed animals.
United States: under the federal Swine Health Protection Act, anyone feeding pigs "garbage" (food that contains or has touched meat) needs a license and must cook it, and each state decides whether to allow it at all. Ask your state department of agriculture, which also covers rules for other species.
Australia: it is illegal to feed pigs meat, meat products or food that has been in contact with meat, and that includes pet pigs (your state or territory agriculture department).
New Zealand: food waste that contains or has touched meat must be heat-treated before it goes to pigs (Ministry for Primary Industries), and the rules have been under review.
Canada and Ireland: ask CFIA and your province, or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Rules change, so check with your national authority.

What Counts as Kitchen Scraps?

In the UK, the rule is broad. It covers:

leftovers and plate scrapings;
vegetable peelings and fruit that have been through a kitchen;
bread, cakes and other food from a household or restaurant kitchen;
used cooking oil;
food from vegetarian and vegan kitchens, not just kitchens that handle meat.

Some former foodstuffs from factories and shops can be fed to farm animals under strict controls, but that's a licensed route for businesses, not kitchen leftovers. If you're unsure whether something is allowed, ask APHA in Great Britain or your national authority elsewhere.

What to Feed Instead

Pigs: a complete pig feed, measured, plus grazing (see pet pig daily care).
Poultry: a complete poultry feed for their age, grit, oyster shell and treats sold for poultry (see chicken feed by age).
Goats and sheep: browse, grazing and hay, with species-specific minerals (see goat care basics).

Kitchen peelings are still useful: compost them, or ask your council about food-waste collection.

Medicated feeds, supplements and treatments: see your vet or a pet supply store with trained staff. They can tell you what suits your animals and what the rules allow where you live.

Feed and Food-Waste Kit

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Complete feeds for pigs and poultry replace scraps properly. A metal feed bin keeps feed dry and rat-free, and a kitchen caddy and compost bin give peelings somewhere useful to go instead of the run or the sty.

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions people ask about scraps.

Can I give my pet hens vegetable peelings?

Not in the UK, where feeding kitchen scraps to poultry is illegal even for pets and even for vegetable peelings that have been through a kitchen. EU rules also ban catering waste. Elsewhere, check your national rules.

My pig is a pet. Does the ban still apply?

Yes, in the UK, the EU and Australia the rules cover pet pigs. In the US, rules on food waste for pigs are set state by state.

Why is vegan food included in the UK?

Because kitchens and the food in them can carry disease, and it's hard to be sure nothing has touched animal products. UK guidance bans catering waste from vegetarian and vegan kitchens too.

What's the harm in a few leftovers?

Food waste is a known route for serious livestock diseases such as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, which can devastate animals far beyond your own.

What should I do with peelings instead?

Compost them or use your council's food-waste collection. Feed your animals a complete feed made for their species.