Buckeye Breed Thread

[taylynnp]

So I'm on page 216 of this wonderful thread. Thanks, Laura, for pointing it out.

I have 5 week olds. The starter feed I am using is fish meal based at 21 per cent protein. I haven't found a turkey or game bird starter locally that I can use. So I've been trying to supplement with dried meal worms which are 43 per cent protein. I say trying because there's no method to it other than sprinkling some worms and grit over their feed. Does anyone have a more precise way to do it so I'm close to 30 per cent which I believe is the goal from reading previous posts?

Any input would be welcomed. Maybe there are cons to trying to boost the protein in this manner?

Also how old do they need to be before considering to supplement with cat food?

 

[JoshU]

I would never feed chickens cat or dog food. Way to much sodium and too much junk in there. It says not for human consumption right on the bag. And I eat my eggs and meat.

 

[Pathfinders]

So I'm on page 216 of this wonderful thread. Thanks, Laura, for pointing it out.

I have 5 week olds. The starter feed I am using is fish meal based at 21 per cent protein. I haven't found a turkey or game bird starter locally that I can use. So I've been trying to supplement with dried meal worms which are 43 per cent protein. I say trying because there's no method to it other than sprinkling some worms and grit over their feed. Does anyone have a more precise way to do it so I'm close to 30 per cent which I believe is the goal from reading previous posts?

Any input would be welcomed. Maybe there are cons to trying to boost the protein in this manner?

Also how old do they need to be before considering to supplement with cat food?

I think the goal is an approximate one, as obviously in nature, there are no absolutes. One day a "wild" chicken would eat perhaps a 20% diet, another a 40% diet, or whatever. So I think sprinkling is likely just fine.

And I want to clarify the cat food thing, as at some point what I might have said might have been misinterpreted (I honestly don't remember what I originally said or where, and I have been raked over the coals about it elsewhere at quite some length.)

I feed my adult chickens a non-chicken based, dry cat food as a treat only. Yes, it is commercially made. However, you can (and sometimes I do) buy expensive, organic, super-premium cat food at the health food store that doesn't have a lot of cr*p in it that would stress your chickens kidneys, which is what I got a lot of flack about at one point.

But I never give my birds so much of it that it's an issue anyway. I figure they get about a handful, not even a cup per about 30 birds. The goal is to provide animal proteins for them. Not soy, which is a less than ideal thing (IMO) for any animal, at least in the amounts that is present in most commercial chicken feeds. And GMO soy is even worse.

If I had the time and wherewithal, I would be growing my own feed for my birds. I'd formulate it myself, using whole, organic, non-GMO grains. I'd add in some animal protein from grass-fed sourced animals. Offal from slaughtered cattle I raised myself for example, something like that. But I can't do that right now, not in the picture. So instead I use the best quality feed I can, and give my birds some small amounts of good quality, fish-based cat food as treats. It improves feather quality, and keeps them healthy.

And bear in mind, this was a tip given to me by one of my mentors, who has been breeding chickens for more than fifty years. I figure he knows more than someone like me, who has only been doing it for about ten years or so. So I listen to him, and generally ignore the flack I get from other corners. It has worked very well for me since I've been doing it, and I've seen no harm whatsoever come to my birds in all that time.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

 

[angiep666]

I have seen rattlesnakes in New York and Pennsylvania, copperheads in Missouri, have any Ohio residents seen any poisonous snakes?

I had a rattlesnake in NE Ohio. The extension officer that identified it for me said that snakes will hitch a ride from their natural habitat on the frames of cars and RVs.

 

[el pollo rey]

I have seen rattlesnakes in New York and Pennsylvania, copperheads in Missouri, have any Ohio residents seen any poisonous snakes?

. Sure from copper heads to timber rattlers yes rattle snakes in Ohio ky tn wv pa and so on

 

[cgmccary]

I would never feed chickens cat or dog food. Way to much sodium and too much junk in there. It says not for human consumption right on the bag. And I eat my eggs and meat.

I am sure that chicken feed and all the other things chickens eat on free range are not anything I'd eat myself & chicken feed is not fit for human consumption either. Does anyone think humans should consume chicken feed? I don't eat any of my animals' food. I saw a Buckeye hen running with a small snake in her mouth the other day. I am sure she ate it. I wouldn't eat it.

Years ago, I had someone, better in math than myself, compute the amount of sodium in cat and dog foods and what a chicken could rid its body of according to what has been written in some scientific journals & concluded that the amount of sodium in such foods (and what they are capable of consuming) was no danger to chickens. I keep reading about the the "way too much sodium" thing but as far as I am concerned, it is a myth propagated and repeated ad nauseum on poultry and group websites.

I have been treating my chickens to dry dog food for years. It started with them stealing the dogs food while the dogs were eating (so I gave the chickens a bowl so they would leave the dogs alone). I have groups of hens 5, 6 & 7 years old who are healthy & still laying well for their age so it doesn't seemed to have harmed them. My chickens also consume the treats the cows and donkey drop (their sweet feed, alfalfa & oats) and hang out dangerously under the big animals competing for the drops.

My chickens also stay in the compost pile all day. I wouldn't eat out of the compost pile either.

I wouldn't make other animal foods the basis of my chickens diet, but my Buckeyes particularly are real pigs -- i.e. they seem to enjoy eating everything and anything. The important thing is that they free range and are not consuming one thing, whether their feed, the cows sweet feed, the dogs' food, the snakes, etc., as their sole food.

 

[Canieldonrad]

Well sodium is a pretty vital nutrient, and if your birds range they likely don't get a significant amount outside of their feed. Sodium is used for several body functions and a chicken's body functions at a faster, more active rate than a human's. I would be willing to say if you are afraid you are giving too much you may not be giving enough.

It has been suggested that humans (I may be making a mistake by saying this) evolved(or maybe we were designed this way) to require less sodium as early humans had little access to large quantities of sodium. Which is why we have problems with relatively small amounts in present day.

 

[JoshU]

You all can put whatever you want in your chickens. I have been to a dog food factory and don't want any of the chemical or sodium in my food. Interesting how some Ppl will rant about no GMO or chemicals or hormones in their food but will promote adding dog and cat food in their diet. Its your food so do whatever you like. I stand by my stance on keeping my birds diet completely natural. Including snakes mice bugs and whatever else they find naturally. But my dog and cat food is kept out of their reach. To each their own.

 

[knittychickadee]

You all can put whatever you want in your chickens. I have been to a dog food factory and don't want any of the chemical or sodium in my food. Interesting how some Ppl will rant about no GMO or chemicals or hormones in their food but will promote adding dog and cat food in their diet. Its your food so do whatever you like. I stand by my stance on keeping my birds diet completely natural. Including snakes mice bugs and whatever else they find naturally. But my dog and cat food is kept out of their reach. To each their own.

What is the exact ingredient on the list of ingredients in dog/cat food that you don't want to feed?

 

[Canieldonrad]

What is the exact ingredient on the list of ingredients in dog/cat food that you don't want to feed?

Id dare say he is refering to things like Sodium Nitrite. The stuff that keeps meat red after processing. As well as various other preservatives for flavor, smell, etc. I honestly have never fed something to my birds other than bagged poultry feed and fruits/vegetables. But I don't see a can of unhealthy deliciousness as an out of the ordinary treat once a month or something to that effect. I definitely wouldn't give it regularly because of the lack of necessity. But its like going out and ordering a Whopper, or eating a hot dog at a baseball game. You don't have to eat a burger or a hot dog(you certainly shouldn't live on them), but boy are they nice to have.