Can you feed dog food to chickens?

[sonew123]

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yup and they were not happy-picked out all their normal food and left the rest!

 

[sommrluv]

If you didn't do a change over gradual with the dog food (80/20, 60/40, than so on) with the dog food, filet mignon will give them the "barking rabbits".

You would too if you ate the same meal every day of your life for years!

Blue Seal owns Kent foods, so there is a rather WIDE range of dog food there, from total crap (I believe they make something called 'farm dog' that is mostly corn) to premium foods for working dogs. I feed my dogs Native Level 2 (from Kent foods), a dog food formulated for hunting dogs. (they have levels 1 thru 4, different levels of protein)

Just wanted to pop my 2 cents in that it's not all crap. I have 3 dogs, one with severe food allergies and I still make food part time for them, but full time is a lot. They have fabulous coats and high energy on this food.

 

[onecent]

i always give mine dog food, i get my feed from TSC, i buy the 50# retriever blue bag hi-pro it has small kibble, i also mix in scratch grains when the weather gets cold, and the layena pellets, and to top that off, a hand full of black oil sunflower seeds, and i give them greens & left overs too! they are all shiney & healthy, but i only give like a hand full of the dog food, i have 4 dogs to feed too

 

[shelleyd2008]

When I had my GR pup I fed him Eukanuba LB puppy formula. He could clear a room in a second!! The vet told me it was because the food was 'too' good. I switched him to Iams instead, and he quit being so 'aromatic'

Any chance your dogs were just getting too much of a good thing? Maybe try them on a lower quality food, and see how that works

 

[bibliophile birds]

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that's actually quite a good formula for dog food. think about what they would get in nature. if they killed a rabbit or something, they would eat it's stomach contents and get all that good nutrition from the fruits, veggies, and greens! we feed all grain-free because of allergies that one of the cats and one of the dogs have, but rice is a much better grain option than corn or soy.

 

[sonew123]

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he was on Eukanuba originally for a few months but he kept eating the chihuahua's Purina dog chow little bites. So I thought at 8 months old Im switching him over-he loved those little bites! now he is back on them and nooo toot-poofs

 

[McCord6]

When I had my chicks, I only went to 1 store for everything. Tractor supplies usually has everything we needed. Donkey feed, Hay, Dog Food, and Chick Starter. Even our local feed store has everything for each animal we HAD. Dont have Donkey anymore and dog killed chicks but I still have my Dogs and still get their food from the feed store (cheaper). While a BIG bag of dog food from pet stores and Walmart cost way over $20, I get an even bigger bag at the feed store for only $12, $15 if going to Tractor Supplies. That big bag of dog food has lasted me 2 months so far and still going but would need to buy more food next week. My friend has dogs, cats, and birds (not chickens) and she also gets all her feed at Tractor Supplies.

 

[thekla]

ok, I was searching the forum for info on dog food and found this thread, a friend who has had chicks for a while told me that he was giving his the Costco dog-food "Nutro-Nuggets" Lamb and Rice and that when he used it they laid a lot more double yolked eggs and seem to really like it. I bought some and use it as a treat and to boost protien intake in the winter especially - I won't use cat-food because of the taurine, but you still want to be careful not to overfeed any dog food since they all have some salt and you don't want to give them too much, but my chicks love it and they have been laying a LOT of EGGS and BIG eggs while others in the area say their numbers are low during the winter, so for now I'm gonna stay with it, it's only about $23 for 40 pounds and even with 70 chicks, it lasts at least a month (I give them about 2- 4cup scoops a day)

 

[Terri O]

Quote:
that's actually quite a good formula for dog food. think about what they would get in nature. if they killed a rabbit or something, they would eat it's stomach contents and get all that good nutrition from the fruits, veggies, and greens! we feed all grain-free because of allergies that one of the cats and one of the dogs have, but rice is a much better grain option than corn or soy.

THis is so true....unless you are feeding Purina One that is probably one of the lesser quality foods out there. The beauty of the high end foods is that you feed so much less. I use VF from my mill; (it is rather costly) I have herding dogs that are very active. THey each get a little less than a cup 2xday. The best part is that there is so much LESS to pick up fro the other end!
Terri O in WI with 7 dogs

 

[gsim]

As everyone else said, use as treat only , as for something to break monotony of their regular feed. One caution though: If you see either your roos or hens lifting up a leg to urinate, back off of the dog food!