Cat Food For Chickens

[Chicklette 1]

My chickens LOVE canned cat food. Is there any harm in giving it to them as a treat a couple times a week?? I usually mix it in with some warm oatmeal or bread.

 

[Judy]

You should not feed cat food to chickens. Read the entry at the bottom of the BYC treats chart.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[Chicklette 1]

Thank you so much for your reply.........I have printed out the list and refer to it for food all the time but never went down far enough to read about the cat food. OMG, to think I might be poisoning my chickens!! I will leave the cat food to the cats from now on. It is a shame because they really loved it. I thought I read about using cat food on the forum from someones post. I never would have thought of using it myself. Thanks again.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote:
Since that statement is based only on the fact that cat food contains Methionine, then maybe they shouldn't be fed CHICKEN FEED either


http://www.lionsgrip.com/labels.html

INGREDIENTS:
Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Wheat Middlings, Dried Bakery Product, Hydrolyzed Poultry Feathers, Whole Pressed Safflower Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosaphate, Salt, L-Lysine, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Methionine Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Oxide, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Mineral Oil, Ehtylenediamine Dihydriodide, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

The fact that FORCE FEEDING large amounts can cause problems in cats in no way implies that TRACE amounts will harm other animals

Some studies have shown they can eat up to 2% Methionine in their TOTAL diet before it causes harmful effects, and 0.5-1% Methionine actually increases weight gains​

 

[PepsNick]

Quote:
Since that statement is based only on the fact that cat food contains Methionine, then maybe they shouldn't be fed CHICKEN FEED either


http://www.lionsgrip.com/labels.html

INGREDIENTS:
Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Wheat Middlings, Dried Bakery Product, Hydrolyzed Poultry Feathers, Whole Pressed Safflower Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosaphate, Salt, L-Lysine, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Methionine Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Oxide, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Mineral Oil, Ehtylenediamine Dihydriodide, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

The fact that FORCE FEEDING large amounts can cause problems in cats in no way implies that TRACE amounts will harm other animals

Some studies have shown they can eat up to 2% Methionine in their TOTAL diet before it causes harmful effects, and 0.5-1% Methionine actually increases weight ganes​

Agreed. Cat food is fed a lot.

 

[Chicklette 1]

Well, some different views on the cat food. It is interesting that Methionine is in the chicken feed. It would probably be good to know how much is in cat food as compared to chicken feed. I agree that some of the test results are really extremes as with testing for humans. Expiration dates are a good example. They are exaggerated to protect the manufacturer of the product. Well, I haven't given away the cat food yet but i would think twice now about amounts and frequency of using as a treat. Thank you all

 

[erthymom2]

my experiance with dry catfood and large fowl chickens has been a-ok. i mix it sparingly into their feed when they are in molt and the results have been that their feathers return fluffy healthy shiny quicker. no harmfull effects from my use of it BUT like anything else, use in small amounts until you get an idea how yours'react to it. my turkeys love it as a treat too.

 

[Chicklette 1]

I was talking about canned cat food........sorry if I've not clarified that.

 

[Luvroos]

Mine will eat dry dog food occassionally! I have not seen a significant change in anything pertaining to my chickens and am aware that feeding cat or dog food to birds is going to end with possible kidney failure. I learned this while working for an avian vet! We lost a Hyacinth macaw to a dog food diet for many years. We might be able to see beneficial circumstances in them but, the question here is do we really see on the inside? It could make a huge difference on the out while killing them on the in! Just my thought's!

 

[Chris09]

ddawn,

Methionine is in all chicken feed.....
Methionine is one of the two amino acids that is listed on every bag of poultry feed (the other is Lysine)
That chart seems to be outdated and misleading in more than one way.


GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein, min. 20.00%
Lysine, min. 1.00%
Methionine, min 0.40%
Crude Fat, min. 3.00%
Crude Fiber, max. 5.00%
Calcium, min. 3.00%
Calcium, max. 4.00%
Phosphorus, min. 0.90%
Salt, min. 0.30%
Salt, max. 0.80%

Grain Products, Processed Grain By-Products, Plant Protein Products,
Porcine Animal Protein Products, Forage Products, DL Methionine, Calcium Carbonate,
Calcium Phosphate, Salt, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide,
Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement,
Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite
(source of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium
Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine
Mononitrate, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Ethoxyquin (a preservative).

Here is another

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein, min. 20.00%
Lysine, min. 1.10%
Methionine, min 0.39%
Crude Fat, min. 3.50%
Crude Fiber, max. 4.00%
Calcium, min. 0.70%
Calcium, max. 1.20%
Phosphorus, min. 0.65%
Salt, min. 0.10%
Salt, max. 0.60%

Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Wheat Middlings, Porcine Meat Meal,
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Lysine, DL-Methionine,
Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Phosphate, Salt, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate,
Zinc Oxide, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3
Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K
Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine
Hydrochloride, Choline Chloride, d-Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic
Acid, Dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Brewers Dried Yeast.

And one more

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Lasalocid 90.7 g/ton
Crude Protein, min. 28.00%
Lysine, min. 1.60%
Methionine, min 0.55%
Crude Fat, min. 3.50%
Crude Fiber, max. 4.00%
Calcium, min. 1.00%
Calcium, max. 1.50%
Phosphorus, min. 0.90%
Salt, min. 0.10%
Salt, max. 0.60%

Ground Corn, Soybean Meal, Porcine Meat and Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings, Corn
Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, citric acid and rosemary extract), DLMethionine,
Lysine, Calcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate,
Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A
Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex
(source of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement,
Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Folic Acid, d-Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,
Thiamine Mononitrate.

Chris