cat food for chicks

[vodkalady]

so i see some say cat food is good for chicks and some say not...help

 

[Judy]

I would not give them any. Read the message about cat food at the very bottom of the BYC treats chart, here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

 

[vodkalady]

great...thanks...bookmarked the list for everyday reference...i have not fed them cat food and now i will not except for moulting season...thanks again for the help

 

[Percheron chick]

Feeding cat food as a high protein treat to help feather production is not going to be harmful. The BYC treat list is great but the warning on cat food is a little over the top. You would have to feed cat food as the sole feed for 3 weeks to hit those thresholds. You are going to end up with other issues if cat food is the only thing your chickens are consuming. You wouldn't feed your dog an entire diet of cat food, why would you feed your chicken that?

 

[dandrews1971]

We fed it to ours for a little bit last year, they were about 8 weeks or so. We ground it up well & mixed it in with their regular feed. They ate it fine & had no issues with it. I would never use it as a sole source but our cats didn't like that particular brand so we made use of it.