Cold weather treat suggestions....

[Hwlchickmama]

I noticed my girls are trying to eat feathers (again

) it is CRAZY cold here in nj any high protein suggestions?? Can only make so much cottage cheese n ground beef b4 I wana

 

[sjpicard]

I give mine a treat of dried meal worms. I bought them for bluebirds, but have had no luck in attracting them. At first my hens are pretty suspicious, but they love em!

 

[Hwlchickmama]

OMG your girls didn't like them?!?!?!? We call them chicken crack my girls go NUTS for em they know where we keep the jar n they line up for em!!!!

 

[Chris09]

It's not just the amount of protein but also the type of protein.
If there eating the feathers it is most likely a lack of animal proteins. You could give them tuna fish, liver, bil-jac dog food (the frozen type), floating fish pellet, (like the fish chow they sell at TSC) or feed them a good game bird feed that has animal proteins in it.

You may want to also dust them with a good poultry dust, they could have mites or lice.


Chris

 

[Hwlchickmama]

Dog food??? Some one told me noooo dog food b/c it has something in it that they shouldn't have but use cat food (which they refused to eat n attracted feral cats) n they have dust I was thinking the same thing so I've been checking and there's no evidence of bugs

 

[Mortey]

My girls love warm oatmeal! Great treat for those frost mornings

 

[Rickjenkins47]

I saved scraps from a deer I harvested this year and ground them making meatballs which I froze and give to the girls each week. I also saved the bones which I froze and give them a frozen bone or meatball each week to pick on as it defrosts. I also try to visit local dollar stores and am able to pick up expired cans of mackrel, green veggies and expired eggs which I scramble (shells and all) and feed to the girls. They love the treats!!

 

[Mygirls20]

Crickets You can buy them from most pet stores. Mine went insane for live crickets. My girls love live or dried mealworms sometimes live is the way to go the def like the live ones better. Hope this helps. I have also heard of feeding them earth worms but have never tried it myself yet.

 

[mo puff]

I didnt know about the cottage cheese as a treat! Seems I am the only one that didnt know... but my birds are getting some today! mixed with fish pellets! Thank you .. all , who clued me in. My chickens thank you too.

 

[EpicBlueAcres]

I just learned how to make my own bread and was thinking about making every other loaf for the chickens (adding in different seeds and such) is bread helpful for there diet or am i going to waste my time making just a filler food?