Dog food for chickens.

[Lorli]

I was sent an extra bag of dog food from a mail order pet food service, and they don't want it back. Is it okay to give it to the chickens, mixed with their layer pellets and scratch food? Someone told me that it will make them aggressive and they might start eating their eggs, too.

Does anyone know if that is true?

 

[JanetMarie]

Research the source of ingredients in dog food, then make your decision if you really want to feed that to your chickens.

 

[tigger19687]

DONATE IT TO THE LOCAL SHELTER !!

Most will only take an un-opened bag.
What a great way to share !

I wouldn't feed to chickens unless it was emergency. But then again I don't have a dog

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Dog food, especially dog food that is not veterinarian is an elixir or tonic for chickens. Good dog food is almost the same as allowing your hens to free-range. Mix it into your laying pellets at 25% dog food to 75% chicken food by weight. I predict that after a few days that your hens will be greedily scarfing up the dog food before even looking at the lay pellets.

 

[RonP]

I would, and have given my girls dog rejected food as a treat. 10% or less of their daily intake. Same as cat food. They seem to really like it.

 

[tigger19687]

If you do feed it i would Not mix in with feed.
They will rummage around to get the dog food if they really like it. Then you will have feed all over and wasted if they don't clean it off the floor.

I tried once to give mine dried cat food, tiny handful and they looked at me like I was crazy

 

[HannaKessler]

My chickens love cat food. A lot of dog food is mostly grain anyway, and chickens are omnivores. I assume it isn't chicken flavor dog food...

 

[red horse ranch]

A lot of sites recommend giving cat food to chickens during molt because of the high protein in it. I always give my chickens leftover dog food as a treat but I don't mix it with their regular feed.

 

[theoldchick]

As long as the dog food is fresh and free of mold it is safe to feed as a treat.

 

[JaeG]

I'd be cautious about the sources of grain the the dog food. Another member on here commented that the grains in dog/cat food are grown to pull any residual insecticides out of cotton plantation land (when it gets to the point where cotton will no longer grow because the soil is so poisoned). Pet grade food doesn't have to be regulated like any human food chain food does.