My original hens 16mos are going through a molt now. They are looking kind of tacky with no real bald spots. Some days all will lay an egg and other days just about half of them are laying. I have been giving them raw fish scrapes about 2x a week but have been wondering if they could benefit from dry cat food also. Their diet now is laying crumbles (16%) eggs shells for calcium and as a treat fresh tomatoes and raw fish. If I feed the dry cat food how much should I use??
Quote:I use catfood for molting birds and give it to them as a treat at night. I actually stick it in a blend real fast to make it like crumbles ( Im always afraid they will choke if I dont ) Its a suppliment of type but fully-keep their regular food available at all times and then just add this to their food
I've never fed my chickens cat food.I would think the cat food was formulated for cats not chickens.I would stick with your original plan you might give them something green to go with their diet.
As 7 L Farm says, cat food is for cats. Our Chickens Free Range, but also get fresh Lucerne from time to time if we have it available. I have also heard of people giving their chickens fresh Spinach.
When our chickens go into a molt, I switch their fed to the boiler mix and their scratch to more black sunflower seeds then corn.
I agree cat food shouldn't be given to your chickens, when in molt feed a conditioner feed which is higher in protien and other vit/min that will help them recover. I also add plenty of boss and white millets as it really helps them look fantastic when the molt is said and done.
If you're already feeding fish I don't see any need to also feed the catfood. They can benefit from some extra protein during molting, but you don't want to go crazy with it.
A.T. Hagan : If you're already feeding fish I don't see any need to also feed the catfood. They can benefit from some extra protein during molting, but you don't want to go crazy with it. And very true.............. eccess protien can have some minor ill effects as your birds probably aren't used to such a diet as for instance some other breeds that require it. Regular Ole hatchey backyard birds will not benifit from such a diet of protein.
You don't even think as a treat its a good idea-there was a huge thread on here about it last year and that's where I got the idea to give some as treats- when alot of my girls were molting. Just a smidge one cup ground up in their food for 30 hens a day--you think that's too much?-I do give Boss and lots of greens It only happens 2x a year for 2 weeks at a time-ish
Gail Damerow says it's a good idea to throw a handful of dry catfood into the breeder pen every other day. This is main a vitamin/protein booster. I imagine it's cheap and I'd trust her experience on its effectiveness. But she's talking about doing this for about 2 weeks or so (from memory) before collecting eggs for setting. Longer term it may be a no-no. And I gather cat food is quite high in salt. So I sort of disagree with others, but sort of agree... If that helps. Erica
