Feeding cat food to hens questions

Laffindog

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jun 26, 2008
95
2
39
Texas
Good morning!

Seems I remember reading somewhere that you can give your hens cat food sometimes to give them additional protein.....is that right? If so, and sorry if this is a stupid question, but canned cat food or dry? If it's dry cat food, what brand is good for them, as in the size of the actual morsel?

Thanks!
L
 
Don't feed any cat food that has chicken products in it. I feed hard cat food, sometimes soaked in water to moisten it but I only feed it on rare occasions. They say the added protein is good during a molt.
 
Ooooohh, during molting! I thought it was good for egg laying, too. But added protein during molting makes sense. Ok, then I won't make it a standard treat.

Thanks!
L
 
I feed cat food to mine when they are molting but crunch it up with a hammer before I feed it so the pieces are smaller.
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When we had our gang. I fed it to them dry every night. But we also had a lot of game breeds... ie. peafowl, game chickens, guineas, and pheasants. Dry, mixed in with other scraps. They loved it! Didnt do any sort of harm whatsoever. In fact, everyone commented about how big they were, how shiny thier feathers were..
 
I give it about once a week to 10 days as well. For 14 chickens, I just throw out a large handful into the run. I don't crunch it up, and do not soak it; mine gobble it right down. Heck, I've seen chickens at a MOUSE....a piece of catfood kibble isn't going to be hard to swallow!
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I do feed it more often when they are molting; handful every other day.
 
Ok and thanks for everyone's replies.

The reason I asked this question in the first place is because we got a free can of cat food in the dry food bag and I don't want to get the cat started on wet food at all. After I asked the question this morning, I mixed the canned stuff with some carrot shavings and took it out to them and they devoured it on the spot without thinking twice. I think I'll buy a bag of cheaper dry cat food and throw it out occasionally, like some of you have said. The stuff we get now for the cat is too expensive and my husband would throw a fit if I gave it to the birds. He thinks I spoil them as it is now.

Anyway, thanks for your replies, everyone! Have a good one!
L
 

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