Feeding Chickens That Are going Through Molt

[Mr chicken dude]

My 2 year old Bantams are going through a molt right now so I've heard you can throw a handful of cat food in the coop for extra protein but I don't have a cat but I do have a bag of 20% Starter/Grower for the eggs under my broody but I was wondering if I could put a handful of that in their to help them out a bit???

Thanks,Collin

 

[dawnchick]

Some people do. Dog and cat food are not the best for chickens, wrong nutritional balance, but some do anyway. They would probably benefit from added protein to grow feathers, but there are better sources, like black oil sunflower seed or just plain old meat, eggs, etc. as for people. Try to limit the sodium if you use people food (go easy on cheese, cured meats, etc.) I can buy a big can of canned mackerel for about $1. Some types of liver are inexpensive if you can stand the smell of them cooking. Of course you could feed them raw if you can stand to. If you go fishing, especially if you catch some you don't want to eat, you can feed them; they love them, whole. Whatever meat/protein source you have around.