goat milk been giving to chickens but figured i should ask if i should continue

[lindy]

I am milking my does and do not drink much milk and havent had time to figure out how to make cheese. My dogs get milk every few days and so does the farm cats but is it ok for my hens.

I am mixing it in there feed once a week but would like to feed more. They still eat oyster shells like crazy and some have extra calcium spots on the eggs but others are thinner. Will the milk mess up anything? I buy the feed semi-locally its a corn-soy and gmo free that i really like but it has powder in it so i always add a bit of water to it daily. I have 18 birds and feed 3-4 quarts of feed a day plus free ranging 4 days a week.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Used to be that chickens were given milk daily back in the day on a general purpose farm. I personally would feel comfortable offering some daily. I'm not sure if I would mix it into the feed. I would consider it as a treat, and a boost of protein.

 

[NatJ]

I am milking my does and do not drink much milk and havent had time to figure out how to make cheese. My dogs get milk every few days and so does the farm cats but is it ok for my hens.

I am mixing it in there feed once a week but would like to feed more. They still eat oyster shells like crazy and some have extra calcium spots on the eggs but others are thinner. Will the milk mess up anything? I buy the feed semi-locally its a corn-soy and gmo free that i really like but it has powder in it so i always add a bit of water to it daily. I have 18 birds and feed 3-4 quarts of feed a day plus free ranging 4 days a week.

I have read of chickens being offered milk free-choice in a dish (source: a book published about a century ago.)

Maybe mix milk into some feed, and water into other feed, and give the chickens a choice? If you do it half each way, you can watch which one they eat first or most, and adjust the amount on later days. If they all choose to eat the feed with milk, it is probably fine to keep doing it, unless you see some kind of problem.

I am mixing it in there feed once a week but would like to feed more. They still eat oyster shells like crazy and some have extra calcium spots on the eggs but others are thinner. Will the milk mess up anything?

Milk is a good source of calcium for people, but it has nowhere near the calcium level that a laying hen needs. It is good that your hens still have access to the oyster shell, and they obviously do know to eat it when they need it.

Milk is a pretty good source of protein, although of course that protein is spread out in a large amount of liquid.

When people worry about feeding milk to chickens, they are usually concerned about the lactose.
Scientific studies have found that lactose can cause diarrhea and other problems in chickens, when it goes above a certain level per day.
I believe they could not get the hens to eat that level of lactose if the hens were given any choice about what to eat, but I am having trouble finding the study I remember. Instead, I keep finding ones that show hens can benefit from lactose up to (some percent) of their feed.

I would say, giving the hens an option (feed with milk vs. feed with water) would be a fairly easy safeguard, at least until you learn whether they can eat just the feed with milk and not have problems.

If you do not see any problems, then it is probably fine. If you do see problems (especially diarrhea), reduce the amount of milk (less often, or less at a time, or more options for other feeds.)

 

[lindy]

I have read of chickens being offered milk free-choice in a dish (source: a book published about a century ago.)

Maybe mix milk into some feed, and water into other feed, and give the chickens a choice? If you do it half each way, you can watch which one they eat first or most, and adjust the amount on later days. If they all choose to eat the feed with milk, it is probably fine to keep doing it, unless you see some kind of problem.


Milk is a good source of calcium for people, but it has nowhere near the calcium level that a laying hen needs. It is good that your hens still have access to the oyster shell, and they obviously do know to eat it when they need it.

Milk is a pretty good source of protein, although of course that protein is spread out in a large amount of liquid.

When people worry about feeding milk to chickens, they are usually concerned about the lactose.
Scientific studies have found that lactose can cause diarrhea and other problems in chickens, when it goes above a certain level per day.
I believe they could not get the hens to eat that level of lactose if the hens were given any choice about what to eat, but I am having trouble finding the study I remember. Instead, I keep finding ones that show hens can benefit from lactose up to (some percent) of their feed.

I would say, giving the hens an option (feed with milk vs. feed with water) would be a fairly easy safeguard, at least until you learn whether they can eat just the feed with milk and not have problems.

If you do not see any problems, then it is probably fine. If you do see problems (especially diarrhea), reduce the amount of milk (less often, or less at a time, or more options for other feeds.)

ok, thank you. the barn cats get very little because i dont want them having digest issues. but if given a choice im sure they would drink a whole quart.
here is the feed_
wheat, peas, camelina meal, sun dried alfalfa, fish meal, crab meal, plus vit, minerals and digestion enzymes.
17% protein, cal 4.5-5.6

 

[NatJ]

ok, thank you. the barn cats get very little because i dont want them having digest issues. but if given a choice im sure they would drink a whole quart.
here is the feed_
wheat, peas, camelina meal, sun dried alfalfa, fish meal, crab meal, plus vit, minerals and digestion enzymes.
17% protein, cal 4.5-5.6

I would think that milk with that feed would be fine, up to some level (but I don't know what level.)

One option is to give them a little milk each day, and every few days you increase the amount by a little bit, and if you see problems you back off.

Or, as I suggested before, let them have a choice about milk vs. no milk. Chickens are usually good at making reasonable choices (for example, if something would make them sick, they will typically avoid it as long as they have other options.)

 

[lindy]

you mean when they drink out of a nasty puddle compared to a clean bucket? haha

 

[NatJ]

you mean when they drink out of a nasty puddle compared to a clean bucket? haha

But I don't typically see chickens getting sick or dying from doing that, so maybe they are correct about it being safe for them to drink

And even with the common example of chickens eating styrofoam, it may not be providing useful nutrients, but it is "safe" in the sense that it does not seem to cause the chickens any trouble. But there are plenty of people reporting that their free-ranging chickens ignore the toxic plants and eat the safe ones.

That is why I think they will probably avoid the milk IF it causes them problems, assuming they have other options.

 

[SourRoses]

When we give them milk (not very often, usually if what's in the fridge is close to expiring or we end up with too much because of someone's confusing shopping lists) we just pour it straight into a separate bowl and they drink it up with joy and bickering, bickering and joy. The eldest, bossiest lady gets half of it, with no ill effects. That's whole cows milk, not sure if goat milk would be any different.

 

[Penpal]

I occasionally feed mine kefir. I am planning on feeding my 3 week old Freedom Ranger chicks kefir every day. It is better for them than milk because it has 32 +/- good things including live probiotics. They love it. It is super easy to make. You get the "grains" from someone and put them into a jar of milk. You just keep taking out kefir and adding more milk.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

One of our other members went to some trouble to locate some old time feed recipes, they are found in this thread. As you will see, feeding the whey left over from cheese making was popular in preparing a mash - its almost entirely water, but what isn't water is some water soluble vitamins, some minerals, and a tiny amount of protein.

There is some study suggesting whole milk in significant quantity may be a problem for chickens but I've not read them closely and don't recall enough of the details to feel confident opining - my goats don't produce enough milk that we have any to use - it all goes to their kids.