I am needing to add more protein to my chickens diet my ? is

[CherishHolland]

I noticed that there is some feather eating going on I cooked some pinto beans in the crock pot they are cooled my question is do I need to mash them up since my girls and roo are 6-7 weeks old, or can I feed them the beans whole?

 

[DomesticGoddess]

If your all organic you won't like this and I'm sure others will disagree with me but...It's what I do and it works for our chickens. We mix our layer feed with a bag of dry cat food, chickens love it and it gives them the extra protein they need, expectually in the winter months. I was told do this from a friend of mine who runs an animal rescue, she has 18 chickens and getting 18 eggs each day. Good luck!

 

[CherishHolland]

Here is what I decided to do since I don't have cat food on hand I went ahead rinsed the beans did a crude mash to where there were still some whole beans left and topped it with some chicken crack or dried mealworms as some call it but I refer to it as crack for chickens.

because when they see the box they stampede towards me and start jumping and chattering before I can even get the lid off. Hopefully this dish I concocted for them will help with the feather eating.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If they are eating shed feathers this is not unusual and not necessarily an indication the birds are short on protein.

What is the protein percentage of the starter feed you are using and what are the major ingredients? Are you feeding supplemental feeds or treats?

 

[Eggcessive]

Raw ground hamburger meat and liver are great for increasing your protein, as well as the suggestion for cat food. Most people have leftover meat, and as long as it is not very salty, you can just grind it up and toss it out to them. Out dated milk, buttermilk, and cottage cheese are other alternatives.