Molting, Bare Skin, and Below Zero Weather in the Next Few Days

[JoannePeterson]

Mine eat cat food - but if you read the ingredients on a can of cat food it isn't a very high protein % (I was surprised).

Oh, I didn't know that! I will remember this about cat food.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oh, I didn't know that! I will remember this about cat food.

Maybe I am reading the label wrong - I was certainly surprised.
But anyway, with the cost of some cat foods, it is often cheaper to give the chickens a cheap cut of meat to boost protein

 

[JoannePeterson]

Maybe I am reading the label wrong - I was certainly surprised.
But anyway, with the cost of some cat foods, it is often cheaper to give the chickens a cheap cut of meat to boost protein

I never thought about it, but was surprised when you posted protein being low in cat food since by nature they are meat eaters. You ARE reading the label correctly. I googled protein in cat food, and when I picked out a few sites and types of cat food, protein was listed anywhere from 9.5% to 4% crude protein. The only one I saw with a higher protein content was a dry cat food by Blue Buffalo @ 38% on Chewy's site. And it was very expensive, which didn't surprise me. And yeah, the regular cat food is expensive. Thank you for the tip!

 

[Apis mellifera]

The only one I saw with a higher protein content was a dry cat food by Blue Buffalo @ 38% on Chewy's site. And it was very expensive, which didn't surprise me.

With high quality, high protein dog feeds that are more expensive if you read the feeding instructions it's often much less than you would expect. People over feed cheap dog feeds. You don't need to feed as much which offsets the price somewhat. I'm guessing that may be the case with cat food. For poultry you would only feed them a small amount.

 

[wrathsfarm]

You've gotten a ton of great advise. I'll just suggest that we give our girls some canned tuna and scrambled (raw or cooked with the shells crushed) during molt season for a protein boost.
Good luck with your girls during this storm, I'm on the other side of the lake and feel your pain....

 

[JoannePeterson]

With high quality, high protein dog feeds that are more expensive if you read the feeding instructions it's often much less than you would expect. People over feed cheap dog feeds. You don't need to feed as much which offsets the price somewhat. I'm guessing that may be the case with cat food. For poultry you would only feed them a small amount.

Sure, makes sense. Thank you for pointing that out.

 

[JoannePeterson]

You've gotten a ton of great advise. I'll just suggest that we give our girls some canned tuna and scrambled (raw or cooked with the shells crushed) during molt season for a protein boost.
Good luck with your girls during this storm, I'm on the other side of the lake and feel your pain....

Thank you, I'm nervous, but I do feel more confident after reading everything. Thank you for recommending tuna. I always have tuna, and I also keep other canned fish since the vitamin D and calcium is higher in those other fish, so would be good for the girls too. Good luck to you too with the storm coming up...

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Half of our flock of 6 six chickens are molting, all of the SLW hens. We put up two of those Cozy Chicken radiant heat panels on the wall next to their roost. We have a camera in the coop so we can watch them. While there is a section of unheated roost, they prefer the heated sections. We are supplementing with BSF larvae. It is supposed to get to a low of minus 18 Fahrenheit and a high of minus 9. I hope that we have done enough. The chickens have an enclosed run, the top is covered by tarp and the sides are covered with that privacy mesh that you see on chain link fences sometimes. That mesh cuts the wind a great deal while stopping snow and rain. We used some of that same mesh to cover the windows after the first snow and we saw how much snow got into the coop. The mesh allows air to move through. We also left the area under the roof rafters open to allow air movement. Blizzard Warnings in the area for all day tomorrow.. I guess we will see how well the mesh still works. Since the temps dropped below 20 degrees and it snowed, the hens stopped leaving the coop. Luckily the chickens have lots of room, 32 sq ft in the coop for 6.

 

[DLA]

Half of our flock of 6 six chickens are molting, all of the SLW hens. We put up two of those Cozy Chicken radiant heat panels on the wall next to their roost. We have a camera in the coop so we can watch them. While there is a section of unheated roost, they prefer the heated sections. We are supplementing with BSF larvae. It is supposed to get to a low of minus 18 Fahrenheit and a high of minus 9. I hope that we have done enough. The chickens have an enclosed run, the top is covered by tarp and the sides are covered with that privacy mesh that you see on chain link fences sometimes. That mesh cuts the wind a great deal while stopping snow and rain. We used some of that same mesh to cover the windows after the first snow and we saw how much snow got into the coop. The mesh allows air to move through. We also left the area under the roof rafters open to allow air movement. Blizzard Warnings in the area for all day tomorrow.. I guess we will see how well the mesh still works. Since the temps dropped below 20 degrees and it snowed, the hens stopped leaving the coop. Luckily the chickens have lots of room, 32 sq ft in the coop for 6.

Sounds like you've done a good job to help your girls thru this weather. It's going to be cold here in PA but most places not even close to what you're dealing with. Hope all goes well for you and your flock!

 

[Galaxy_rules]

Although my chickens are 98% Feathered, sleeping in their coop ( not winterized, just shavings ) with snow outside in minus thirteen Celsius. Including my silkies.