people with house chickens

[Ponyfeather]

Pancake likes cooked brussel sprouts. She pretty much gets anything that is chicken safe to eat that we cook. Other then meat, well I did give her the very tiny bit of bacon once. But I have outlawed meat giving because my dad would give her way, way to much. He heavily salts things, which I don't think her tiny body needs.

I always have live mealworms on hand for her too since I have a leopard gecko. Which is one of her favorite treats. (Which she never is allowed close to, since he is so tiny and peck-able.*

I'd be worried about giving chickens free access to cat food since they add taurine to it because cat need it. But I suppose it would be an okay sometimes treat. Though I think I'd make sure it was high quality because of possible chemical additives to it.

 

[brekke69]

WARING! NO CAT FOOD (WET OR DRY) NO CAT TREATS! WARING!

I've been there, done that. My Kitiara (RIR) stopped "packaging her eggs". I mean the white and yellow came out and a thing that looked like a crumpled up piece of paper, which was really the shell. I do not feed my chicks cat food stuffs, they steal! We had 6 cats running around our house for about 5 months. 2 were ours the other 4 we were cat-sitting. I didn't realize how much cat food stuffs she was getting, and I didn't worry about it when she ate a bite here or there because when she first came to us she was "feather eating". I was told cat food was one item that might help with that problem, so I let her indulge now and then. She just got too much. It took about 6 months to get it out of her system. She is now laying normal eggs again. Lesson learned. We have only 1 cat now; the others went back home and my 17 year old Mopar, passed away. It is much easier keeping the bad stuff away from her now.

the fam hanging out watching tv. Blaze, the German Shepherd, also passed away in the last year at age 17.
Cleo waiting for Kitiara to lay her egg. It does not bother the hens when cats and dogs are near. Cleo went home.
Sinatra, the last cat left, with Shim, Kitiara and Poppy.
Ginger napping while Kitiara lays and egg on my pillows. Ginger was one I was cat-sitting and end up staying with us until she passed away at age 15.
Mopar (orange & white that passed away at age 17) and Sam, Nina, Ginger, and Shim.

 

[Ponyfeather]

brekke69, thanks for confirming my thoughts that cat food wouldn't be good. Also for sharing those photos they are so cute. Our cat is scared of my house chicky, stays as far away from her if they are in the same room.

Things I have learned in the past few days: Don't touch her preen gland, don't run the vacuum in the same room as her.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have heard that cat food...dry I think, is a good protein boost during a molt.

I've fed both wet dog or cat foods to our hens. Especially during summer when sodium is a good electrolyte. Cat food is a few percentages higher in protein than dog food. I've pulverized into powder the organic dry kitten food (higher protein content than adult cat food and with no soy) and sprinkle some into the fermented feed. Hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, Kefir, Tuna, Cooked Fish or Shrimp, Chia and Quinoa seeds, even whole wheat or oat groats are all good sources of protein besides the regular feed which we get with no GMO corn or soy - any soy interferes with the reproductive (egg-laying) system. A farmer stopped feeding soy to his sows and got 25% better piglet birth rates afterwards. Organic non-GMO no Corn no Soy feed has a lower protein percentage because it's not packed with soy filler so we have to add a few extra protein treats every day. If you get the no soy cat or dog foods (usually more expensive than commercial crap) your eggs shouldn't have a problem forming correctly in the hens' oviduct.

 

[MyLoveableChick]

cat food really? In some there are other pieces of chickens...

 

[Sylvester017]

cat food really? In some there are other pieces of chickens...

You do realize chickens are cannibalistic? Confined (or even free-range Leghorns) are notoriously cannibalistic on flockmates - we had a Leg and a Marans that chewed off crests, beards, muffs, and combs off their gentler smaller flockmates and we had to re-home the cannibals. My DH had a problem about some poultry products listed in packaged pet food but after he realized how cannibalistic chickens are he stopped worrying about it. We don't use a steady diet of cat or dog food - it's something we occasionally buy out in closeout sales at the pet stores or box stores. We buy out canned fish and turkey - we still try to avoid straight chicken meat and absolutely no soy products (interferes with the reproductive laying hens) ! And we buy a lot of frozen discounted fish, salmon, shrimp, etc. Usually these deals are not advertised specials and you get lucky finding a good quality pet food or frozen meats on occasional clearances. The main thing is to stay away from soy fillers - murder on the hormone systems of humans and animals alike.

 

[Crystal R]

Oh, I'm ok with that. I wish for her all the time that she will find positive things in her life to focus on.
I am a "Fixer" as well!
All is good 

Is you neighbor a neat freak or an anti-animal person? This may sound off the wall crazy but have you ever considered giving her a chick to raise as a pet? She may be miserable & spray the cats/dogs away b/c she doesn't want to become attached to them & then have them ripped away causing her more heartache. Maybe if she had something good & loving in her life (like a chicken), she may change her tune & maybe even become a visiting neighbor! I don't know what her story is but it sounds like she's pushing away anything that can give her unconditional love. She may have lost a pet that was dear to her heart & can't seem to overcome the sadness that goes along w/ it. Like I said I may sound crazy for saying it but it may work. If not then she just a miserable person w/ a cold heart. Good Luck & plz keep us updated! Getting back to the moving of birds. Does Cowboy crow all the time or just in the mornings? If it's just in the mornings you can super insulate the bathroom or coop w/ carpet. Ik it sounds crazy but it works as a great noise barrier!! If you do end up getting to keep him I would hatch as many eggs as you can & sell/give them to responsible, rural families/people that love chickens as much as we do. They must understand the breed & know how rare the birds are. If it comes down to the heartbreaking rehoming, I would send either the pair together or cowboy & Chillo. It seems like the Mrs. has resentment against her man & would prefer to stay w/ y'all.

 

[MaddiesMum]

Been a while since I've given an update.. I'm all moved to a new province (Newfoundland) and I've had quite the blast with my girls over the past few days. Lots of travelling and of course they were there with me
Here's some pics from our adventure!

 

[flufssilkies]

Amazing love the pics

 

[My Hens and Roo]

Is you neighbor a neat freak or an anti-animal person? This may sound off the wall crazy but have you ever considered giving her a chick to raise as a pet? She may be miserable & spray the cats/dogs away b/c she doesn't want to become attached to them & then have them ripped away causing her more heartache. Maybe if she had something good & loving in her life (like a chicken), she may change her tune & maybe even become a visiting neighbor! I don't know what her story is but it sounds like she's pushing away anything that can give her unconditional love. She may have lost a pet that was dear to her heart & can't seem to overcome the sadness that goes along w/ it. Like I said I may sound crazy for saying it but it may work. If not then she just a miserable person w/ a cold heart. Good Luck & plz keep us updated! Getting back to the moving of birds. Does Cowboy crow all the time or just in the mornings? If it's just in the mornings you can super insulate the bathroom or coop w/ carpet. Ik it sounds crazy but it works as a great noise barrier!! If you do end up getting to keep him I would hatch as many eggs as you can & sell/give them to responsible, rural families/people that love chickens as much as we do. They must understand the breed & know how rare the birds are. If it comes down to the heartbreaking rehoming, I would send either the pair together or cowboy & Chillo. It seems like the Mrs. has resentment against her man & would prefer to stay w/ y'all.

Thank you for your thoughts. I wonder what her deal is all the time. I have tried to be nice to her no matter what she does and so far I have kept my cool. I would like to find the guts to ask her what her goal in all this is. Yesterday she called the police on my little neighbor girls flock...they got out when they were at church, They like to come down to my house to check out the cute rooster I suppose. Hey, you can't blame the girls

They were in my yard not hurting a thing and she called the police. I mean, whats the point?!!