Ways to supplement protein in hens' diet

[grullablue]

For chickens that cannot be free-ranged during the day and may not be getting enough bugs and things to supply enough protein for them, what are other things we can provide for them to supplement with more protein in their diet?

I have seen some people throw cat food to them, but what are other alternatives?

Thanks!
Angie

 

[the1much]

table scraps are GREAT!!!

 

[basicliving]

Crickets, meal worms, etc. are a high protein, fun snack that mine love. I raise the meal worms for them. But you can find that type of thing at a bait store.

I also boiled up a batch of fresh cat fish for mine (no bones), and they went bonkers over it. Black oil sunflower seeds have about 18% protein and are something mine love occasionally. And if you're getting eggs and have an abundance, scramble up a few for them. Plain yogurt is usually a big hit too - I make MissPrissy's recipe.

ETA - I've also read that some people feed their chickens tuna fish.

Hope this helps.

Penny

 

[kinnip]

Mine are yogurt hogs. I also give them the rinds of hard cheeses (I go through more than my share of parm). I also lightly cook and chop any meat trimmings or bits left after making stock. They love meat. I have a cat who's been digging up my garden lately. I might try tossing him in there this week.

 

[patandchickens]

Commercial chicken feed generally has enough protein, unless it's being "diluted" by their eating a lot of other stuff or their protein demands are extra heavy e.g. molting.

Meat scraps work well (like, freezerburned pieces, and little bits off cooked bones that are too small to bother eating yourself, etc). Or if you have extra eggs (this time of year probably not, but it DOES happen

) you can hard-cook or scramble them and feed them back to the chickens. Some people raise or buy mealworms or crickets.

There are also some other things with less, but nontrivial, protein in them -- yogurt and sunflower seeds come to mind.

Pat

 

[Kitchenella]

I got free fish heads from the fish counter at my supermarket. I cooked them and boned them and chopped them up. They love it. Next time I might just cut them open and see if the chickens eat them that way so I don't have to bother with the boning and chopping.

 

[halo]

Ill throw them a handful of Calf Manna now and again. Very high in protein, full of vitamins and minerals, and smells divine.

 

[SandraMort]

What's calf manna?

 

[halo]

http://www.mannapro.com/calf-manna.htm

 

[the1much]

PHEWwwwww
i was worried it was code word fer cow manure :|