Ways to supplement protein in hens' diet

[jloftin60]

Throw them a handfull of dry puppy or kitten feed. Feed that has fish meal is best. They love it as a treat.

 

[snowydiamonds]

I have a 32 quart Presto Pressure Cooker/Canner and just put about an inch of water in the bottom, add a spoon of ACV, take about six Pink Salmon out of the freezer that are frozen whole and use an axe to chop them in half to fit inside the Presto, rinse off the inside of the lid both top and bottom of the rubber seal, heat, exhaust the air, begin timing the cooking process once its between 10-15 pounds of pressure for an hour or two, determined by size of fish so they not only get a warm meal of protein but also have their calcium from the very soft bones...they love it, the geese and ducks eat it, too, with cooked rice added.

Oats are good, you just need to make sure they have grit when you add other food into their diet...

 

[TexasVet]

I give mine that semi-moist dog food that looks like hamburger meat. They love the stuff! From time to time I also mix in some floating game fish food.

Kathy in Texas

 

[CovenantCreek]

Dried fishmeal is an excellent source of protein the chickens LOVE (my girls can't get enough of it). It also adds essential fatty acids and amino acids to their diet. For more info check out: http://fis.com/snp/fishmeal.htm.

 

[halo]

That link doesnt work.

 

[MissPrissy]

I would like to interject here that all feeds are not equal. Commercial feeds in the US more and more are not using animal proteins. When chickens are only getting feed for large portions of their diet they may be getting protein that is substantial but is not equal to animal proteins.

They do need animal protein along with plant protein to be at their peak of healthiness.

You can supplement their diet in many ways - A tbsp of wet cat food every few days, meat scraps from your kitchen, dry kitty kibble, etc.

I caution you on raw fish heads. Fresh fish is often filled with parasites that are not killed unless frozen or cooked. I would boil those fish heads. I know this for a fact. I worked in the wholesale seafood industry for several years and i have seen it all.

 

[snowydiamonds]

I second what MP says on raw fish, any raw fish. In NW Alaska veterinary's and assistants were surprised to find tape worm segments in salmon we disected and looked at under a microscope but they were calling the tapeworm by its scientific name before I realized what they were muttering under their breath and running with slides to microscopes so worriedly about...if they'd just said out loud "tapeworm" I would have told them to look at the backbone area, under the belly part when gutting a salmon... they would have found a tape worm the entire length of the salmon there! I always freeze then pressure cook salmon and you still see the long tapeworms afterward. Protein but needs cooking!