would love some advice on feeding my indoor pet silkies ??

[Gabrielle silkie lover]

I have two indoor pet silkie hens. I love them very much and enjoy them being indoors.They don't get out of the house much other than going out with me. Because they don't go outside very often means they don't get the natural nutrition from insects and grass that most chickens do.I would love any opinions on what I can feed them to keep them healthy.

 

[sourland]

Feed them a commercially produced diet developed for their life stage and supplement with no more than 10 % treats.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I love raising Silkies.

I agree a commercial diet is best with treat kept to a minimum so it doesn't diminish the protein/amino acids and other essential nutrients. I would give meal worm or scrambled egg on occasion (beware of fat content) or things with good protein and skip the scratch (feed is made from mostly corn anyways). As well I would probably grow some barley fodder for them. People think they are doing good when they give lettuce and such which has little nutritional value.

Since Silkies are so heavily feathered and don't lay that often, I might go with a flock raiser or unmedicated starter that is higher in protein than layer, and offer oyster shell on the side. The protein helps to support feather growth which is 90% protein and its' amino acids.

You could also take them out more often... But it isn't true that "most chickens get access to grass and fresh bugs." Many people cannot let their birds free range because of predators. Some live in the snow or the dessert. All commercial feeds are made for birds in captivity and formulated to meet 100% of their need without supplementation.

I would also provide them a dish of dirt to play/bath in if you can handle the dust. But it shouldn't be any worse than shavings dust. They will get some grit out of it to aid their digestion. Otherwise you might want to provide some grit, though they *may* get enough on their visits to the outdoors to last in between. And most pellet or crumble versions will disintegrate anyways once added to liquid. So maybe it's more important if you're feeding whole grains.

You can buy live meal worms and keep int he fridge since you only have a couple of birds. Or dry. Grublies are fun as well. They are black soldier fly larvae, and dry.