I bought a huge sack of chicken pellets for my mixed flock of bantams and fancy pigeons. After opening it and filling the feed bin I realised that the feed is for meat birds.. a kind of finishing feed. Is this OK for my birds to eat or will it make them sick? I really don't want to throw the food away as its such a waste of money.
Finishing diets tend to be higher in protein and fat than regular diets. You might want to compare the labels and see how different the two feeds are nutritionally. If they are similar you may be OK. If you are not sure, you may at least want to mix it with their regular diet. Another option would be to unload it somewhere like Craiglist - you will likely take a little hit on the price.
X2 You could always "cut" it with some millet or corn to lower the protein overall, but one bag shouldn't cause too many problems if you go through feed pretty regularly; adjust the rations, or sell it at discount to someone who could use it.
Thanks for the feed back and good ideas. I don't know why I did not think to mix some normal food into it to lower the protein. My hens have started laying after raising chicks.. so maybe the extra protein will be good for them to get back into condition and lay good eggs. Also my pigeons have big squabs in the nest now.. so again perhaps that's good for them too. I will mix some normal feed 50 / 50 with it. They get all day free ranging and only eat the feed in the coop in the morning and evening... so they are still getting to run about and burn off calories. If they start to all get fat I will change the feed totally.
