Just what exactually does Protein do for chickens?
I know this may be a strange question, but I was out of egg maker the other day, no cottage cheeze or anything else I read on here that I could feed them for one night, so I smashed up some dry cat food which had a protein level of 30% and mixed it with some scratch I had left.
I want to make sure I did not harm my chickens, they are 2 months old.
Protein for chickens
You can feed them scrambled eggs with ground up dry cat food. Also you can give the chicks--warm oatmeal--cream of wheat--anything that is soft foods you can add water or milk to it.. I have made milk from the dry powder mix and add it to the foods...I dont give my baby chicks any scratch unless you give them chick grits along with the scratch..The grit is to help grind down the hard stuff in their crop so it makes it easy to digest.
Considering chickens will eat dead mice, each other, and clean the meat off T-bones, I doubt a little cat food will do anything harmful.
In general, protein is necessary for growth and repair of tissue and bones. That's why growing and very active animals need higher protein ratios than aged, sedentary animals.
But then, I'm no expert...
Jay
PS If your chickens are on dirt, they'll pick up small stones for grit to grind the scratch.
This message was edited Apr 1, 2009 12:12 PM
Oh Jay they love the dirt. They get let out every day when we come home and they are so much fun to watch them do the dirt bath thing... Billy and I laugh. Billy thought it was cool to see them do it, and he got down on the dirt with them. They then go around and peck the ground and the grass that is growing around the front yard. I am thinking they do get enough sand for grit. Now I understand why protein was importaint in the chick starter. I have stopped giving them that now, and I will make sure they get extra protein they need.
Once they start laying, it may be a good idea to provide oyster shell for grit, because as it breaks down in the crop, the chicken absorbs the calcium in it for stronger eggshells. At least, that's what I've been told.
Wait til Billy sees them sunbathing! LOL
Miss Jestr: Sounds like you and little Billy are having a ball. Jay is right a little cat protein is not going to hurt your birds at all.
I'm so happy your birds are doing well and y'all are having so much fun with them. Haystack
Ok another STUPID QUESTION here.... I have heard you all talk about the Crop, just where exactually is that? is that like their throat area? or the tonge area? or am I wayyyyyy off?
Oh Hay, That is an understatement. I was thinking yesterday as we were watching the chickens that life could not get any better than this. He was running around with them, having a ball, and I was lucky enough to be able to see it all....
Yep the crop is in the throat--it is usually full and bulges out in the evening when then eat all they can before going to bed. Some new chicken owner's are alarmed when they first notice it.
I always feel good when I am standing with the chickens all around me. I don't know why. It just feels right.
Birds don't have a stomach like mammals, they have a food sack where what they eat collects, then it passes through the gizzard which is a very muscular 'container' full of grit. The contractions of the muscles combined with the grit grinds the food up and digestive enzymes are mixed in before the food passes into the intestine to be absorbed.
The crop is that bulge at the base of the throat where it goes into the chest...
Do you know about sour crop?
No what is a sour crop?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart
a great pace for what your chickens can eat.. I have found the backyard chicken site invaluable in the early stages, There is something in SOME cat foods that is bad for chickens
below is an ecerpt from the page I linked to above.. I recommend visiting the site
-joe-
* Regarding feeding CAT FOOD to chickens,."While it is nutritionally essential, methionine excesses are far more toxic to poultry than similar excesses of tryptophan, lysine, and threonine (National Research Council, 1994). Force feeding methionine to excess can result in death to chicks (National Research Council, 1994). A dosage of 2 g / mature cat / day (20 to 30 g / kg dry diet) for 20 days induces anorexia, ataxia, cyanosis, methemoglobinemia and Heinz body formation resulting in hemolytic anemia (Maede, 1985). ..."
I give mine cooked rice and mix in the yogurt and fresh garlic.. not as messy that way.. :)
Great link Joe, thank you for sharing that.
I like the information on the site..almost Every nite my chickens get to share some of our salad and love it .. I can't recomend that, now they expect the salad and throw tantrums when they don't get any.. hmmmmmmm.......when good ideas go bad..
LOL I can so relate!
I had a batch of chicks that were "stand offish" and freaked every time I came in to feed... so I got some Wax worms and won them over.. a little toooo much, they became beggars and drove me insane.. They are outside now.. they still beg, but very quietly and since they are laying now.. they get goodiez regularly.. or an outing.. that's just as good in their book.. :)
Oh my chickens will get a treat tonight, I picked up some strawberries yesterday at the store... not sure about the worms, I not a bug person... Hummm maybe I can get BIlly to feed them to the chickens...
Thanks Joe, I did book mark the site/
ZZ garlic with Yougart???
I mix in bread, plain yogurt, sprouts, spinach, even scrambled eggs! Just cause giving straight yogurt is very messy.. They sling it everywhere.. I add bulk just to keep it from being tooo liquid.. and I have a lot to feed..
a good way to get some garlic and yogurt in them... smells awful to me.. but they devour it in seconds..
Well then, Tonight they get Yogurt with Garlic, and strawberries for desert...
Just don't get too carried away with garlic. It's like the cat food, some is OK, a lot is a problem (moderation, moderation).
Garlic contains an anti-coagulant that can lead to excessive bleeding from small (and large) wounds. There have been a few occurrances of severe bleeding and subsequent complications from small lacerations in horses who have been fed LARGE quantities of garlic supplement to repel flies.
In general, observe the dosage of garlic supplements. Like so many things, more is not better. There is a pretty wide safety margin, but it can be overdone. If you notice what strikes you as excessive bleeding from small wounds, a slowness to clot, and that animal is receiving garlic, think about reducing the amount of garlic you are giving.
If the wound needs vet care, let the vet know about the garlic. It'll save everyone time and probably lab tests. At the least your doc won't be racking their brain trying to figure out why a simple laceration is still bleeding an hour later.
You are so right Jay.
It's too hard to mince enough fresh garlic to be too much! Not to mention expense.. for 50 chickens.. LOL
They get it once a week... but you are right.. anything can be too much way too easy.
Yogurt will give them the runs if you give them too much.. but a little is good for the gut.
When I created beggars out of chicks in the house that drove me insane.. I learned my lesson.. a treat is a treat.. not a staple!
I wouldn't be able to give mine strawberries.. I'd eat them first.. LOL
LOL, yes that would be a LOT of fresh garlic! Mama mia!
I think it's the dried garlic powder that people get themselves into trouble with. I fed an equine garlic supplement that was something like a TBL a day on grain and I can well imagine folks going up to fistfulls with that. Because there wasn't any effect I could see at the recommended dosages... And expensive?! woof.
I used to throw whatever kitchen scraps I had to the chickens, but the donkeys would chase them away and eat the scraps themselves. LOL Poor ol' hens had to eat bugs.
Garlic once a week. HUMMM I will remember that.
Now here is a questions about lice. I have not seen any on my chickens, but should I dust them to be safe? at what age do you start dusting them, and do you do it on a schedule like I worm my horses?
I never had lice--no, wait; my chickens never had lice--wait, wait; neither me nor my chickens ever had lice (LOL), and I never dusted my chickens, so I can't help you with that.
I am with you Jay, I have never had lice, nor have my children. I understand that may be a problem with chickens? My rocks I had last year never got it, so maybe I am jumping the gun? I would not know what a lice looked like anyway.
The ones I saw on the flock at the Ag school were little bitty red dots crawling everywhere on the birds, the eggs, the nest. Ewwww!
Just so's you know for your next cocktail conversation thread... lice are VERY particular. A chicken louse will not move onto you or Billy, a goat louse will not get on your chickens (my goats did have lice), a coyote louse will not get on a dog.
So, if you believe in re-incarnation, this explains the behaviour of certain people. =0) They're either coming or going to louse-hood. I think my G'ma might have been one or is one now... she did NOT associate with THOSE kind of people... the family on the block of a different faith.
If you believe in re-incarnation (and I'm certainly not saying you should, but it's interesting to speculate) there are a lot of horse's patoots running around these days and I'm curious as to where the front half is.
But that's just me.
=0) Jay
Mites or lice? Mites are a lot more active and will infest the coop and perch and even kill broodies.
Oooo, maybe mites. They were sure busy little vermin. I was just a creeped out undergrad at the time. I worked at a vet assist. and I couldn't believe they were letting vermin live on their flock. Ewwww....
Ok I would not know what a mite looks like either. So basically I should be looking for anything crawling on them...
I am glad to know Billy and I can not get lice from the chickens... EWWW
Oh and my chickens did not like the strawberries yesterday, dont know if it had anything to do with Billy taking a bite out of each one before he decieded to share or not, but they did not eat any of them, they were still in the feeder this am.
Will try the yougart this afternoon.,
rinse the salt off sunflower seeds.. one of the favorites for my hens.. mine are not fond of fruit either.
They'd probably love them if they were still on the plant and YOU wanted them.
LOL
I don't get it. I raise strawberries, raspberries, logan berries, and boysen berries. My chickens love the berries and as soon as I turn them out in the morning they head for the berry patch. If the berries are imported they are often sour and that may be why they rejected them? Just a thought. Haystack
My chickens take a while to warm up to new food. The first time I dumped tomatoes in the yard, no one would touch them. Now they fight over them.
Oh btw they LOVE the Yougart.
I will be off for a few days, I have a injured horse that requires me to nurse every 4 hours, I am taking vacation and will have no internet access out at the ranch...
Looking forward to reading all the good stuff when I get back.
Miss Jest'r
Have a safe trip to the ranch, and best wishes to you and your sick horse. :D
Happy Traaaaiiiils to Yooooouuu!!! Love that horsey good, then! (mine would kick me if I called him a horsey, gentle soul that he is)