Protein Supplement

[Ailla]

Hi, I've just come off a US website, which recommends the following for protein supplements for winter - I wondered if anyone has any comments for or against?

• Fish Food: Typical fish food contains around 35% protein. So a small handful per day will help to boost the levels of your hen’s protein no end!
• Cat Food: Yes – cat food. It’s high in protein and chickens love it! Make sure you feed in moderation though.
• Meat Scraps: Uneaten meat scraps from the table are fine also. Somehow I just can’t feed chicken to the girls… it’s seems wrong!
• Scrambled Eggs: If you have an excess of eggs, by all means whip up some scrambled eggs for the ladies. I usually reserve this treat for sick or injured birds though since I never have enough eggs! Also don’t forget to cook the shells to feed to the hens for added calcium.
• Tuna: If you can afford to feed your ladies tuna – go for it! Canned in water not oil please!
• Mealworms: The eternal favorite that chickens will kill for! Make sure you read our guide on how to grow your own mealworms…

They also give a recipe for a suet and grain 'FlockBlock' - much like the 'puddings' we used to make as children for wild birds.

Any observations please - I'm still new to this lark!

 

[Marigold]

Hi Allia, good to hear from you. I don't know what the law is in France, but in the UK it's illegal to feed poultry, or other livestock such as pigs, with animal flesh protein, which includes cat food or fish food etc as well as all household scraps, so we couldn't recommend it on here. A good- quality layers pellet should contain the correct level of protein for healthy hens, and if you boost this too much you risk unbalancing their diet. Suet and grain fatballs are also a no-no, I'm afraid, as adding fat and grain will cause them to put on fat around the ovaries, with what often turns into fatal consequences.
I'm not convinced that healthy hens actually need extra protein other than in their pellets, although a poorly bird who needs building up may benefit from mealworms or scrambled egg (no fat or added salt.) It's more important, I feel, to get them into shape for winter, by worming in the Autumn and also providing shelter from rain, wind and snow, whilst maintaining good ventilation in the coop whatever the temperature. It's very beneficial to feed a warm mash an hour before roosting time, made of pellets soaked in hot water until just crumbly, and you can add about 10% max. mixed corn to this. They'll gobble this down, ensuring they go to roost with full crops to face the long cold night if up to 15 hours' darkness, with full crops and well hydrated from the water in the mash. I add a mineral supplement to the mash a couple of times a week, but that's all. They do get daily greens as well as the mash, of course.

 

[Ailla]

Thanks Marigold - if it's banned in the UK there's a good reason for it, so I'll leave it alone! I can't get layers pellets here (yet!), but I've had a conversation with another member, living south east from us I think, who can get a brand called Sanders. I'm not able to search yet, but when I next return to Biscarosse I'll ask my supplier.
Sorry I didn't explain - my chickens have been moulting - quite a shock to me as the chicken book I'd been given never mentioned that they moult, and in winter?? This seems entirely wrong! They're ok, but must feel the cold even more, hence keeping the protein intake up for new feather growth.
Over here they sell Melange a Poule Pondeuse which is a mixture of grain basically, so they have about 600g between the four of them for breakfast, then veg for lunch. Since the moult I have also been giving them soaked-then-boiled chick peas and split peas which are still warm and these go down well with the veg. The protein content per 100g is 20g and 22g respectively. They like these, but perhaps I should feed them this before roosting instead? They have a final 200g of grain mix for supper.

I also wondered about soya beans?
What ingredients should I be looking for in a mineral supplement? I can translate this into French and look out for the equivalent.
Does anyone know of a French supplier of chicken wormer, please?

 

[Marigold]

This is what I give mine http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Net-Tex_Mineral_Powder.html I don't know what's available in France. I think Chris on here has to get Flubenvet wormer when he returns to the UK, but surely French chickens must be wormed now and then? Does Amazon help? I sometimes get things on Amazon which have come from all over the world, a laptop battery last week from Germany and items from China as well, if you wait long enough!
Animal protein in farm animal foodstuffs was banned some years ago in the UK after bad outbreaks of foot and mouth disease etc were traced to farmers feeding non-vegetarian byproducts from food outlets such as restaurant kitchens. Also it was discovered that some pelleted feeds for vegetarian species such as cows contained unsuitable animal proteins, which may have led to outbreaks of illness. The law is mainly there to protect public health from commercial malpractice, but it does apply to all keepers, even those if us with half a dozen pet hens in a back garden. In the UK the law says that you are not allowed to feed anything which has even passed through a human kitchen, even if you've just eaten it yourself. Nevertheless, some poultry keepers do privately feed tuna etc to poorly chickens in need of a protein boost, but it's outside the law to do so, and not really necessary at all for normal healthy birds. On public forums, moderators do have the duty to point all this out, or we could get into trouble with our advertisers if a complaint was made about giving illegal advice.

 

[rick]

Curious as to where it said you cant legally use fish in the law I went for a hunt round.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supplying-and-using-animal-by-products-as-farm-animal-feed

I'm finding it quite funny that you have to be a vegan to give your chickens fish oil. (It doesn’t exactly say that but I had to read it a few times!)

 

[Marigold]

Well, I read all that, including the part about old bakery products being OK to feed, which I wouldn't ever dream of giving to my chickens as they would be nutritionally harmful or useless!
Probably easiest to just stick to layers pellets. I must be more careful about how I carry my bowl of shredded cabbage, fruit peelings and cauliflower stems down the garden, though. I do find that I accidentally seem to drop them in the chicken run on my way down to the compost heap.

 

[ColinB]

My compost bin is just by the coop and it's very difficult to open the lid while holding peelings and not spill some. I too must be more careful.

 

[rick]

Of course, you can buy a cauliflower for the chickens, cut off the bits they don’t like (that head bit - yuck) and then eat the scraps yourself (times are hard!)

This is like the health and safety guidance that is often blown out of proportion and used to ridicule the 'red tape' (much to the annoyance of the HSE.) I think pet chickens are included so as not to leave a loop hole for animal feed providers by claiming they only intend their feed to be used for pets. In the end the actual criminal act before a judge would be putting the public at risk by distributing eggs/meat from chickens having not followed the reasonable guidance re using ABPs as feed (or making feed for others to use.)

 

[Ailla]

Wow, bit of a can of worms [although these would be fine as long as I haven't had them in my kitchen?!] We used to live in Wales, just above a sheep farm and in 2002 witnessed the entire 2000 disappearing into the lambing shed to be slaughtered then taken away for burning, so I fully understand the need for caution where animal disease is concerned. However, nutrition and a varied diet is important. I do actually buy veg at the market specifically for my chickens - my husband likes peas and will have the occasional carrot (or tomato and cucumber in summer) but the chickens and I eat a good variety.
So, if I was in UK and cooking chick peas or soya beans for them, would this be illegal too? They go down a treat, and I'm still getting one egg every 3 days from Gloria, and today had another egg after 12 days from Ailla (so I made a coffee & walnut sponge).

Thanks for the link, will keep trying for the mineral supplements and wormer. This forum is such a great idea and so helpful. I was so out of my depth in the beginning, but I'm learning and becoming more confident with every conversation - thanks everyone!

 

[rick]

Wow, bit of a can of worms [although these would be fine as long as I haven't had them in my kitchen?!]

Oh I so want a 'can of worms' for my cupboard!

I'm reading it as the important points being 'kitchen waste' and 'scraps' - and, I think, 'kitchen waste' being trimmings that may get mixed with animal bits (in a non-vegan domestic kitchen) or 'scraps' as 'plate scrapings'. I don't see why a non-vegan couldn’t cook up some pulses for their hens as the result wouldn’t be waste or scrap.
I'm not going to ponder the contents of cat food - its not for 'farm' animals, presumably, under it's own guidance (for domestic pet cats).
Tinned mackerel as a 'pick me up' is defiantly out though

 

[chrismahon]

We bought some rearers pellets in the Dordogne, not realising they used fish extract for boosting the protein content. Within 24 hours the poo stench from the pen was unbearable and we immediately threw the stuff away and replaced it with Sanders pellets which use vegetable protein. 24 hours later and things were back to normal. I wouldn't advise feeding any fish at all, legal or not. I have heard of it affecting the taste of the eggs as well.

You can get small pots of sunflower hearts in 'Gamme Vert' Ailla. You'll find them in the wild bird food. They are about 40% protein so to be used in moderation.