4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[FoxFighters]

Oh-no!!!!!

 

Today, our chickens managed to sneak in through the back door and ate some of our cat food!!!!!

 

Will they be ok?????

Do they have a taste for meat now?????

 

Please help us!

 

FoxFighters J and H xxxxx

[Lewis]

I think they will be fine.

People sometimes give them cat food when they're going through a moult.

 

As they know there is food there, they might try it again, but they wont have a taste for meat as such

[FoxFighters]

That's weird.

 

Our girl Ginger has sort of started moulting and we've only had her for just over a month. Their not meant to moult for a year and we got both our girls from Omlet who said she was POL.

 

But she started to lay about 3 days after we got her, and my mum is beggining to think that she wasn't POL...

 

Holly x

[Egluntyne]

They will be fine. I have given mine organic non chicken cat food after a moult as a protein boost.

[Lewis]

That's weird.

 

Our girl Ginger has sort of started moulting and we've only had her for just over a month. Their not meant to moult for a year and we got both our girls from Omlet who said she was POL.

 

But she started to lay about 3 days after we got her, and my mum is beggining to think that she wasn't POL...

 

Holly x

I'd think she was POL, maybe one of the older ones.

The moult could be feather pecking, are you sure the other hen isn't pecking her, or self plucking. Have a look for mites aswell.

 

Hopefully she'll be fine.

[Plum]

One of mine lost few feathers not long after I got her. I understand at 6 months they do have a mini moult but the other 2 didn't bother.

[The Dogmother]

Some chooks do de-feather on their undercarriage in the summer - no real reason that I can find and not broody.

[dancing cloud]

Don't panic- it'll be fine!

 

My lot used to get leftover cat food mixed in with their porridge to help them with protein, and then discovered they could get a lot more by cutting out the middle-man ie shoving the cat off its dinner and scoffing the lot ! The baby gate across the kitchen door kept the cats safe for a while until Cleo-cat came along, who can open the gate if it isn't properly latched but can't close it again. The chooks favourite game is now "you distract the human while we try to sneak into the kitchen" and I'm not entirely sure who's currently in the lead !

[..lay a little egg for me]

Most cat food has a high poultry content (most likely ground up ex-bats or similar ) ...not sure this is wise to feed to our chooks on a regular basis.

[wiblick]

You can get entirely chicken free cat foods but they are expensive. They are entirely fish based. I've ordered one called Orijen. It's only something I will give in tiny amounts.

 

Opportunistic cat food eating is fine.

 

I've also ordered tinned grasshoppers and crickets for my hens as they don't get to free range and the one thing I do feel guilty about is the lack of insects in their run. I feel it's important to offer them something they would have gotten free-ranging or on their (ahem) native forest floor!

 

Aoife