[AmandaH]

Hey, sorry, sure this subject has been done to death on here but I just wanted to double-check...

I don't give my girls cat food usually as I thought they weren't supposed to eat meat (just bugs and worms), it is nutritionally designed for cats, not chickens, and it is vastly over-processed and probably full of nasties...

However, I stupidly left the back door open the other day and came back into the kitchen to find one very put-out looking cat sitting on top of the fridge and four chickens polishing off what was left of her food on the floor.

My cat will only eat poultry-flavoured cat food - so that's a bit wrong surely?  Will they get Mad Chicken Disease now?  And will I notice if they do? 

Since they seem to like it so much, is it ok to give them cat food as a treat, now and again?  Say, once a week?  The chook equivalent of a Sunday roast?  Their usual diet is the all the ex-batts pellets they want, with tea-time treats if I'm home (usually a bit of mixed corn, a few dried mealworms or some veg or leftover food like rice or mashed potato with some veg in - they're not that interested in fruit).

My girls are ex-batts that I've had a year in August and two of the four are the glossiest, plumpest, most beautiful of girls, but the other two are still looking a bit moth-eaten.  Would a bit of extra protein promote feather-growth?  And would it be better to feed them the fishy cat foods?  If so, perhaps it's easier just to give them a tin of sardines, rather than questionable-fish cat food?   

Any advice gratefully received.  I'd like to spoil my girls a bit but also want them to be healthy and not overdo it so trying to find a happy medium!

[joyfull]

it is only advised to give them a little bit of cat food (fish flavoured not chicken) if they are ill and need their protein upping. I wouldn't advise giving it weekly but of course this is just my own humble opinion (others may say different).

[AmandaH]

Hmm, that's what I thought joyfull - I'm still not that keen on giving it to them.

Perhaps I'll just stick to mealworms and whatever they forage in the garden.

They all seem well and happy with lovely bright red combs and they are getting bolder and nosier and more cheeky every day so must be doing reasonably ok.  Perhaps I'll try them on a sardine next time I open a tin, as a one-off experiment, and leave it at that.

 Many thanks x

[azubah]

Mine get in and devour the cat food sometimes. I try to stop it from happening, but they do not seem to come to any harm from it. The cat is not happy about it though!