Protein for Molting Chickens in Smoothies

Protein for Molting Chickens in Smoothies

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Because feathers are almost entirely made up of protein, adding a bit of extra protein for molting chickens during the fall isn’t a bad idea.

The shorter days heading into fall will usually find the backyard chicken keeper with a flock of molting chickens. Chickens losing feathers during autumn should be no cause for concern.

Molting chickens generally stop laying partway through the molt, since growing in new feathers requires loads of energy and nutrients. You technically don’t need to do anything different during the molting season. But becauseĀ feathers are almost entirely made up of protein, adding a bit of extra protein to your molting chickens’ diet during the fall isn’t a bad idea. Some people like to switch back to a grower feed since it has more protein than the layer feed. Others will supplement their molting chickens’ diet with meat scraps, mealworms or other dried insects, scrambled eggs, or fish.

protein-for-molting-chickens

Help for Molting Chickens

But what if your family doesn’t eat meat? Or if you aren’t comfortable feeding your chickens meat (although by nature chickens are omnivores and will happily gobble down all kinds of “meat” including mice, lizards, snakes, and toads.) Fortunately, there are lots of sources of plant-based protein that your chickens will love and will help them grow in beautiful, glossy new feathers. Many herbs and weeds contain lots of protein – and even grass is packed with it.

Anyone who grows mint knows that you’ll have way more than you bargained for! So you can add chicken smoothies to your list of peppermint plant uses. And think about growing sweet basil for your chickens. If your chickens free range, likely they’re getting enough plant protein on their own. If your chickens are penned up, of course, you can offer your chickens fresh herbs and weeds free-choice or dried mixed into their feed.

Or you can whip up a protein smoothie for your chickens! I don’t really follow any set recipe; I just put handfuls of whatever I’ve got on hand into my food processor with a bit of water and then puree it all together. If you have leftover vegetable-cooking water, you can even use that in place of the plain water.

protein-for-molting-chickens

Protein Smoothies

These protein-packed veggies, weeds, and herbs pureed into a smoothie will help molting chickens. Choose as many sources of plant protein from the following list as you have available. I like to harvest all of my herbs from my raised bed herb garden just before the first frost, drying some to add to my chicken’s feed through the winter and making smoothies out of the remaining fresh herbs!

 Plants for a Molting Smoothie 
VegetablesHerbsWeeds
AlfalfaBasilChickweed
BroccoliChervilClover
CollardsDillDandelion
KaleFennelDuckweed
SpinachMarjoramNettles
Swiss ChardMint 
 Oregano 
 Parsley 
 Tarragon 

Puree the fresh herbs, weeds and/or veggies in a food processor, adding water (or vegetable cooking water) until the consistency is soupy. Offer free-choice to your molting chickens in a bowl, garnished with some black oil sunflower seeds, if desired. They’re a wonderful source of protein as well!

Pureed veggies.

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