# milk for chickens?



## treehugger24 (Mar 23, 2006)

I have an excess of milk right now that has been frozen. Somewhere I read that chickens can use milk as part of their protein requirements. Does anyone here have experience feeding milk to their chickens? How do you offer it? Just in a bowl? or curdled? Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks, Tamara


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## jBlaze (Dec 26, 2007)

I have the same question. 
and how much is ok?


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## FunnyRiverFarm (May 25, 2010)

I feed my chickens milk. I have a plastic 1 gal. waterer that I use and offer about 1/4 cup or so per chicken. They love it.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

its good for them, curdled isnt bad as long as its not real rancid


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

You can let it clabber in a bucket and then dump the curds into their pan.
Depending on the weather, it usually takes about 3 days to get a good solid curd.
Or, you can use it to wet their laying pellets. I like to make a pretty stiff mush with pellets and milk. 

Just pouring it in a bowl, they dont get very much in them, and it draws other animals to the pen.


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## SLD Farm (Dec 19, 2007)

I offer milk every once in a while. They seem to like it. I feed a quart or so at a time.


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## Head4theHills (Dec 23, 2009)

We make a sour milk mash with our excess milk for the chickens, just plain COB and milk, free choice. I also pour whatever leftover milk we have in the house onto the kitchen scrap bucket-they eat it all up!


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

We feed milk to our laying hens and broilers also. My hens eat the same grain as my cows, fine ground ear corn, gallon or so of whole milk, oyster shell, and about an ounce or redmond salt. My chickens are laying so well this year it is scary, they also free range in the late afternoon. An older amish farmer told me to feed the salt and the chickens laid alot more eggs after that. I hate it when I hear people say they have organic eggs when they buy their feed from the farm store. Anyway my chickens love the milk and have no health problems with using it.>Thanks Marc


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

treehugger24 said:


> I have an excess of milk right now that has been frozen. Somewhere I read that chickens can use milk as part of their protein requirements. Does anyone here have experience feeding milk to their chickens? How do you offer it? Just in a bowl? or curdled? Any advice would be most welcome.
> Thanks, Tamara


I just poured it into a bowl, and they sucked it up. You can also put it over the food, but they will drink it up plain too.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

jBlaze said:


> I have the same question.
> and how much is ok?


I just give them whatever I have available that they will eat. You don't want it to lay there for a day or two, but if they will eat it within an hour or two, then it's fine. If you have a lot of chickens, then 2g or more at a time would be fine as long as they clean it up. If you only have 6chickens, then maybe a quart or two at a time. Just as long as they clean it up within a reasonable amount of time.


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

I get old milk that didn't sell from where I work.
Sometimes I get a few gallons and I only had 5 chickens. It is either sour or curdled when I feed it and some gallons sit outside a few days before I feed them with no ill effects. I figure it's like cheese by then!


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## jBlaze (Dec 26, 2007)

Thanks!


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

A friend of mine wanted to feed her chickens organically and without soy or 'byproducts' so she was just feeding whole grains plus free range. But egg laying dropped off dramatically. They have a cow, so I suggested she feed some milk, and the egg laying picked back up to where it should be. I'll have to let her know about the salt, though, and will try that for my hens, as well.

Kathleen


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