Even A Partial Molt Calls For Protein And Pampering!

Carmen, our polish Crested, went through a weird partial molt not long ago.  In case you missed it you can read the entire post in Community Chickens!  I learned a lot when Carmen went through that weird partial molt.

Awww, Poor Carmen!

Even if chickens are doing only a partial molt they still need extra protein.  Now the other five have all started their own versions of partial molts. Each one is a little different in where and how they are molting (I dread their first full blown molt).

It's still a little chilly here, on and off, and they are running around with patches of bare skin, raggedy feathers and looking generally pitiful. We've been giving ours extra scrambled eggs, oatmeal and tuna. I felt like they really needed more variety in where the protein was coming from so I looked for a molt meatloaf.

Full molt or partial, they do need as much extra Protein and Pampering as possible.

The recipe I found at Fresh Eggs Daily seemed the easiest of all I had researched. I also had most of the ingredients on hand - no extra trips to store!

NOT photo of mine but it came out similar.

MOLT MEATLOAF -

Ingredients:

3 Eggs, lightly beaten
¾ Cup Milk
2T Molasses
2/3 Cup Old-fashioned Oats
2/3 Cup Layer Crumble (or pellets moistened in a bit of water)
¼ Cup Wheat germ
¼ Cup Powdered Milk*
3 Cloves Garlic, chopped
¼ Cup Fresh or Dried Parsley*
1T each Fresh or Dried Sage and Oregano*
1 ½ Pounds Ground Beef

In large bowl, combine eggs, milk and molasses. Stir in oats, crumble, wheat germ, powdered milk, garlic and herbs. Add meat and mix well. Pat mixture into a small casserole or loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool, slice and serve.  Leftovers can be frozen and then defrosted as needed. Ours didn't last long enough to be frozen.

* I did not have powdered milk so I left it out. It didn't seem to make any difference that I could tell. I'm sure the herbs could be left out or replaced by other herbs. Ours love basil and we grow a ton of it so I will probably use all basil the next time.

And of course they loved it!
 
The meatloaf lasted about a week. We alternated it with other high protein treats. The best part of the meatloaf, as far as the chickens were concerned, was the last few slices of the meatloaf. By the end of the week the last slices were drying out.  I got the chicken pinata I use for their goodies and laid the dried out slices in the bottom of the basket. I put a few other goodies on top of the slices and hung it up for them. Big hit!  The worked on it for a long time ad finally got every last crumb out!

Give me, give me!

Home-cooked might be okay but NOTHING beats a real worm!

Happy healthy chickens lay gorgeous healthy eggs!

Liz-