How many chickens will my cat eat?
June 13, 2013 1:40 AM Subscribe
How many chickens would I need to maintain to keep a single cat fed on chicken?
I have a medium-large housecat.
Were I to buy a bunch of little chicks (sexed or unsexed, you decide (can I even get that?)) and keep them, and let them breed if they fancied, how many would I need to get to keep the cat fed?
(NB: I almost certainly won't do this, but that's still the question...)
I have a medium-large housecat.
Were I to buy a bunch of little chicks (sexed or unsexed, you decide (can I even get that?)) and keep them, and let them breed if they fancied, how many would I need to get to keep the cat fed?
(NB: I almost certainly won't do this, but that's still the question...)
Best answer: A 9 lb neutered housecat needs about 250 kcal a day according to this calculator. That's going to vary according to exercise, of course.
According to a random diet calculator for humans, a ready-to-cook whole chicken yields for every 1 lb, 450-ish kcal of meat (including skin and fat). This is assuming the meat is cooked, which it wouldn't be for your cat. I don't know how much that changes things by. I also expect that cats and humans digestions are different enough that cats get a different number of calories from a given food than what humans do.
But anyway, assuming you are going to let each chicken grow up to full size, about maybe 3lb, that's nearly 1500 kcal per chicken, which would keep your cat's needs met for 6 days. So you'd need to be breeding chickens at a rate of just over one expendable chicken per week.
This discussion might help with the rest of the calculations.
The numbers will be different if you don't intend to raise the chickens to full size before feeding them to the cat, of course.
posted by lollusc at 2:13 AM on June 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
According to a random diet calculator for humans, a ready-to-cook whole chicken yields for every 1 lb, 450-ish kcal of meat (including skin and fat). This is assuming the meat is cooked, which it wouldn't be for your cat. I don't know how much that changes things by. I also expect that cats and humans digestions are different enough that cats get a different number of calories from a given food than what humans do.
But anyway, assuming you are going to let each chicken grow up to full size, about maybe 3lb, that's nearly 1500 kcal per chicken, which would keep your cat's needs met for 6 days. So you'd need to be breeding chickens at a rate of just over one expendable chicken per week.
This discussion might help with the rest of the calculations.
The numbers will be different if you don't intend to raise the chickens to full size before feeding them to the cat, of course.
posted by lollusc at 2:13 AM on June 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Nice research, lollusc!
Seconded.
So according to the people on that very interesting forum, I'd be drowning in (100+) chooks. Presumably I can get by with a much smaller flock if I presume the continued existence of society, and buy more chicks.
Thank you both.
posted by pompomtom at 2:45 AM on June 13, 2013
Seconded.
So according to the people on that very interesting forum, I'd be drowning in (100+) chooks. Presumably I can get by with a much smaller flock if I presume the continued existence of society, and buy more chicks.
Thank you both.
posted by pompomtom at 2:45 AM on June 13, 2013
No, you don't need a years supply in hand. Chooks are ready to eat at about eight weeks so a rolling flock of about 10 with perfect management or 20 to be sure.
posted by BenPens at 3:46 AM on June 13, 2013
posted by BenPens at 3:46 AM on June 13, 2013
If you need 100 chickens a year, you buy 20 fertilised eggs at a time and have one broody layer (or an incubator would be simpler) and repeat the process every 10 weeks, slaughtering the lot and freezing and butchering them in one go and starting again.
posted by wilful at 4:40 AM on June 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by wilful at 4:40 AM on June 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
For complete nutrition you'd want to feed the -whole- chicken and by that I mean guts, bones, etc. Probably not quite all the feathers, though. Some kind of industrial-grade grinder or blender would be your friend here. Doing this would also probably yield more calories-per-chicken than the standard "for human consumption" chicken. But if the kitty is getting chicken-and-only-chicken, he/she will need all those gross bits to get all the vitamins and minerals needed.
posted by The otter lady at 6:49 AM on June 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 6:49 AM on June 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Fyi, even communities that allow keeping hens do not generally allow keeping roosters, due to noise. Unless you live in the country, a self-generating flock is going to be a problem.
Cats can eat mice, rats, and other rodents, and insects, esp. if they are raised by a mother cat who shows them how to hunt. It's a very useful service that some cats provide.
posted by theora55 at 7:03 AM on June 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Cats can eat mice, rats, and other rodents, and insects, esp. if they are raised by a mother cat who shows them how to hunt. It's a very useful service that some cats provide.
posted by theora55 at 7:03 AM on June 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Interesting thought experiment. To continue, how much chicken feed do you need to maintain the 10-20 chooks?
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:16 AM on June 13, 2013
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:16 AM on June 13, 2013
To continue, how much chicken feed do you need to maintain the 10-20 chooks?
I buy a 50-lb bag of the stuff roughly every couple of months for three chickens.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:34 AM on June 13, 2013
I buy a 50-lb bag of the stuff roughly every couple of months for three chickens.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:34 AM on June 13, 2013
I buy a 50-lb bag of the stuff roughly every couple of months for three chickens.
Which indicates that feeding your cat via chickens that you raise is vastly less efficient than just buying cat food. My 60 lb. dog eats about 20 lb. of food a month.
A flock of 21 chickens (to make it easy math), on tylerkaraszewski's plan of 25 lb. per 3 chickens per month would require 175 lbs. of feed per month.
Or you could just buy a fraction of that in cat food, per month, and not have to maintain a flock of chickens.
posted by Sara C. at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2013
Which indicates that feeding your cat via chickens that you raise is vastly less efficient than just buying cat food. My 60 lb. dog eats about 20 lb. of food a month.
A flock of 21 chickens (to make it easy math), on tylerkaraszewski's plan of 25 lb. per 3 chickens per month would require 175 lbs. of feed per month.
Or you could just buy a fraction of that in cat food, per month, and not have to maintain a flock of chickens.
posted by Sara C. at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2013
If you homebrew beer, chickens love to eat spent grain. Or if there is a nearby brewpub or brewery looking to get rid of their spent grain.
posted by goethean at 10:45 AM on June 13, 2013
posted by goethean at 10:45 AM on June 13, 2013
I believe that's because cat food has a lot of filler in it. If you were able to find a cat food that was just meat, the only difference in cost would be scale of production, and then you get into the value of the happiness of the factory animal vs. yard chicken before it gets eaten.
posted by aniola at 11:25 AM on June 13, 2013
The only difference in cost of cat food directly vs. feeding the chickens, I mean.
posted by aniola at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2013
posted by aniola at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2013
Also, if you live in an area with a lot of home-chicken enthusiasts, just keep an eye out on Craigslist or other like forums for people trying to get rid of older hens whose egg-laying days are past. Depending on availability and the (lollusc-determined) metrics, you wouldn't necessarily have to keep said chickens more than a few days, saving you feed and hassle. Though you still have to process the damn things.
posted by theweasel at 1:45 PM on June 13, 2013
posted by theweasel at 1:45 PM on June 13, 2013
Or you could feed your cat the eggs and keep about 6 chickens or so. Double that for when they are not laying. You should be able to feed a cat based on 8-12 hens and a rooster and still have some occasional meat for yourself or the cat. I would go a little leaner on feed and use the cat to reduce the rodent population that will become present once you have all those chickens and their feed present.
That sized flock should be able to glean 40-75% of it's feed grazing if you have sufficient sized run.
posted by The Violet Cypher at 2:31 PM on June 13, 2013
That sized flock should be able to glean 40-75% of it's feed grazing if you have sufficient sized run.
posted by The Violet Cypher at 2:31 PM on June 13, 2013
If you went the egg route, you would want "dual purpose" (egg+meat) chickens.
posted by aniola at 9:48 PM on June 13, 2013
posted by aniola at 9:48 PM on June 13, 2013
If I were feeding my cat a homegrown meat diet, I would still want to do supplemental cat food food. Just to be extra sure nutrition-wise to cover all the bases.
posted by aniola at 10:00 PM on June 13, 2013
posted by aniola at 10:00 PM on June 13, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
And no, if he had to hunt chooks he'd likely starve. I'd be slaughtering them (boys first, I expect is the way).
posted by pompomtom at 2:10 AM on June 13, 2013