Chicken feed as cat litter?

artgecko

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Hey folks,
I recently took in a couple of feral kittens (will hopefully be rehoming at least one of the two) and, as a result of keeping them in my bathroom, I decided to switch them to WBCL due to the lower dust content and flushability. It works great, flushes, clumps, doesn't smell bad, etc. BUT, it does cost a lot! Petsmart, the cheapest supplier in my area sells the 7lb "extra strength" bag for $7.99 and it's even more expensive at petco...

At any rate, I was doing some research online and on another cat forum (can't remember the addy right now), someone rec'd using "MG chicken layer granules" instead of WBCL. Another person used "chicken scratch" and said that it, too, worked ok. So, being the thrifty pet owner, I went out to my local feed store and bought a 10lb bag of "chicken layer crumbles" (I took a sample of WBCL with me and the sales person said that the crumbles looked like it).

So, I mixed in some with the remains of the WBCL in the kitten's box and I'll keep you guys updated on how it performs...I'm hoping that it will work well, as I'm very much into the idea of flushable and non-harmful dusty litter.

Have any of you tried this sort of thing before? If so, I'd be grateful if you shared your experiences.

Thanks!
Art
 

gailuvscats

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Yes, I have been using chicken crumbles for over a year now. The only negative is in the warm weather it gets a "sour" smell. To eliminate that I am mixing it with Swheat, which is pricey, but I am only going to use the mix for the summer. I will go back to all feed after september.
 

beandip

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I've used the feed. I use Purina Flock Raiser (the unmedicated variety, all natural). It's a close match to the WBCL. The 50lb bag is $11.99 here. The WB may be just a touch finer but it's very close. I tried Purina Layena but it was awfully "chunky". I like the finer stuff and the cats seem to agree.

My downstairs bathroom has 3 litterboxes in it and it smells ummm very "corny" in there but other than that I'm happy with it.
 
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artgecko

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Thanks for your replies!

The only thing that troubles me about the crumbles is that I found a couple of "sticks" in it last night (looked similar to hamster food), I hope that the kitties don't decide to munch on some of it. The kind that I got has vitamins and minerals in it, but no antibiotics or hormones, so I guess it wouldn't hurt them if they happened to eat some of it (well, would hurt them less than eating the clay stuff).

I'll see if our feed store carries the "flock raiser" and try that next time. Does it also get a "bitter" smell like the crumbles?

I did notice a bit of a "bitter" smell this morning... I put a layer of baking soda on the bottom of the box today, maybe that will help somewhat. We'll see.

Thanks again for your help!
Art
 

beandip

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The Flock Raiser also has vitamins and minerals but no antibiotics, hormones, etc. From reading at the Purina site, there IS a medicated version of the Flock Raiser, I believe they call it Flock Raiser MP. The feed store I went to told me that "Start and Grow" IS basically medicated Flock Raiser. It's all very confusing, I would say read the labels and ask to make sure.
Pixel ate a few of the bigger pieces she found on the floor but I'm not too worried, and she doesn't seem to want to eat any more of it.


Smell wise, I would just say it's corny...not really bitter and it's warm in here now.

Last time I bought some, they were out of the 50lb bags but they offered me 5x10lb bags for the 50lb price. I thought, no problem...OK, so I got home and realized that these 10lb bags are packaged at the store, most likely from the broken 50lb bags (they rip easily, so I'm sure they deal with a lot of that). These smaller bags are a good way for them to recover bags that ripped. But, there is more "miscellaneous" junk in the small bags. I didn't find anything weird in the 50lb bags at all. But I have found peanut shells, almonds, and a bug
in these small repackaged bags.

Sorry to go on and on about chicken feed, but what I'm getting at is I am going to be avoiding the repackaged unlabeled bags in the future.
 

neetanddave

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I use the Family Farm Egg Layer Mash from Walmart. About $8 for a 50 pound bag. This is really fine crumbled, no sticks or corn. Seems to do a good job for my crew of 10, with 8 boxes.
 
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artgecko

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Thanks again for your help!
I'll look into the other brands/types carried at my feed store and I'll check out walmart too...I didn't know they carried chicken feed. Is is in with the pet products or the outdoor bird food, etc?

Thanks!
p.s. I just bought some feline pine clumpable, so if the baking soda doesn't work, I'll try mixing some of that in with the chicken crumbles.
 

jellybella

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artgecko;1830141 said:
Thanks again for your help!
I'll look into the other brands/types carried at my feed store and I'll check out walmart too...I didn't know they carried chicken feed. Is is in with the pet products or the outdoor bird food, etc?
QUOTE]

I think this is a regional thing. I've never seen it in any Walmart stores in this neck of the woods (Upstate NY).
 

puma

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

Yes, I have been using chicken crumbles for over a year now. The only negative is in the warm weather it gets a "sour" smell. To eliminate that I am mixing it with Swheat, which is pricey, but I am only going to use the mix for the summer. I will go back to all feed after september.
Did you find Swheat in stores??? I've looked all over my town (Buffalo, NY) and can't find it!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Puma

Did you find Swheat in stores??? I've looked all over my town (Buffalo, NY) and can't find it!
Petmart, petco
 

neetanddave

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Originally Posted by artgecko

Thanks again for your help!
I'll look into the other brands/types carried at my feed store and I'll check out walmart too...I didn't know they carried chicken feed. Is is in with the pet products or the outdoor bird food, etc?

Thanks!
p.s. I just bought some feline pine clumpable, so if the baking soda doesn't work, I'll try mixing some of that in with the chicken crumbles.
Several of our Walmarts in central NC carry it. Its with the horse and rabbit stuff here, they have a few items for each.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

I purchase swheat at petsmart. they also have yesterdays news. Has anyone ever used it?
tried it ... when wet it smells like wet news print...that is why I didnt stay with it
 

nuti

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Hello. Please try a bag of Smart Litter organic grains cat litter from Pet Food Express..
No smell.[emoji]128169[/emoji] No waste. I kept all my foster kitties(Lord what was I thinking) so the four litter boxes in the house have to be oderless, and they are, with this litter and daily scooping.
I get an an adrenalin rush whenever I buy a new bag. Sick huh? Cats will do that to you.
Now I'm on a quest to find the best deal on a high quality brand of dry and canned for all of them. This is getting expensive.I rationalized, either ten cats or one horse[emoji]128527[/emoji]
 
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