Can you feed chickens uncooked rice?

[Iflyonhorses]

My chickens love rice. I have a big bag of brown rice that has been in the cupboard too long. My husband says I should just throw it out to them like scratch, but I have always given them rice cooked. Should I cook it? It's a lot of rice.

 

[chickenbottom]

i dont think to much rice is good for them but i wouldnt give it to them uncooked i think it would take a while to digest.

 

[3chimama]

I would think that it would puff up in them and that would not be good...lets see what others say...

 

[PineappleMama]

Immediately brought to mind the whole 'don't throw rice at weddings it'll kill the birds' thing.

Donno if that's applicable or not, but no way would I try it without knowing. Might be really bad. Might only be bad in large quantities but a little is okay. Or might be totally okay. But I'm a chicken and would wait until I knew for sure.

 

[Desert Rooster]

found this, it says that it might cause impactation in the crop or the stomach

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_chickens_explode_when_you_feed_them_uncooked_rice

 

[Mahonri]

It's how we kill pigeons here. I'm thinking of throwing some rice out in my garden for the rats of the sky to injest.... maybe they'll stay away from my chicken run!

 

[lleighmay]

I would just cook it up and give it to them as a treat (not the whole bag at a time unless you have a lot of chickens). You could even freeze the leftovers and pull them out as needed. Mine get leftover cooked rice all the time.

 

[PineappleMama]

OHHHH just had an idear... cook it up and cram it into ice cubes... toss in a couple for a treat when you want!

This is an awesome topic.

 

[oberhaslikid]

This is what I do in the winter time. I pull out what too old in the cubbard and cook up a mess and give to the chickens.
Any leftovers from the fridge I add in and they love it. Have to let it cool first though.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Rice is an ingredient in some whole grain pigeon mixes. It can be fed to chickens without being cooked.