Whole Oats as chicken feed?

[upthecreek]

Can you just solely feed laying chickens whole oats? I just bought a 50 pound bag thinking I would use it as feed without evening knowing if it's ok. I would also feed them crushed egg shells as a calcium supplement.

I would mix it with other grains and seeds to kinda balance the feed . You said your chickens like oats ...... that's unusual as i have a hard time getting chickens to eat dry oats .
Now i can soak them about three day (might be smelly) but the chickens go bonkers over them , thereafter will eat them dry (lol).

protein in oats is usually going to be below 12% because oats WithOut hulls can range in protein from 12% up to 24% .
Whole Oats is considered a valuable grain in that it has fiber with the groat that most grains and seeds don't have making it a better balance than any other single grain . Also the protein from oats is more like the protein in milk , meats and etc that other grains don't have .

 

[barbjess]

I do not intentionally feed such young birds soaked oats although they usually get ahold of some. By six weeks, if standard sized birds, they should be able to handle even intact corn kernels so long as not too much and they are provided grit. My rule of thumb with incomplete food types (does not provide complete nutrition by itself), they are to represent no more than 25% of what is consumed and usually less than 10%. Only exception to that occurs in winter when food item such as soaked oats provide water and additionally energy when temperatures low. Under such conditions birds must consume same amount of complete food types they do at other times before consuming the soaked oats or the equivalent (i.e. whole corn).

I have not had crop issues with my birds that was attributable to feeding of oats. What can make that appear to be the case for my birds has been complications related to coccidia infections where gut processing slows greatly making so crop emptied abnormally slow. Birds so affected have always been in the 2 to 4 week age range. Under those conditions, any particulates proved problematic and that included insects and even chick starter. My first go with that I did think it was oats in the scratch.


To keep all this in perspective, my young birds routinely consume dried seeds of grasses and even oats without ill effects. The birds are free-range and go after alternatives when they want to.

Thank you for your reply. This morning I see no ill effects on the chickens so I am hoping all is well and I will not do the soaked oats again. Should I still be concerned? I tried to find the crop on several of the birds yesterday but find no lump when I run my fingers from their beak down to their underside. If there were a problem, would I be able to feel a lump now?

I have another question for you. I am now letting them have the wheat whole but am crushing the whole Canadian peas. Will they ever be able to have the whole peas uncrushed? I am crushing the peas with my daughter's Vitamix but it is almost turning the peas into a flour which is not so good.

Thanks

 

[centrarchid]

Thank you for your reply. This morning I see no ill effects on the chickens so I am hoping all is well and I will not do the soaked oats again. Should I still be concerned? I tried to find the crop on several of the birds yesterday but find no lump when I run my fingers from their beak down to their underside. If there were a problem, would I be able to feel a lump now?

I have another question for you. I am now letting them have the wheat whole but am crushing the whole Canadian peas. Will they ever be able to have the whole peas uncrushed? I am crushing the peas with my daughter's Vitamix but it is almost turning the peas into a flour which is not so good.

Thanks

You are over reacting to soak oats. All will be fine. Weight till winter to use them.


Crop swelling / distension is normal following a large meal. It is usually at fullest about time birds go to roost.

Peas I am not familiar with but if they are like intact soybeans they pose an impaction risk if consumed in large amounts. Cracking or grinding advised until you get a better handle on how birds handle them. Take time observe birds with respect to how the crop operates.

 

[barbjess]

You are over reacting to soak oats. All will be fine. Weight till winter to use them.


Crop swelling / distension is normal following a large meal. It is usually at fullest about time birds go to roost.

Peas I am not familiar with but if they are like intact soybeans they pose an impaction risk if consumed in large amounts. Cracking or grinding advised until you get a better handle on how birds handle them. Take time observe birds with respect to how the crop operates.

Thank you for for reply...I feel much calmer now. I am still learning.

 

[centrarchid]

Thank you for for reply...I feel much calmer now. I am still learning.

Get used to the learning part; I still am as well. Watch your birds closely and you will see subtle changes in behavior associated with different foods. While you are still green (open minded) get some live meal worms and give them singly to chicks / juveniles. They will go nuts for them and you will find observations thereafter will be much easier to make. You will also discover the birds can be trained which is a blast.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I feed my chickens Austrian peas whole but they won't eat them in large quantity. I usually buy the split peas and won't be buying the Austrian peas again. Even my wild mourning doves won't eat them much- and other wild birds. The chickens eat the split peas OK but not in large quantities.

So peas whole are OK- I even feed whole corn (be cautious with bantams though on large things). Make sure that you increase whole grains and seeds slowly so the gizzard can become more muscular slowly and always make sure grit is available.

 

[barbjess]

The idea of split peas sounds workable and are certainly smaller than the Canadian peas. I will slowly use my my bags of Canadian peas and then see if I can switch over to the split peas. I could not find an inexpensive source of the split peas earlier in the year but I am determined to get this feed issue resolved. I need the peas for a protein source. I keep hoping to find a grain grinder or a malt mill on sale but have not been successful yet. Thanks for your help.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The idea of split peas sounds workable and are certainly smaller than the Canadian peas. I will slowly use my my bags of Canadian peas and then see if I can switch over to the split peas. I could not find an inexpensive source of the split peas earlier in the year but I am determined to get this feed issue resolved. I need the peas for a protein source. I keep hoping to find a grain grinder or a malt mill on sale but have not been successful yet. Thanks for your help.

Azurestandard.com is reasonable in cost for split peas...as are my grocery store bulk bins.

Seems like everyone is charging about 50 cents a pound. It cheapens up the feed bill when you compare it to BOSS though (I still give BOSS too).

 

[centrarchid]

The idea of split peas sounds workable and are certainly smaller than the Canadian peas. I will slowly use my my bags of Canadian peas and then see if I can switch over to the split peas. I could not find an inexpensive source of the split peas earlier in the year but I am determined to get this feed issue resolved. I need the peas for a protein source. I keep hoping to find a grain grinder or a malt mill on sale but have not been successful yet. Thanks for your help.

The grinder may not be all that important so long as you are not pushing your birds like commercial producers do. My brother feeds only with intact grains and his birds look very good. He, like myself, always makes certain grit is available. They are well adapted for handling intact grains especially if they are used to it. Mine will even consume the acorns of oak trees and grind them up just fine in their gizzards. If you are pushing very young birds for high growth rates then grinding may be required.

 

[centrarchid]

I must qualify the acorn statement. Their are many kinds of oak trees around here and most have acorns no bigger than my thumbnail which are easy to ingest. The really big bur oak acorns are too big except for maybe turkeys and ostriches to swallow whole.