Best "supplements" for chickens on really cold days?

[bjash]

Mainly it's just ground up corn (not as fine as layer mash, but usually not as coarse as pellets).

It should be less than the cost of layer mash. In my area layer mash goes for about $13 this time of year and the last bag of scratch I bought a couple months ago was less than $8.

 

[mychookschick]

So it is sort of like cracked corn??

 

[bjash]

Close, depending on where you buy it from. Some places mix in other grains with it too.

 

[silkieroo]

Quote:
Yes basically sometimes it has other stuff in there too. Like oats and wheat.... You can should be able to find it at your feed store. Sometimes its averitised that its for wild birds.

 

[fiberart57]

Tonight before their bedtime, I cooked up a porridge out of seven grain cereal and polenta. Then I added some raisins and kept it warm until about 4:30 pm, about 45 minutes before bedtime. They were pretty thrilled with it and ate their fill.

We're cold here as well, it's supposed to drop below zero tonight. I boil water, put it in gallon jugs and bury it in the shavings of their coop. By morning it will be cold, but not frozen. I like to think that it's giving them a bit more heat. Usually I only do one gallon, but tonight they've gotten two. I put one underneath my Andalusian, who's not happy with the cold.

Tomorrow night, perhaps I'll put some salmon oil in their food to give them some fat.

Mary

 

[mychookschick]

Quote:
Yes basically sometimes it has other stuff in there too. Like oats and wheat.... You can should be able to find it at your feed store. Sometimes its averitised that its for wild birds.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be stealing this thread but I'm confused.... So if I just ask for "scratch" will they know what I'm talking about or should I look for something in particular??

 

[bjash]

Just scratch (there may be different brands). If they look at you funny, qualify it with "Chicken" scratch. That's always good for a laugh.

 

[slightlyscrambled]

I always take down an icecream bucket of warm water and dump in a big scoop of their crumbles. It turns to a porridge consistancy and everyone loves it. Kind of like a bowl of warm oatmeal on a cold morning!!

 

[Muscovies]

Scratch

 

[Judy]

Yes, cracked corn and scratch are much the same. There are different kinds of scratch, though. Some are all or mostly corn, and some are a higher quality treat, with other grains in it.

Unlike many on here, I won't give my birds treats late in the day. Their crops are so full by then that I'm afraid I will cause crop problems. I figure that they will be digesting that big wad of food all night, and that should hold them.

Don't get caught in the trap of overdoing fat or starch, and have them wind up being short on protein. If you feed a fresh, decent quality feed, they probably don't need anything else at all, especially if they are free to forage. I'm not saying don't give treats -- I do, too, in the morning, every day -- just don't throw their nutritional balance off by overdoing it.