Best Winter Chicken Foods

[eggwina]

I have a question...Can chickens eat cooked sweet potatoes?? I read on here that potatoes were toxic...would sweet potatoes fit in that catagory too...

 

[dlhunicorn]

I only supplement my birds basic chicken feed when there is a particular reason to do so (although I do use farmed (not wild) mealworms to treat and tame) ... my rule of thumb is ; too much of a "good" thing is a bad thing...
Chickens and their nutritional needs as well as digestion and everything else you can think of is researched to the nth degree constantly (the chicken is the most researched animal on the planet!) To understand its nutritional needs you must understand how digestion works and also what influences the environmental factors (i.e. cold/hot/temperature swings) have on its system. Birds have a very high metabolism and what it eats in a 24 hour period and the environmental conditions basically determines its health and immune competancy and has far reaching consequences.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...nel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
"...The present study showed that low ambient temperature causes detrimental effects on the digestibility of nutrients and antioxidant status and that such detrimental effects caused by low ambient temperature can be alleviated by chromium and zinc supplementation, particularly when Cr and Zn were simultaneously included into the diet. Data obtained in the present study suggest that such supplementation can be considered as a protective management practice in a diet of laying hens for alleviating negative effects of cold stress...."
(now I am not saying to rush out and buy chromium/zinc supplement as there are very specific toxicity levels of some of these micronutrients/minerals > I posted this to underline that nutrient uptake from their feed is affected in cold weather and also to underscore why I advise that you add a complete nutritional/vitamin supplement in the winter and summer or other times of environmental stress... these little research abstracts can be helpful in choosing your treats > just google which foods would be high in zinc / chromium for instance is what I mean.)

What I personally do in addition to a good general/complete supplement is mix just enough (cooked-in-water) human oatmeal to their basic feed so it just clumps together as this results in them taking in more feed with every bite and getting the complete mix (my feed is a combo pellet/crumble/grain mixture)> to this I also add wheatgerm oil > another good source of many micronutrients that are in limited quantity in the feed mix . Birds will eat more at the first feed and also at the close of the day... I will give them a limited amount of scratch once I have seen they have "finished" and have gone back to scratching around .

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

dlhunicorn:

Making Google searches then summarizing summaries does not make one a Nutritionist nor a nutrition expert. The summary of this study may or may not agree with the remainder of the published literature, the methods used may not be appropriate, and a myriad other factors may determine that this summary is inappropriate for the purpose you intend.

In fact, the conclusion that low ambient temp affects digestiblity is inappropriate since low ambient temperature was NOT evaluated in this experiment!!! The only conclusions that the researchers can make is whether Chromium Picolinate or Zinc Sulfate affect digestibilty of the nutrients tested.


I agree completely with your statement to offer COMPLETE NUTRITION through a quality feed.

Jim

 

[dlhunicorn]

Making Google searches then summarizing summaries does not make one a Nutritionist nor a nutrition expert... .

... well... NO it doesnt

I did not "summarize the summary" ... I read it and posted an excerpt.

The summary of this study may or may not agree with the remainder of the published literature, the methods used may not be appropriate, and a myriad other factors may determine that this summary is inappropriate for the purpose you intend.

a quick pubmed search showed the subject researched several times and (in general) the same conclusions > this is just the one I excerpted (to quote the details of the abstract would not have been helpful to the members of this forum)

In fact, the conclusion that low ambient temp affects digestiblity is inappropriate since low ambient temperature was NOT evaluated in this experiment!!!

no... that is widely known and quoted and as such that statement was also acceptable to the scientific journal it was published in so who am I to question it?​

 

[@migocontodos~]

Quote:
In the 30's really does not justify heat for chickens unless they are very young/small.
Plus, how old are they, were they roosting in the coop to begin with?

 

[HeartlanderMom]

Egwina: *cooked* regular potatoes are fine! Just don't feed them raw, and especially not raw peels from regular potatoes.
That being said, I wouldn't feed raw sweet potatoes either.

BTW- don't eat potatoes yourself that have gone green-skinned (exposure to light makes them green), either, even cooked- unless you cut 1/8 down into the potato below the green peel. That's toxic for everyone... Solanine... anyway.

About cooked SWEET potatoes, they're great. Full o'beta carotene and vitamins you know. My girls looooove them. I regularly bake sweet potatoes for my family and make a couple extras, just plain bake them. The next day, the leftovers go out to my Ladies. I split them open and put it down, they bury their little beaks in there, all the way to the nostrils- can't get it down fast enough. Feathery piranhas.

Judith & Crew
7 hens 2 dogs 2 kids + 1 Chook-lovin' DH
Somewhere @ Columbus OH
Under Cover in Suburbia

 

[HeartlanderMom]

Egwina: *cooked* regular potatoes are fine! Just don't feed them raw, and especially not raw peels from regular potatoes.
That being said, I wouldn't feed raw sweet potatoes either.

BTW- don't eat potatoes yourself that have gone green-skinned (exposure to light makes them green), either, even cooked- unless you cut 1/8 down into the potato below the green peel. That's toxic for everyone... Solanine... anyway.

About cooked SWEET potatoes, they're great. Full o'beta carotene and vitamins you know. My girls looooove them. I regularly bake sweet potatoes for my family and make a couple extras, just plain bake them. The next day, the leftovers go out to my Ladies. I split them open and put it down, they bury their little beaks in there, all the way to the nostrils- can't get it down fast enough. Feathery piranhas.

Judith & Crew
7 hens 2 dogs 2 kids + 1 Chook-lovin' DH
Somewhere around Columbus OH
Under Cover in Suburbia

 

[leasmom]

I recently fed mine cooked sweet potatoes and they loved it too. Its the uncooked that toxic.

 

[lexibrite]

They have been the coop with a run since early June. I put new shavings in when needed. I have turned off the light and they are sleeping on the roost again.

A couple of my coworkers raise chickens in this area. Neither one of them use lights. So, I will just carry on without for now. I will have to do something to keep their water thawed later in the winter. What do you use?

 

[leasmom]

THis is going to be my first winter with chickens...as a matter of fact, it was so cold this morning their water froze, the ones that are outside. I think I'll just pour hot water into a bucket and take it to them daily if necessary...I hope not.

But I have a question...do you feed your chickens hot oatmeal everyday in the winter and how many times a day, like do you give them it for breakfast and at night?