Chicken Treats -feeding oatmeal to chickens

[NNYchick]

Just read article on chicken treats which included hot oatmeal. In winter, I used to make it every morning for my feathered family along with Kefir, which I make and give them everyday. However, I read an article, posted in one of your forums, which stated that hot oatmeal is too glutenous for them to digest properly and is more harmful than helpful to their digestive tract and absorption.

Now I'm not sure what to do, because they did love that warm tasty breakfast in the cold weather.

Here is a good blog about it. https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/
Information came from poultry nutritionist not the blogger herself. Oatmeal does have a type of fiber that can cause issues for chickens if given too much. You are also diluting there total daily nutrition. Your better off giving pellets or crumble with a little kefir or warm water.
This is not the first time I’ve heard a poultry nutritionist to say oats should be used sparingly as a ground powder to increase fiber only, they really have no other nutritional value. I just listened to a podcast that explains they are prickly they can cause issues with the intestines when not ground.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here is a good blog about it. https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/
Information came from poultry nutritionist not the blogger herself. Oatmeal does have a type of fiber that can cause issues for chickens if given too much. You are also diluting there total daily nutrition. Your better off giving pellets or crumble with a little kefir or warm water.
This is not the first time I’ve heard a poultry nutritionist to say oats should be used sparingly as a ground powder to increase fiber only, they really have no other nutritional value. I just listened to a podcast that explains they are prickly they can cause issues with the intestines when not ground.

I lost a few birds last winter after I started to feed some rolled oatmeal dry to my chickens. I will never again feed them to my chickens, not wet and definitely never dry.

 

[centrarchid]

Here is a good blog about it. https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/
Information came from poultry nutritionist not the blogger herself. Oatmeal does have a type of fiber that can cause issues for chickens if given too much. You are also diluting there total daily nutrition. Your better off giving pellets or crumble with a little kefir or warm water.
This is not the first time I’ve heard a poultry nutritionist to say oats should be used sparingly as a ground powder to increase fiber only, they really have no other nutritional value. I just listened to a podcast that explains they are prickly they can cause issues with the intestines when not ground.

Anything can cause issues if consumed too much. It is a basic nutrition concept.


There may or may not be an issue with the oatmeal causing irritation of intestines. It may be a combination of chicken genetics and gizzard activity. With my chickens, they handle intact oats very well as a minor proportion of diet. Broilers and commercial egg layers that have been selected to perform on highly refined and nutritional dense feeds may be particularly vulnerable to irritation of the digestive tract. Would be nice to know what breeds actually studied are being extrapolated from.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

@NNYchick - Thanks very much for that article! I have added rolled oats to my scratch mix at times. I also add oyster shell, flax seed, grit, and some of their feed (they gobble it up, silly girls) so that I have a treat to sprinkle when they come when called. No more oats!

 

[CatWhisperer]

I read the same nutrition article about oatmeal. After 6 years of feeding it regularly in the winter I won’t be doing it any more. I’m a big believer in scientific research (unlike so many chicken owners) and will be looking for alternatives this winter. Not trying to dis most of you, just the ones feeding DE and pumpkin seeds to deworm, and not feeding manufactured chicken feeds because chickens lived without it hundreds and thousands of years ago.

 

[centrarchid]

It appears the assumption is that oatmeal or oats is to represent all or the majority of the diet. In other words depicting this as an all or none scenario. Every feed ingredient I can think of will cause issues when used to excess.

The article referenced appears to me to be one ultimately to increase sales of a product that funds the writer. The website hosting the article is clearly an attempt to maximize exposure for advertisers by building up what amounts to a cult following.

 

[Shadrach]

Here is a good blog about it. https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/
Information came from poultry nutritionist not the blogger herself. Oatmeal does have a type of fiber that can cause issues for chickens if given too much. You are also diluting there total daily nutrition. Your better off giving pellets or crumble with a little kefir or warm water.
This is not the first time I’ve heard a poultry nutritionist to say oats should be used sparingly as a ground powder to increase fiber only, they really have no other nutritional value. I just listened to a podcast that explains they are prickly they can cause issues with the intestines when not ground.

Have a look at who sponsors the site and then make a decision.

 

[Norma_Lorp]

I've been known to serve "chicken meal mush." It's just the usual chicken food (crumbles or pellets) plus water. The chickens seem to love it.
I serve it warm but not hot, which means I use either warm or hot water, depending on how cold the dry feed starts out. Crumbles soak up the water faster than pellets, but either will work.

Thanks for the idea. I have a bag of pellets leftover that my girls weren’t too fond of. Maybe I’ll make them a warm mushy treat out of it this morning 15f here, should warm them up a bit

 

[Vicker]

Natual oats have no gluten. Maybe the article was referring to the gummy consistency ofcooked oatmeal. Just thin it out well and make sure they have plenty of water to drink. And of course limit how much you are giving them.

 

[NNYchick]

Have a look at who sponsors the site and then make a decision.

I usually don’t pay attention to blogs but this information actually was from a poultry nutritionist and had reference links to scientific studies at the bottom of the entry.