Cold treat safe for chickens?

[TheyBeChillin]

Hey!! We’re getting ready to have a massive heat wave this week, and I need to be able to keep my flock cool. I have plenty of shade, water, and homemade electrolytes I will supply them with. But is this cold treat safe for them to eat? They were giving it away for free at our local pet store, but it’s meant for dogs.

 

[CabritaChicks]

Just purchase a bag of frozen mixed vegetable? and what do you consider a heat wave?

I didnt want to post, because I will get scorned for this but...

While some chicken keepers swear by yogurt as a probiotic (and I get it—no science lecture here), it’s really not ideal for poultry. It often causes runny droppings, which is the last thing we want when keeping birds hydrated in heat. Around 90% of chickens are lactose intolerant and lack the enzymes needed to break down dairy—yes, there are always exceptions, but I’m speaking from basic anatomy, not the rare outliers. Plus, the probiotics in yogurt are designed for mammalian guts and aren’t particularly helpful—or even functional—in a chicken’s unique digestive system.

When people add toppings like bacon (which is extremely high in sodium- or 'bacon flavoring'), it becomes even more inappropriate.

I wouldn't feed that to my dog. As I said, if you want to make sure they are cool, grab a fan, wet the ground, give them a bag of frozen veggies/fruit and let them be hogs in heaven.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I would eat that!

Chickens eat a lot less in the heat, so you want every bite to be as meaningful as possible. I make cold mash out of a higher protein feed (Nutrena All Flock Pellets). Just keep adding little bits of cold water at a time until it resembles mashed potatoes. They'll go nuts! It gets them hydrated and provides nutrition.

If you really want to go the extra mile, freeze some of their feed before you make the mash.

 

[CabritaChicks]

I would eat that!
Chickens eat a lot less in the heat, so you want every bite to be as meaningful as possible. I make cold mash out of a higher protein feed (Nutrena All Flock Pellets). Just keep adding little bits of cold water at a time until it resembles mashed potatoes. They'll go nuts! It gets them hydrated and provides nutrition.

YES! I make mash from crumbles, add in the frozen chopped stuffs- and let it defrost in the sun. Chickens go crazy over it as it is hydration and cool at the same time.

 

[TheyBeChillin]

Just purchase a bag of frozen mixed vegetable? and what do you consider a heat wave?

I didnt want to post, because I will get scorned for this but...

While some chicken keepers swear by yogurt as a probiotic (and I get it—no science lecture here), it’s really not ideal for poultry. It often causes runny droppings, which is the last thing we want when keeping birds hydrated in heat. Around 90% of chickens are lactose intolerant and lack the enzymes needed to break down dairy—yes, there are always exceptions, but I’m speaking from basic anatomy, not the rare outliers. Plus, the probiotics in yogurt are designed for mammalian guts and aren’t particularly helpful—or even functional—in a chicken’s unique digestive system.

When people add toppings like bacon (which is extremely high in sodium- or 'bacon flavoring'), it becomes even more inappropriate.

I wouldn't feed that to my dog. As I said, if you want to make sure they are cool, grab a fan, wet the ground, give them a bag of frozen veggies/fruit and let them be hogs in heaven.

Okay, thank you!! We’re going to have heat indexes over 100, and there’s hardly any cloud cover. We’ve had temps in the 80’s with rain everyday so now it’s also extremely muggy. We just got hot very quickly.

 

[TheyBeChillin]

I would eat that!

Chickens eat a lot less in the heat, so you want every bite to be as meaningful as possible. I make cold mash out of a higher protein feed (Nutrena All Flock Pellets). Just keep adding little bits of cold water at a time until it resembles mashed potatoes. They'll go nuts! It gets them hydrated and provides nutrition.

If you really want to go the extra mile, freeze some of their feed before you make the mash.

I like the idea of mash! I could definitely fix that for them

 

[Anon112]

It often causes runny droppings, which is the last thing we want when keeping birds hydrated in heat.

This was my first thought. Introducing a new food during a time of stress might not be the best idea as it could cause diarrhea.

Today when I got home from work I made my chickens mash with their regular feed and cold water. (They still have their regular food and water available). If you want to get fancy, you could maybe put in a few little pieces of blueberry.

 

[TheyBeChillin]

This was my first thought. Introducing a new food during a time of stress might not be the best idea as it could cause diarrhea.

Today when I got home from work I made my chickens mash with their regular feed and cold water. (They still have their regular food and water available). If you want to get fancy, you could maybe put in a few little pieces of blueberry.

They love fruit. I have strawberries in the garden that they are little piggies for

 

[FrostRanger]

I think they were just wondering if it was fine as a one time treat as it was just a freebe they got at the store

I agree I wouldn't feed this regularly but if you just need to use up then you can go ahead and give it to them, just not too much at once nor very often

 

[TheyBeChillin]

I think they were just wondering if it was fine as a one time treat as it was just a freebe they got at the store

I agree I wouldn't feed this regularly but if you just need to use up then you can go ahead and give it to them, just not too much at once nor very often

I was only considering it as a one time thing. I’d take anything if it’s free

Thank you! I do have two dogs that I can give it to. They ate a cup of it already, and they enjoyed it. Although one acted kind of wild afterwards so I’m not really sure what that was about, but they’d definitely finish it for me