Does anyone else give their chickens a HOT breakfast?

[ailurophile23]

With cold weather approaching, I am stocking up on oatmeal, raisins, flaxseed meal, and yogurt - it makes a wonderful hot breakfast for the hens on those bitter mornings. I tend to mix in a little of this and a little of that - whatever grains are handy combined with some small amounts of treats (raisins or yogurt) to top it off. The girls love these breakfasts!

 

[Godiva]

It is a great way to get your birds running up to you instead of away! I don't do it all the time but when it is really cold I feel guilty in my nice heated house while they are half frozen outside. It only takes a minute to mix a little rolled oats, hot water and sometimes a little kefir or scratch or whatever little oddity is lying around. They think I am awesome and it makes it way easier to catch them if I need to. They don't mind at all - they're too busy checking me out for treats

 

[Haunted Chicken]

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Mine love hot oatmeal and kefir! Weird combo but they love it! When they were chicks I made hot cereal out of their crumbles every morning. They aren't as crazy about hot cereal made out of the Layena so oatmeal it is. Just not every day now. I guess I should start it back up now that it's getting cold.

 

[affacat]

Had never thought about giving them a hot breakfast, but we eat oatmeal regularly when it gets chilly. May have to throw a little extra in the pot so the ladies can have a treat...We spoil our cats, why not spoil our chicks? At least the things they leave in small, tucked away boxes are edible, unlike the cats...

 

[bustermommy]

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[brownysfp]

A pot of grains simmering on the wood-burner overnight gives the mob a good morning kick-start. Looks like we could be seeing the season's first frost at the weekend so there'll a lot more simmering going on. By the time I've doled out the hot food the kettle's boiled so everyone's happy.

 

[lorain's fids]

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I feel the same way about my chickens too!

 

[lorain's fids]

I generally have plain oatmeal in the morning for breakfast so I have been making extra for the chickens. They love it and it seems that they expect it-every morning now.

 

[Sjisty]

I give my girls a warm supper in the winter, so they go to bed with warm full bellies. Sometimes even in the summer if it is a wet, dreary day I will cook them something to brighten their day and mine. Oh, and always when I cook pasta I will cook the whole box so there are leftovers for the chickens!

Just because half of my grocery store bill is for chicken stuff, it doesn't mean they're spoiled!

 

[Animalian]

I give them warm breakfast in winter. They put energy into heating up their food (room temp to body temp) before they can digest it, so heating it up for them saves them energy so they don't have to eat quite so much!

Same thing works for people! I have a friend who has real trouble putting on weight ( she's 20 and is around 40kg) and they suggested she always eat warm food for that very reason.