Fatten chickens up for the winter?

[spunkychickenmomma]

Newbie question. I have always added a little more feed this time of year to my outside animals so they could "fatten up" and keep a little warmer in the winter. Is this theory also used for chickens as well?

 

[Rosaleen]

I like to add warm oatmeal and raisins for regular treat. I also mix in a handful of sunflower seeds in their daily crumbles. They also get some scratch out in the run.

 

[tacofeathers]

Hi! I am also anticipating a Minnesota winter (soon). In the past, I have wondered about feeding suet to chickens. Would this be beneficial to the flock when they will be out in the cold Minnesota winter? I gave them a commercial bird food suet block, and of course, they LOVED it. I was thinking of just getting beef suet from the butcher.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any experience feeding suet to the flock?
Thanks for the help!

 

[dragonlair]

I feed my hens meat and fat scraps in the fall and winter months instead of suet. It seems to help add calories to keep them toasty and their feathers are thicker than before I started feeding them the fat. The girls LOVE it. I sometimes roll the warmed fat/meat in millet and BOSS and give it to them that way. If I dare to go into their pens in the morning without their meat/fat they stare at me like "hey, did you forget something????"

 

[HEChicken]

Mine have free access to feed year round so if they want to eat more in preparation for winter, they are free to do so. In winter I make them hot mashes just by heating water and adding some of their pellets to it to form a mash consistency, which they seem to enjoy. I have also bought the suet blocks for them but they are more of a treat than anything and their purpose is to give them something to do on the days they can't free-range due to snow on the ground.

 

[tacofeathers]

Hi Dragonlair and HEchicken! THANK you for your replies! Stay warm!