Frozen treats for chickens, will they do more harm than good

[talkinboutchickens]

Hi there, I've seen so many recipes on frozen treats for chickens, like corn in a muffin tin, or even frozen fruits and veggies in a bowl of water. However, I have seen controversy on this. I've seen many sources that say that frozen stuff for chickens will in fact do more harm than good. I've seen sources that say it will shock their system if their bodies are already hot. Is this true? Thanks in advance!

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Might get hate for this, but I give my chooks frozen treats in the summer all the time with no ill effects! Just make sure what you're putting in the blocks is something they can have. Mine are quite fond of carrot peels and mash.

 

[WingItRanch]

Good question! I personally have never seen any ill effects and I do give frozen watermelon when the heat is really bad.

I also give warm mash on very cold winter mornings.

No issues at all. They all are very enthusiastic to get their special treat.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I often freeze fruit in an old sour cream container or the like. I do it in water so I end up with a frozen cylinder with fruit in it. Like a jello mold. Then I dump it in the run and they pick at it to get the fruit out or let it melt and then eat the fruit. I haven’t had issues with it. I’m not sure how much it cools them off but walking through the puddle it makes as it melts definitely does.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Hi there, I've seen so many recipes on frozen treats for chickens, like corn in a muffin tin, or even frozen fruits and veggies in a bowl of water. However, I have seen controversy on this. I've seen many sources that say that frozen stuff for chickens will in fact do more harm than good. I've seen sources that say it will shock their system if their bodies are already hot. Is this true? Thanks in advance!

I feel like shocking the system may be more like dunking a bird in cold or ice water, not offering it to them as a snack. I can't imagine pecking at some cold ice cubes with blueberries in them would do that much harm if anything. Where were you reading this and how did they explain what harm it'd cause?

 

[RoyalChick]

I often freeze fruit in an old sour cream container or the like. I do it in water so I end up with a frozen cylinder with fruit in it. Like a jello mold. Then I dump it in the run and they pick at it to get the fruit out or let it melt and then eat the fruit. I haven’t had issues with it. I’m not sure how much it cools them off but walking through the puddle it makes as it melts definitely does.

I do this but I use kefir (or yoghurt) instead of water. It freezes to be like ice cream and my ladies love it!
They go at it so hard they get their faces covered and then sit for hours happily preening (or wiping their messy beaks on my boots).
Frozen blueberries, corn, and peas are also always popular here.

 

[D Uccle Uncle]

To me, the biggest problem with giving frozen or cold treats is that some people apparently think that this cools a chicken down. Inasmuch as it does cool a chicken down, the cooling effect lasts a very short period.

Restated, I suggest frozen or cold treats should not be part of the plan to prevent chicken heat stroke and death.

In an emergency, for an overheated bird, certainly a cold treat would be reasonable. But in this regard, the cold treat is actually treatment for a condition that we were earlier attempting to avoid.

Many threads start with "How do I keep my birds cool" followed by people listing cold treats as one of the top things to do. From my perspective, chickens in the summer heat are like construction workers on a very hot job site. If its my job to keep them alive, handing them a popsicle every hour just isn't appropriate. I would feel like I was doing something, the workers would appreciate the popsicles, but the popsicles won't prevent heat stroke.