Fun with oatmeal

[horsejody]

I decided to give the babies that are left in the house a treat last night. I put little bits of cooked oatmeal on small plates for them. 4 Jersey Giants in one brooder had a food fight with it. First they decided to take dust baths in it. Then they must have felt firty because they rolled in the wood shavings. What a mess! Then the games really started. They ran around eating oatmeal off eachothers' backs. When that was done, they took the reamaining oatmeal and chased eachother around the brooder with it. The whole game lasted at least 1 1/2 hours. The funny thing is that it was only about 2 teaspoons of oatmeal.

The silikes, on the other hand, just ate theirs and took a nap.

 

[M.J]

Thats my friend raises jersey giants and she calls them the pig pen clan for they are forever rolling in anything that is absolutely filthy

 

[WillsMama93]

We had our firrst experience with oatmeal last night too.. I gave the "girls" about 1/2 a teaspoon of dry instant oatmeal (I kind of crumbled it up some first) and after a few encouraging taps from me, they hopped right on it. It was funny.. Lola only seemed interested in the pieces that Pinoccio was trying to eat!
A friend told me this morning that the oatmeal would swell in their bellies after they ate it and it could kill them. Is this true? They seemed fine this morning. They also have not had any grit yet. Do they need grit before we try any other treats?
Hopefully we will be bringing home some new babies tonight!!

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Very cute story about the Jersey Giants and the Polish. It proves that chicks and chickens are better than TV!

 

[fleenorfarmmom]

oh boy! I'm out of yogurt, and they are looking for a treat in the chicken room. I love watching them with stuff that's new. Oatmeal here we come!

 

[dreamgirl]

Willsmom,

I don't have an answer to your oatmeal question, but yes, if you are going to give them treats they need grit.

 

[WillsMama93]

Thanks Morgen, I will get some today. Can you use the same grit they sell at petsmart for cockateils?

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
I went to Petco to buy dog food and looked for grit while I was in there. They only sold one brand, and it was loaded with calcium. I decided not to buy it because I didn't want to overload the babies with calcium. I will use plain old sand or cheap grocery store grit (no added calcium) until they are big enough to free range and pick up stones.