given 200# rice - ok to feed to chickens

[yellowirenut]

Quote:
3/4 of the world eat it daily as there main food staple. I think it probably has a high nutritional value.
My only concern would be feeding it uncooked. In that form the nutrition may be hard to get to.

 

[triplepurpose]

Are we talking brown rice or white rice? Because if you are talking about nutritional value that makes a HUUUUGE difference! Brown contains a decent profile with some protein, minerals, fiber, etc. while white rice is basically just starch. I don't know about chickens, but humans can live quite well on a diet of brown rice and little else. But an exclusive diet of white rice will quickly bring on nutrient deficiencies and related health problems. In short, a normal healthy body needs food that is both energy rich AND nutrient rich to sustain itself. I can only assume the same general statement applies to chickens or any other animal.

Which is not to say I wouldn't feed white rice to chickens, only that it makes a big difference in nutritional value when you are figuring out what to feed them and you should take that into account...

Definitely cook it first. Uncooked rice can kill birds.

As a source of carbohydrates, cooked brown rice could be a great element of a chicken diet. But rice contains little protein, so you want to make sure they are getting enough in proportion to the carbs, but if as you say they are foraging for bugs and you are also feeding them milk, I would think that would help a lot.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Uncooked rice will not kill birds!! That is a wives tale just like scratch grain heats your bird up.
"The folks at Birder's magazine, Birdwatcher Digest, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the USA Rice Federation all agree: rice causes no harm to birds. There are varieties of birds that routinely eat rice in the wild and with no harm. As one observer put it, if rice caused birds to explode, there would be bird parts all over Asia."

Also "White Rice" is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed.

Chris

 

[KenK]

Quote:
Exploding chickens?

I have a diabolical experiment going on to first feed my chickens corn to get them "hot" and then I'm going to give them some rice. Boudin on the claw!

 

[OkieCluck]

If uncooked rice killed birds, there would be exploded ducks and geese all over central Arkansas!

 

[Impress]

I think that rumor just started because Churches got tired of cleaning rice off their steps. It is total BS, you can feed uncooked rice to chickens, we tossed it to our chickens in Korea all the time, they loved it!

 

[wyododge]

Quote:
Thats pretty close to corn so I would feed it the same as scratch.

Score x2.

As far as grain warming your birds, it's true just like whiskey.

 

[pgpoultry]

I would always cook it as in cooked rice will swell in the crop.

Rice is a starchy staple, and chooks love it, but it should not form the majority of their diet.

Would I feed white rice to my chooks? Absolutely, but make sure that they are provided with a good variety of other foods.

 

[EMAW]

Quote:
Uncooked rice will not kill birds!! That is a wives tale just like scratch grain heats your bird up.
"The folks at Birder's magazine, Birdwatcher Digest, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the USA Rice Federation all agree: rice causes no harm to birds. There are varieties of birds that routinely eat rice in the wild and with no harm. As one observer put it, if rice caused birds to explode, there would be bird parts all over Asia."

Also "White Rice" is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed.

Chris

Exploding chickens, oh my....

Rice is like any other grain, when added to water or moisture it will expand. Watch how the oatmeal in the morning is larger once cooked or how barley expands in soup this winter, rice is just the same and for some reason rice has gotten a bad rap.



BL: As a sole source of food rice alone is probably not the best option, as a treat it's great and cheap option that you do not need to cook before you feed it.

 

[galanie]

Uncooked rice does not swell up in the crop or any such silliness. It doesn't swell any more than any other seed does when wet. It's only when cooked at the boiling point that it swells. Naturally this isn't going to happen inside a bird.

Mine LOVE uncooked rice. I give it as a treat and they gobble it up. And none have ever exploded.