Hatchery chickens

[JoBean1987]

I just bought 30 hens from a hatchery and I was wondering if feeding them rolled oats with molasses will hurt them.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Do you mean the steamed rolled oats with molasses they sell as animal feed? It is fine as a treat for grown hens. I wouldn't feed it to baby chicks.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[JoBean1987]

Even if they weren't eating it at the hatchery. These were the breeding stock hens.

 

[Kelsie2290]

It won't work as a complete chicken feed / their only food, but is fine as a treat. You might check what the brand is you have, but usually it is 98% oats and 2% molasses or so, usually consider it as a treat because of the molasses even if it isn't that high in some versions. They usually recommend limiting treats to about 10% of their diet. Oats are a popular chicken food but they are not that high in protein.

 

[JoBean1987]

What do you recommend for feed? We feed 1/2 rolled oats and 1/2 laying mash. And during the winter its 6gal of oats 4gal 17%laying mash and 2gal cracked wheat.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. It's important to meet all of a chicken's nutritional needs. Commercial feeds are specially formulated with that in mind, but homemade feeds are often lacking in important nutritional ingredients, particularly where today's hens are concerned that are egg laying machines, bred to churn out eggs at abnormal rates. There are some good articles on feeding chickens at different ages at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/11/feeding-chickens-at-different-ages.html and https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/feeding-at-different-ages. Good luck with your hens.

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

Oats and molasses won't hurt your hens if used as a treat, but that should not be their main diet. A commercial prepared pelleted or crumbled layer feed is usually best for mature hens.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

X2, oats and molasses are fine as a treat. But, don't make it their main diet. Less than 10% of a chicken's diet should be treats.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Definitely follow that link that Kelsie has provided. Too much molasses can cause diarrhea and the sweetness of it can throw off the crop can cause slow or sour crop. So be careful with too much molasses. This is fine for a treat, but for the health of your birds, hatchery stock or pure bred show birds, they need to be on a good chicken feed diet.

Good luck and welcome to our flock!