How do you feed OATS to chickens?

[rSpriggs]

Barry, not knowing what corner of the world you're in, or how much access your gals have to fresh greens, my vote would be to sprout the oats.
Soak overnight, pour thru a screen, allow them to stay dampish, rinse off a couple times a day, & you'll WAY jump the protein & fresh greens % for them!
It may take a few days to get decent sprouts, but I think the benefits are well worth it.

Another method is to take 2 5-gal buckets that nest inside each other. Drill holes in the inner bucket (or pepper it with birdshot!) to make a strainer, fill some oats & water into it, then simply lift out to strain / in to re-soak.

Let us know how you make out!

Russ

 

[czgarcia]

I feed it to mine dry. I mix brown rice (not cooked), cracked corn or scratch and oats. They love it.

 

[annep]

I love oat groats, and just throw them a handfull here and there, uncooked

 

[Fred's Hens]

One does not HAVE to soak, soften, cook, or sprout oats, but if you want to offer something different, it is one of the easiest grains to use in providing something out of the ordinary or something warm on cold winter days. If the story is true about Ma Ingalls, that just makes it all the better.

 

[Sueg4332]

Quote:
The biggest percentages of my free ranging chickens comes from the wheat and oat hay stack. Grain that is dropped or picked out of bales by chickens. They work the stack over regularly. They are all fat and healthy.

 

[Cass]

I make myself a bowl of oatmeal every day, but haven't mastered the recipe for ONE serving yet. I feed my chickens the leftovers I can't eat. They LOVE it. I do draw the line at using a spoon to feed them tho.

I'm gonna check for whole oats at the co-op for the winter and sprouting them for the chickens. Around here NOTHING is green in the winter time.

Thanks OP for asking, cuz I learned a lot and laughed a lot at the answers you got.

 

[mestaske]

To reply to the exploding this, maybe not for birds but if you get instant grits you can sprinkle it around and ant pile and when they eat it they explode, a natural, non pesticide way....

We have tonnns of oats out here in the grain silo, my chickens will not eat it unless they are out of all other options, I think I will try soaking a bucketfull overnight and see what happens. A couple years ago I left oats in a bucket outside that was meant for my horses. It ended up sprouting and even looking like grass after I had forgotten about it, fed it to my chickens and they liked it then. looked pretty cool too when I dumped it out.. Anyway, good ideas.

 

[TheMotherHen]

I keep dried oats in a watertight container outside all year and when it's time for the ladies to go back home I shake it and toss some on the run floor - they come running home from all directions! It's a great way to trick them into doing what I want. In the winter on very cold days I cook oats with raisins and serve it warm as a special treat.

 

[BrewedInNh]

It's snowing here this morning. Our girls got cooked quick oatmeal and left over lentils sprinkled with crushed egg shells for breakfast, we didn't have any yogurt to add.

Through this winter they've gotten all the table scraps and leftovers mixed with oatmeal several mornings per week. Egg production never slowed.

 

[Patricia Jane]

I will serve my girls cooked warm oatmeal with cut up grapes on cool monrings. They love it. Best healthy treat.