How to put weight on young birds?

[Ol'Biddy]

I'm pretty new to chickies, but beet pulp is great for putting weight on horses without giving them excess carbs like grain does. Since it really expands when it gets wet, be sure to soak for at least an hour in cold water (less in hot). I've heard people say they leave it out dry to eliminate pigeons and rats since the critters eat it and then it expands and ruptures their innards. Don't know if that's an old wives tale or not,

but I always soak before giving to my horses.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

do you give it as a treat to the horses or instead of regular feed? I'd soak in hot water first. It can't hurt the chickens. right?

 

[seminolewind]

There are more calories in a teaspoon of oil than a teaspoon of anything else. You could mix a bit of oil into their oatmeal or mash or whatever.

 

[Ol'Biddy]

I used it as as part of the horses' regular diet when I was boarding my guys out and the stable didn't feed enough hay to keep weight on them. Some people use grain for weight, but most grains tend to make horses "hot" and my mare gets unmanageable with any hot food. Since beet pulp is nutritionally similar to alfalfa hay, you can substitute 1/3 for their normal hay ration. I'm such a newbie with chickies, I don't know if there is anything in it that is bad for them, but wanted to warn you that it expands up to 5X when it is soaked so could do some serious damage if fed dry. Some people soak it for 24 hours for their horses, but that's overkill and could start to ferment or mold.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

My horses are both overweight, so perhaps I'll stick to just giving them warm oatmeal as a cold weather treat. The chickens I suppose, will be getting more oatmeal and some sunflower seeds. I just can't imagine the shell being digestable