Oatmeal alternative for your flock!

[selainek]

A lot of us like to give our flock a warm breakfast on cold mornings but feeding oatmeal to chickens turns out to be quite controversial! Oats are not nutritionally complete like their ususal feed, so try this recipe my daughter came up with:

Chicken "Oatmeal"
Feed - we use crumbles but I'm sure pellets would work too
Hot Water - stir in to desired consistency

That's it! Simple but brilliant! Our girls love it and I hope yours do too

 

[Acre4Me]

Yup. Our flock loves wet feed. Thinks it’s a real treat! Ours love it pretty wet. In the winter, I also add re-hydrated alfalfa pellets for some greens. I use really hot water on the alfalfa pellets to get them rehydrates before mixing into the wet feed. Alfalfa is 16% protein, so it’s not diluting protein content.

 

[TwoCrows]

Yes, I frequently add grains to the crumble and add warm water to make mash. They love it! Oatmeal is a favorite here too.

 

[Nor-Cal Chickens]

Nice! I'm going to try this on the weekends when I can feed them in the mornings.

 

[Lil Bit North Farm]

So basically rolled oats that I have in my pantry can be made into oatmeal breakfast as a treat only?? Can I mix some with their sunflower seeds raw as a treat?

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

So basically rolled oats that I have in my pantry can be made into oatmeal breakfast as a treat only?? Can I mix some with their sunflower seeds raw as a treat?

Yes...oats are fine in moderation...but aren’t a full nutritional ration.

 

[Lil Bit North Farm]

Absolutely!! I want them for mixed in with a little scratch now and then

Thanks

 

[Acre4Me]

So basically rolled oats that I have in my pantry can be made into oatmeal breakfast as a treat only?? Can I mix some with their sunflower seeds raw as a treat?

The OP is using the term “oatmeal” loosely. They wet down the complete chicken feed (either pellets or crumble) with warm water, and serve it as a wet mash. It looks like oatmeal, but is actually their complete feed.

we do the same thing here -wet feed usually with treats (like some small seeds or scrambled eggs) sprinkled on top. Chicken nirvana.

actual oatmeal or oats, are NOT complete feed for chickens. There is no reason to actually make oatmeal for chickens.