Raw oats?

[Gazinga]

ok, so feed the chickens oats? Can i just use plain old raw oats. Just buy human food oats form the grocery store and throw em to the girls or do they need to be prepared some way or are they some type of "feed oats"

 

[Portia]

regular oats, as in oatmeal works fine with my flock. They like it dry and prepared. I make it with a bit of yogurt sometimes on a cold morning and they just love the treat. I also use it as a medication/electrolyte delivery system (prepared oats with yogurt), that way I can be sure everyone has gotten some and don't have to wait around to change water.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

if you are feeding oats, you should also feed grit to help digest them. I would buy whole or crimped oats from the feed store. However you should also be supplementing with another ingredient for extra protein. Straight oats isn't nutritionally sufficient.

 

[Katy]

I feed mine just plain old feed oats. They also like dry uncooked oatmeal...but mine only get that as a special treat.

ETA: They get that as a treat....that's not all they get.

 

[Gazinga]

yeah, i was just thinking of oats as a treat, not as primary diet

 

[tvtaber]

The only reason I can see to buy oats at the fedstore is that is may be significantly cheaper per pound than people oatmeal. Then again, you have a whole bag to store. Our feedstore will break down bigger bags of feed into 5 pound bags on request, which is probably juust a few bucks for a lot of oats!

 

[greyfields]

Chickens can eat whole grains of all types without needing to mill them. Right now, I just open the flap on my combine (the hopper is full of rye) and pour it on the ground for them. I then have a feeder properly mixed with minerals and seed meal.

I find, however, that rolled oats are more popular and available (for horse people), and the chickens eat them just as well.

A third option is plant oats in a forage patch for them. They'll eat them right off the stems meaning 0 harvesting labor for yourself. You'd be shocked at how much a 100'x100' patch of oats (or any grain) produces.

 

[momdrinkstea]

Any tips on supplementing protein in the feed?
What do you add to up the nutritional value?
Thanks!