Rice vs. corn and nutrition-what do you think?

[DB_Tex]

Recently I noticed a large bunch of weevils had taken up residence in a bulk bag of rice so I decided to cook it up and feed it out to my ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys with supper.

They LOVE the stuff.

Currently I'm feeding a high protein pellet diet... daily forage...and cracked corn as a fat additive/feed extender-- but I'm thinking about switching to a 10 lb bag of white rice instead of a 10 lb bag of corn and serving it cooked (cooled) and mixed in with the pellet. 10 lbs of raw rice = greater volume than 10 lbs of cracked corn.

What do you think? I'm wondering if the human grade rice might also be better for my stock than junk animal grade cracked corn??

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I wouldn't make any sudden switch on their feed. Don't know that rice is a chicken diet staple but giving some in addition to their regular diet prob wouldn't hurt. Corn has a high energy content, rice less so but I bet the weavels added some protein and flavor

 

[devora]

I give my girls rice as a treat quite often. You're right, they loooove it.

The reason I don't give it as feed is b/c it needs to be cooked and I don't have a rice cooker the size of a car.

 

[Chris09]

I give my girls rice as a treat quite often. You're right, they loooove it.

The reason I don't give it as feed is b/c it needs to be cooked and I don't have a rice cooker the size of a car.

Rice doesn't need to be cooked.


Chris

 

[devora]

Thanks for the correction. I should have said, "I prefer to cook it for the girls."

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think that different foods have different nutrients in them. They need a balanced diet, but that "balanced" is not all that precise. You can feed corn, rice, or something else without a problem, but don't make that a major part of their diet. Try to keep it somewhat balanced.

If they forage much, you don't have tremendous control over their nutrition anyway. Different grasses and weeds, grass and weed seeds, and various creepy crawlies all provide different nutrition. Try not to overthink it or over-worry about it, but do try to keep it somewhat balanced.