Treats

[Canbrn]

What are some good homemade treats for winter

 

[Kiki]

Take a cup full of crumbled feed and add some water to it to make it look like oatmeal.

 

[NatJ]

Chicken feed + warm water = warm mash

The chickens seem to love it, and it's especially nice because it keeps them hydrated as well as being something warm to eat.

(It can also be made with cold water in the summer: hydration is good then too, and the chickens love it just as much.)

Take a cup full of crumbled feed and add some water to it to make it look like oatmeal.

I was typing almost the same thing. We obviously think alike on this!

 

[nuthatched]

X3

 

[MROO]

What are some good homemade treats for winter

When it's especially cold at night, I add a handful or two of cracked corn to their regular feed in the evenings or I'll just scatter it late in the afternoon. Corn is a "hot" feed, so burning it produces energy. Burning it while they sleep produces heat, or at least, that's the theory.
When it's icy or we have an especially hard cold snap, mine get warm oatmeal laced with whatever fruits or berries I can find on sale at the grocery store. I like the idea of mixing in crumble. I generally use pellets, which take much longer to soften, but I'm thinking I may add a bag of crumble to my next trip, too. TSC loves us Crazy Chicken Ladies!

 

[nuthatched]

When it's especially cold at night, I add a handful or two of cracked corn to their regular feed in the evenings or I'll just scatter it late in the afternoon. Corn is a "hot" feed, so burning it produces energy. Burning it while they sleep produces heat, or at least, that's the theory.
When it's icy or we have an especially hard cold snap, mine get warm oatmeal laced with whatever fruits or berries I can find on sale at the grocery store. I like the idea of mixing in crumble. I generally use pellets, which take much longer to soften, but I'm thinking I may add a bag of crumble to my next trip, too. TSC loves us Crazy Chicken Ladies!

Adding Corn for heat is actually a myth, any digestion creates heat but protein creates the most. :]

 

[EggSighted4Life]

What are some good homemade treats for winter

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

Consider adding your general location to your profile as it may help us make our best suggestions possible.

For example.. sprouting greens or fodder (barley, oats, peas, etc) .. is a good enrichment if your birds don't have constant access to pasture.. such as in mud or snow covered ground.

The other things I've really enjoyed (depending on location/set up/need) red wiggler compost bin colony or live darkling beetle (mealworms) colony.. this is more raising them than making them.

For me.. the opposite of what the first posters mentioned.. that is, I feed mash on a regular basis.. So tossing out some of the dry pellets is a treat for MY flock.

I (respectfully) disagree with the corn theory.. If producing heat or energy was my real concern.. I'd use BOSS rather than corn (it's more nutrient and calorie dense.. lasting longer, IN THEORY).. and *most* our feeds are already corn based.. BUT I'm NOT an expert nor have I dealt with my birds losing condition due to short days and cold nights.

Energy (also known as calories or heat if you will) comes from only 3 sources.. fat, protein, and carbohydrates including fiber. Fat being the densest in energy.. but low nutrient high energy carbs like corn being a major contributing factor to fatty liver syndrome. The nutrients are added to our formulated feeds.. but not to the corn. Just sharing my current position according to my research, understanding, and life experience thus far.

I'm under the impression though that we're just talking about enrichment here in this thread.

Please note all things mentioned which are NOT formulated ration should be given in moderation.. no more than 10% of total daily intake.. I presume caloric.. but surely volume plays a role in that also.

 

[Penpal]

Corn is called "hot" because it sort of energizes the animal, so much carbohydrates coursing through their system. With equine it can make them unruly.

I would use sunflower seeds as a treat. I notice it's the first thing my chickens eat, even preferring it over corn, so they must like it.

 

[NatJ]

Corn is called "hot" because it sort of energizes the animal, so much carbohydrates coursing through their system. With equine it can make them unruly.

The explanation I've seen for corn making horses "hot" (unruly, full of energy):
if you feed the horse 1 scoop of corn, it gets 4x as many calories as if you feed the horse 1 scoop of oats. That is because corn is heavier than oats so the "scoop" hold twice as many pounds, AND corn has twice as many calories per pound as the oats.

So if someone just switches corn for oats with horses, it is the same as giving them 4x as many oats. Of course the horse is bursting with energy if they eat quadruple the grain ration!

 

[MROO]

Adding Corn for heat is actually a myth, any digestion creates heat but protein creates the most. :]

It doesn't make a huge difference, but it can help. I don't know the science behind it first-hand, but the recommendation came from my farmer/ag-biology teacher sister and my ag-science-guru niece, so I trust it. Their over-simplified explanation is that corn is difficult to digest for many creatures, including humans. Adding it at night when the birds are less active revs their metabolism while they sleep.
It made sense to me, my birds love the treat and it fills some of the gap left by fewer fresh greens. No matter how it all falls out, they generally "winter" really well, so there's no harm in trusting "farmers' logic."