What do you feed during cold weather?

[NatJ]

Do you think COB (rolled corn, oats, and barley) would work? I add it to the horses' feed in winter but not sure if the other grains would be OK for the chickens?

Normal chicken feed (crumbles or pellets) is a mixture that has lots of grain and some other things (protein, vitamins, minerals) to make it balanced. If they eat more of the normal feed to stay warm in the winter they are fine. If they eat a large amount of other grains, they eat less of the normal feed, and they end up short of protein and some of the other things that were not in the grains.

A small amount of COB or other grains is fine as a treat for chickens, but if you give them very much you will need to pay attention to properly balancing the nutrients of that and other food.

Since you already have horses: don't bother buying "scratch" for chickens. The COB or any whole grain will work fine for the purpose. The "purpose" of scratch is mostly to toss something and let the chickens have fun scratching and picking it up, but giving them very much of it will cause nutritional imbalance (see previous paragraphs), regardless of whether it was sold with a picture of a chicken or a horse on the package.

If you just want to give them a treat, without having to think about the nutrients involved, a general rule of thumb is to limit treats for standard sized chickens to about 1 Tablespoon per chicken per day (this works for scratch or whole grains or various other things, in pretty much any combination.)

 

[Shaste]

Normal chicken feed (crumbles or pellets) is a mixture that has lots of grain and some other things (protein, vitamins, minerals) to make it balanced. If they eat more of the normal feed to stay warm in the winter they are fine. If they eat a large amount of other grains, they eat less of the normal feed, and they end up short of protein and some of the other things that were not in the grains.

A small amount of COB or other grains is fine as a treat for chickens, but if you give them very much you will need to pay attention to properly balancing the nutrients of that and other food.

Since you already have horses: don't bother buying "scratch" for chickens. The COB or any whole grain will work fine for the purpose. The "purpose" of scratch is mostly to toss something and let the chickens have fun scratching and picking it up, but giving them very much of it will cause nutritional imbalance (see previous paragraphs), regardless of whether it was sold with a picture of a chicken or a horse on the package.

If you just want to give them a treat, without having to think about the nutrients involved, a general rule of thumb is to limit treats for standard sized chickens to about 1 Tablespoon per chicken per day (this works for scratch or whole grains or various other things, in pretty much any combination.)

Thank you! This is so helpful. I've been wondering what a rational limit for treats would be.

 

[Shaste]

Yes, I think the wet feed does help with hydration during the winter, but the biggest benefit is just that the chickens enjoy it and the humans feel happy to see the chickens enjoy it




You could give them dry pellets (available all the time), and also provide some of the ground feed (soaked so they eat all the little bits, but a small enough quantity that they eat it all before it freezes.) Of course that would mean buying and serving two kinds of feed (more bother), but it is one way to get some of the good points of each option.

Good idea! I already have the bag of pellets that they refused and was going to try a new "no waste" feeder so I can just give them pellets in the feeder they have been wasting with

 

[Painted Calls]

We feed the same thing all year, a 20% all flock feed, with oyster shell in a separate dish.

X2

Horses, a different world! Ours graze on pasture, and when it's done, get grass hay free choice. Salt and trace mineral blocks, and a bit of bagged feed most days during winter. All super easy keepers here! Pasture pets...
Mary

Also x2

 

[rosemarythyme]

You could give them dry pellets (available all the time), and also provide some of the ground feed (soaked so they eat all the little bits, but a small enough quantity that they eat it all before it freezes.) Of course that would mean buying and serving two kinds of feed (more bother), but it is one way to get some of the good points of each option.

This is pretty similar to how I feed. Dry pellets available all day, wet/fermented whole grain feed in morning. In freezing weather I put out a lot less FF so the birds can eat it before it freezes solid, though we don't tend to get a lot of temperatures that low so it's generally not a problem.

 

[Dpender]

I'm new to chickens, and we're expecting our first cold snap. With horses we change how we feed during the winter as they generate body heat through digestion.

Do chickens do this? Do you change what you feed during cold weather? If so, how?

Does anyone ever put a little nutri drench in their water? Would this be ok?

 

[K0k0shka]

Does anyone ever put a little nutri drench in their water? Would this be ok?

Only if the chickens are actually unwell. Healthy chickens only need fresh water.

Also, digestion doesn't produce heat in chickens, that's an old wives' tale. So the corn is just filler. I don't feed my chickens anything different in the winter (and I'm in a cold climate). I give them good 20% protein poultry feed year round and they do great.

 

[FrostRanger]

Only if the chickens are actually unwell. Healthy chickens only need fresh water.

Also, digestion doesn't produce heat in chickens, that's an old wives' tale. So the corn is just filler. I don't feed my chickens anything different in the winter (and I'm in a cold climate). I give them good 20% protein poultry feed year round and they do great.

Same, they get the same 20% all flock pellets they get the rest of the year. They almost never get scratch, only just got rid of the 10lb bag of scratch I brought in 2023 and given how i still had a fourth of a bag left when I got rid of it I don't think I can justify buying another bag to keep around. They also get plain water, only time they get electrolyte water is when it's very hot (I live in a very hot humid climate)

 

[K0k0shka]

Same, they get the same 20% all flock pellets they get the rest of the year. They almost never get scratch, only just got rid of the 10lb bag of scratch I brought in 2023 and given how i still had a fourth of a bag left when I got rid of it I don't think I can justify buying another bag to keep around. They also get plain water, only time they get electrolyte water is when it's very hot (I live in a very hot humid climate)

I have English Orpingtons which are extremely prone to obesity, so I'm very cautious with any treats, especially scratch. So I can't finish a bag before it starts to get stale either, even the smaller bags. I end up putting that in the wild bird feeder and getting a fresher bag for the very occasional chicken treats.

 

[FrostRanger]

I have English Orpingtons which are extremely prone to obesity, so I'm very cautious with any treats, especially scratch. So I can't finish a bag before it starts to get stale either, even the smaller bags. I end up putting that in the wild bird feeder and getting a fresher bag for the very occasional chicken treats.

If I give my girls treats they mainly get fruit and vegetable scraps and whatever pieces of cat food they manage to snag before I can pick up the cat bowls when I let them free range. If I need to lure them with treats (not often as I can usually just herd them back) I just use a bit of cat food as I always have that on hand anyways