What kind of feed should I feed chickens In the winter?

[Poultrylover000000]

Hi everyone Just want to know what kind of feed
I should give chickens in the winter. Can I feed them cracked corn? I am new at owning chickens so I don't know much

 

[TomZilla43]

Hiya PoultryLover, . So glad you could join us. What I have done is stayed the course with their regular feed and supplemented with some scratch. Some folks strongly believe that the higher carb scratch helps them maintain the extra energy that they exert to stay warm in cold conditions, others say that just keeping them well fed with their normal balanced diet food is sufficient. As long as they have a good draft free coop with good ventilation(Very Important!) and are well fed they do fine even in very cold conditions. I live in the south but it's been a colder than normal yr here and frankly I've been amazed at how well my chickens have faired.(It's gotten down near 0 numerous times and I know northern folk are probably laughing at me now but that's COLD here in the south) One tip you may want to add a general location to your profile to give folks a reference in giving sound advice in matters such as these. Hope you enjoy your time here there are lots of friendly knowledgeable folks willing to offer advice and encouragement.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Cracked corn is devoid of nutrients... Vitamins, minerals, sufficient protein, and amino acids. It's like feeding potato chips. Yummy and fun but should be a treat at NOT more than 10% total daily intake, winter or summer.

A calorie is a calorie and the body burns them to stay warm. I feed flock raiser with 20% protein and oyster shell on the side for layers. Nutritious calories are my personal choice... MOST feed is already made of MOSTLY corn. Corn don't keep birds warm... any more than any other calorie will.

My best suggestion, formulated ration. With 18+ % protein if your birds are dual purpose like Rocks, Orps, Wyandotte, Marans.

Since you are researching instead of making assumptions.. you're already ahead of the game.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The same feed you supply in the summer. People use cracked corn in winter as a means to get the birds to eat more prior to roosting. The birds actually tend to eat less in the cold months so tossing some corn down before dark will get them back out of the coop to fill their crops that they otherwise would have stayed in coop and roosted for the night. In this way you've aided the birds even though the corn is not as nutritious as their complete feed it fills crops that would have gone through a cold night half full.

During the arctic blasts when temps are down to -10 F and below I put out black oil sunflower seed in the morning. Again, it's so cold they don't really want to come out of the coop but will for the seed. It's high in fat which is a good thing during the extreme cold days. 14% protein and 30% fat. Not something you'd do everyday of course but has it's time and place.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I feed them the same 18% protein layers pellets year round, with mixed wild bird seed as a treat.
My feed and water are in the coop, and they eat twice the pellets in winter than they do in the summer. GC

 

[Poultrylover000000]

Thanks everyone for your answers