When to feed scratch

[Happy Chick Home]

I understand that grains, being starchy, raise a chicken's body temp and help keep them warm. I am wondering how long it takes for this effect.
We are in the desert where the coldest time is generally about 7am. The temperature drops about 3am until about an hour after sunrise. If the chickens are fed grains in the evening it seems like the grains will be long gone by the time they really need them. On the other hand they won't eat at 2am (and no one will feed them then.) Is it better to feed them at 6:30 or 7am? Seems it will be warming up by the time the grains do any good.
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[NatJ]

I understand that grains, being starchy, raise a chicken's body temp and help keep them warm. I am wondering how long it takes for this effect.
We are in the desert where the coldest time is generally about 7am. The temperature drops about 3am until about an hour after sunrise. If the chickens are fed grains in the evening it seems like the grains will be long gone by the time they really need them. On the other hand they won't eat at 2am (and no one will feed them then.) Is it better to feed them at 6:30 or 7am? Seems it will be warming up by the time the grains do any good.
Thanks for any feedback.

Digesting anything will raise their body temperature. I think there is no need to try to feed them scratch for warmth. As long as they have enough of their normal chicken feed available, they should be fine. They can stuff their crops before bed, and be busy digesting through most of the night.

If you decide you do want them to eat at 2am, you could put a light on a timer, to wake them up for a snack (but make sure they will have water available at that time to go with the food: they won't eat much if their water is frozen so they are thirsty, and I am sure that you do not want to be carrying out fresh water at that time of night.)

As regards specific kinds of food: commercially-produce chicken feed is made from mostly grains (starchy), so there is no particular reason to feed scratch instead. Also, some studies have shown that digesting protein actually generates more heat than digesting starches. So the higher protein in a complete chicken feed would make it better than scratch for keeping chickens warm. (The studies I have seen were dealing with commercial broiler chickens in hot climates: protein helps them grow big and meaty, but overheating kills them. So people tried things like feeding the high-protein feed at night when things cooled down.)

How cold are your low temperatures? (Do not count wind chill, if there is no wind in the coop.)

 

[Happy Chick Home]

Digesting anything will raise their body temperature. I think there is no need to try to feed them scratch for warmth. As long as they have enough of their normal chicken feed available, they should be fine. They can stuff their crops before bed, and be busy digesting through most of the night.

If you decide you do want them to eat at 2am, you could put a light on a timer, to wake them up for a snack (but make sure they will have water available at that time to go with the food: they won't eat much if their water is frozen so they are thirsty, and I am sure that you do not want to be carrying out fresh water at that time of night.)

As regards specific kinds of food: commercially-produce chicken feed is made from mostly grains (starchy), so there is no particular reason to feed scratch instead. Also, some studies have shown that digesting protein actually generates more heat than digesting starches. So the higher protein in a complete chicken feed would make it better than scratch for keeping chickens warm. (The studies I have seen were dealing with commercial broiler chickens in hot climates: protein helps them grow big and meaty, but overheating kills them. So people tried things like feeding the high-protein feed at night when things cooled down.)

How cold are your low temperatures? (Do not count wind chill, if there is no wind in the coop.)

Thank you. I am aware that in mammals protein is heating so I was surprised to read that starch raises a chicken's body temp. Glad that little thing, at least, is the same.
We are in the high desert. It doesn't usually get at all cold until about 4 am with the coldest about 7am. Our lows get into the teens sometimes. Not bad for winter! Around here many chickens live protected from the elements but live open air, as do mine. Lots of wind, little rain, LOTS of radiant heat. This will be my second winter with chickens. They seem to like their "coop". The coop area, although, open air does stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer heat.
Any 2 am feeding, at this little homestead, is available only to the barn cats and wild creatures.
Thank you again. I feel better. You and the other participants on this website provide a great service.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you. I am aware that in mammals protein is heating so I was surprised to read that starch raises a chicken's body temp. Glad that little thing, at least, is the same.
We are in the high desert. It doesn't usually get at all cold until about 4 am with the coldest about 7am. Our lows get into the teens sometimes. Not bad for winter! Around here many chickens live protected from the elements but live open air, as do mine. Lots of wind, little rain, LOTS of radiant heat. This will be my second winter with chickens. They seem to like their "coop". The coop area, although, open air does stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer heat.
Any 2 am feeding, at this little homestead, is available only to the barn cats and wild creatures.
Thank you again. I feel better. You and the other participants on this website provide a great service.

As long as the chickens can eat as much as they want before bed, and are protected from wind as they sleep, they should be fine in those temperatures.

The exceptions would be young chicks or sick chickens. Also, if you take a chicken into your house for a few weeks, that chicken would probably have trouble going back to the cold because it would no longer be used to the cold. But the ones that live outdoors should adapt as the seasons change, so I would not expect them to have trouble.