Winter feed changes

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Mine eat dry alfalfa all the time and they are fine.

 

[LilyD]

Okay so I will make sure to add some green leafy veggies. They already get whatever we have for scraps from our meals unless it's unhealthy for them and they will eat pretty much anything especially if I warm it up for them lol.

 

[PattyO]

Quote:
Scratch will not keep them any warmer than there regular feed. (scratch dose not raise there body temperature)

Chris

If fed at dusk in winter, it gives chickens energy to stay warm overnight. Gail Damerow Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

 

[RLipinski10]

Quote:
Scratch will not keep them any warmer than there regular feed. (scratch dose not raise there body temperature)

Chris

If fed at dusk in winter, it gives chickens energy to stay warm overnight. Gail Damerow Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

I also read the same thing about corn, that if you feed it to them at dusk in the winter it helps them stay warm at night.
Also, supposedly corn helps fatten them up during the winter. This is our first winter with our chickens so I don't have any actual experience with that, but we plan on feeding it to them when it gets colder.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Scratch will not keep them any warmer than there regular feed. (scratch dose not raise there body temperature)

Chris

If fed at dusk in winter, it gives chickens energy to stay warm overnight. Gail Damerow Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

It will give them energy but it will not raise there body temperature nor will it keep them any warmer the there regular feed.

Chris

 

[vfem]

I don't really change my birds' feed, but I do add scratch just because they get bored without the bugs to really have anymore. Gotta give them something to dig for and pick at. Good time to add mealworms too. I don't really think they need those things.

When the molt in Fall I add Nutri-drench since they're going through a body change pretty much, and I'll continue to give them that until they start laying regularly in the spring again.

 

[roxyblue]

I'm sorry that I was wrong.

I think that I read it in one of the many,many chicken books that I've read. Though it will give them extra calories to burn and make into energy so I don't see why it would be a bad thing unless you feed them to much.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
I think anything is okay in moderation. I think I will be feeding different treats each day just to supplement their feed until spring gets here. They are still trying to eat the grass but it is frozen so I can't think that it would have too much nutrition. It doesn't for my horses so probably not for my chickens either.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you live in the north in an area with extreme winters and don't use supplemental lighting, chickens have to go through a long, cold night in mid-winter. I think it's a good thing to go to roost with a full crop. Whole and cracked grains take longer to empty out of the crop than processed feed, when they've done studies. I think it fuels the birds for more hours than a processed feed. It probably doesn't make that big a difference, but I think that's why people in the north have traditionally fed scratch at the end of the day in the winter. That's what they do around here, anyway.

 

[LilyD]

Quote:
Yeah I live in Vermont so we are pretty far north. So far I have fed the layer crumbles and chicken finisher mixed together because I have more than one age group in my coops. They have done well on that and actually ate very little of it but now that the bugs are gone and they can't really get to the grass I figure I should give them what they are missing with not being able to forage. It's only right since they give me eggs every morning.