I have a similar set up with a small coop inside a larger run where their food and water sits. I created a windbreak by just hanging clear tarps around the exterior. It makes a big difference when it's single digits with -12 wind chill.
It was 14 degrees F outside this morning, the first snow my chickens have ever seen! I'm not sure what they think about it because they can't get out in the snow. Their runs covered and has a tarp on it so they won't get wet. They can go in and out of the coop anytime they want but they usually stay in the run until dark.
Last week it ended up snowing 8 inches and it got down to 8 degrees outside and my girls were just fine. They started to walk out of the coop in the morning when I opened the coop door (still 8 degrees) and then they saw the white ground, looked around, and walked back into the coop. It was a bit comical. They never got off the ramp. I set their food and water inside the coop for a few hours, then they decided to venture out. I put straw down on the ground under the covered portion of the run (where there was little snow) and they seemed happy as could be. But they did not go near the snowy side of the run. The second day, I cleared them a path where they could see the green grass underneath and wherever the path was, they walked, so they came out of the run and into the yard for awhile eating grass, but they didn't venture into the snow at all. It was so funny watching them walk on the path only.
Chickens prefer whole corn over cracked corn. They'll eat any type of corn but prefer whole corn. They'll eat cracked corn to, but spend more time pecking for the cracked versus whole.
The political rhetoric that came out of left field was deleted. As well as a comment belittling those who chose to get a Covid vaccine.
I have the same issue with gardening information on the web. Wanna-be experts write blogs with information they've gleaned from other sites. They pick up the same misinformation and spread it like a bad cold.I do not have access to any vets that know about chickens. Most vets know little or nothing about chickens. The ones that do know about chickens are not available to me.
And so have I, and my parents and grandparents before me. Which proves nothing about whether oats are harmful to chickens or not.
Yes, it does. But apparently my "research" and your "research" have found different things.
Can I look on their website?
The University of Minnesota Extension says:
"Scratch-cracked corn and oats are a nice treat for the chickens that does not supply all their nutritional needs but is fine in moderation."
https://extension.umn.edu/small-scale-poultry/raising-chickens-eggs
The University of Maine Extension says:
"Chicks can be fed wheat, oats or barley. The oats or barley need to be limited to 25% of the starter diet. After six weeks of age, the birds can be fed rations with oats or barley as the whole source of grain,"
https://www.mofga.org/resources/poultry/chickens/
And, for a source that is not online, I have the book Practical Poultry Management, by James E. Rice and Harold E Botsford, published in 1925. (Both of those authors are listed as professors of Poultry Husbandry at Cornell University. Rice was head of the department.)
It says,
"Oats, if heavy, are very desirable for poultry. Light oats are of little value. They have a heavy shuck and contain too much fiber, which is largely indigestible. Oats should not exceed 20 per cent of the grain mixture." (page 89)
"Ground heavy oats are a desirable constituent of the mash. They are rather bulky. Because of their high fiber content, they should not exceed 25 per cent of the mash mixture." (page 90)
So yes, there is quite a history of including oats as part of the diet of chickens, and of oats being considered a good food for chickens (but not as a complete diet.)
And logically, I see no reason why rolling oats should be any worse than feeding them whole, or grinding them and mixing into the feed. It's just a change of shape. I recognize that oatmeal is usually cooked, and I do not know whether cooking makes a difference to the digestibility-- but cooking increases digestibility for most foods, and I have not seen aynthing saying oats are different.
I am talking about a blogger who puts up articles with pretty pictures, that new chicken keepers like to read and quote and recommend. But some of her information is just plain wrong, and I don't trust anything she writes unless it is verified by other sources.
She wrote an article on oatmeal:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/
Every fall, some newbie posts about how wonderful it is
Her "research" is awful ("beta glucans are bad" has footnotes that lead to a definition of beta glucans, and to a paper that says they harm different species in different ways while never mentioning chickens or oats.)
And the "nutritionist" quoted in that same article thinks you can validly compare nutrient percentages of dry chicken food and wet oats. Gee, he better not let his chickens have any water to dilute their complete feed!
But I am very tired of seeing people quote that article, and what you initially said sounded almost exaclty like what that article said.
Which is why I asked for sources. If a GOOD source shows that oats have problems, then I am happy to listen to it.
But so far, the sources I have seen that appear to be good or reputable do NOT say anything about oats being worse than other grains (like wheat, barley, and rye which also contain beta glucans and also have a history of being used in chicken food.)
I like facts. That is why I asked for a source.
The internet has plenty of facts, and even more lies, and the difficulty is to figure out which are which (which is part of why I also quoted a physical book that predates the internet.)
https://extension.umn.edu/poultry/small-scale-poultry
| 1 Bushel ≈ 0,035 m³ | Oats Price Per 1 m³ | 208.29 USD |
I know they’ll eat it but is it good to feed it to them in the winter?
Good for them to eat the year round.
