I had left over canned pumpkin (just a bit) from making coffee cake yesterday, so I mixed it into some cooked oatmeal with two chopped and cored apples....they loved it!
This got me thinking, as they looked around from their perches later that evening, disdain for the cold wind evident I their lovely little eyes, what would be good to supplement their feed with during the winter months?
I live in Maine, downcast coastal, where it can be a warmish 38 degrees one moment and then a bitter -40 wind chill the next, and I have fears that my flock, while in a sturdy, insulated coop, will be too cold and either become ill or fail to thrive. This morning I gave them a smaller portion of oatmeal with a spoonful of creamy natural peanut butter mixed in. I have heard that the idea is to either start them off in the morning with extra feed or snacks, or out them to bed that way, so that they have a constant supply of high energy food in their crops. This of course would not be their only source of energy, but rather part (so my well-oated ladies will then eat their pellet in the afternoon and evening before bed or vise versa).
Has anyone tried this or heard of it? Thoughts?
This got me thinking, as they looked around from their perches later that evening, disdain for the cold wind evident I their lovely little eyes, what would be good to supplement their feed with during the winter months?
I live in Maine, downcast coastal, where it can be a warmish 38 degrees one moment and then a bitter -40 wind chill the next, and I have fears that my flock, while in a sturdy, insulated coop, will be too cold and either become ill or fail to thrive. This morning I gave them a smaller portion of oatmeal with a spoonful of creamy natural peanut butter mixed in. I have heard that the idea is to either start them off in the morning with extra feed or snacks, or out them to bed that way, so that they have a constant supply of high energy food in their crops. This of course would not be their only source of energy, but rather part (so my well-oated ladies will then eat their pellet in the afternoon and evening before bed or vise versa).
Has anyone tried this or heard of it? Thoughts?
