Warm squash and oatmeal for chickens make wonderful breakfasts to warm your bird from the interior out during dusty weather .
As the Day get shorter , we chicken keepers set about heating the cage waterer . Our chicken are adapting to the changes in weather and temperature , and though they ’re dauntless fauna , it does n’t mean they ’re always comfortable in the low temperature specially if some are molting latterly in the time of year . A tender meal can ease the daze and make the weather a spot more bearable .
Cooked Winter Squash
Pumpkin , like other wintertime squash racquets , is in high spirits in vitamin A , vitamin C and beta - provitamin A . It ’s just as healthy for chickens as it is for us ( when we do n’t purée it into a custard full of wampum ) .
To cook a right Cucurbita pepo , break off the root , knife thrust a few hole around the top , and bake at 350 ° F for one hr . To hold the great deal , put the pumpkin in a 9 - by-13″ pan run along with aluminum foil . After an hour , turn the oven off and leave the pumpkin in the hot oven for 20 minutes or so , just to verify it ’s overnice and voiced . After the pumpkin cool down enough to come to , slice it into quarters , let it cool a little more , and then dish up it to the chicken .
If you try baking a fresher pie pumpkin or other wintertime squeeze , like butternut or spaghetti squash , you ’ll receive they ’re very toughened to prune into with a tongue . In these cases , seize a Mandrillus leucophaeus and make two holes in the top of the squash using a 1/2 - column inch Mandrillus leucophaeus bit . This not only saves finger’s breadth , but it lets the steam escape the squash racquets so it does n’t blow up all over the oven .
Some people feed their jack - o’-lantern pulp magazine to their flocks when they ’re cut up pumpkins for Halloween , but I have n’t had success with this . My finicky flock will only feed pumpkin seed if they ’re cooked . If you find your flock is like mine , and you’re able to get to your squat - o’-lantern before it get to decay , cut it up and steam the pumpkin physique for your flock so it does n’t go to dissipation . It ’s a neat supplementation , miserable in calories and makes a diminished dent in feed cost .
Warm Oatmeal for Chickens
What I love about feeding warm burgoo for chickens to my flock , especially on the coldest break of the day , is that it ’s cheap , it ’s hydrate and I can mix in kitchen fleck to make it a little more exciting for the foragers .
I do n’t devil cook the oatmeal because then I have to wait for it to cool . or else , I put about one loving cup of old - fashioned oats into a glass bowl , then just total blistering water from the water tap . I let the oats soak for a few minutes and sometimes contribute a little more water .
I always stick my finger’s breadth into the oatmeal to see if it ’s fond enough . If not , I ’ll microwave it for 30 seconds , but not more without check the temperature . I do n’t desire to risk burning the crybaby .
This clause about strong squash and oatmeal for chickens was publish for Chickens magazine . Click here to support .
