Hobbies And Interests
Oats
Although oats are usually thought of as a breakfast food for humans, many animals eat oats too, including poultry. In fact, most oats raised in this country are used for livestock, with humans eating only about 5 percent of the oats produced, according to Purdue University. Oats have a high amount of protein and contain minerals and several vitamins. Whole oats for chicken feed contain the flower of the oat plant, what is called the palea and lemma from the flower, which enclose the sex organs. Those parts are removed from oats sold for human consumption.
Feeding Chickens
Chickens eat whole oats, but oats alone cannot supply all the nutrients a chicken needs. In commercial scratch feeds or mash mixtures for chickens, the mix contains a variety of foodstuffs in proportions to supply the necessary amounts of vitamins, minerals and protein, according to West Virginia University. However, some farmers make their own feed mixtures and use oats they have either bought or grown. However, chicken feed must contain other grains besides oats in order to supply necessary nutrients.
Feed Basics
There are two basic feed mixtures used for chickens: scratch feed and mash feed. Scratch feed is made of cracked and whole grains. Scratch feed can be used both for laying hens and when raising broiler poultry for meat. However, since scratch feed alone does not supply enough nutrients for egg production, laying hens also need mash feed, which is a mixture of ground grains and other feedstuffs. In addition, some people choose to use only mash feed for laying hens.
Scratch Feed
If using scratch feed, the exact formula you choose would depend on a variety of factors, including availability and prices of ingredients, weather conditions and the physical condition and purpose of the chicken. Along with whole oats, other common grains included in a scratch feed mixture include wheat, corn, milo, barley and buckwheat. Oats generally do not constitute any more than 50 percent of a scratch feed mixture. Although oats are a good source of protein, they do not supply much energy, according to West Virginia University. However, studies have found that when feeding broiler hens a diet of 50 percent oats, there was a loss of tenderness in the meat and sometimes the meat was rubbery and stringy, according to the University of Kentucky.
Mash Feed
Mash feed consists of ground grains mixed with other ground foodstuffs and oils. A mash feed can contain whole oats, but they would be ground instead of being left intact. In addition to ground whole oats, ground bran, wheat, barley and corn are often found in mash feed mixtures, along with corn oil, bone meal and meat and fish scraps, according to Oregon State University.