Rice is a very popular cereal that is widely consumed across the globe. This starch rich cereal is good for us as it is rich in energy. But, can chickens eat rice?
Chickens are not choosy and will eat up almost anything. In most cases, we feed our left-over food and table scraps rice being included to our flock.
What we don’t as ourselves is whether these left overs are good for chickens to eat. In this article, I am going to discuss more about rice and chickens.
At the end, you will be able to decide whether you will feed rice to your chickens or not.
Is rice good for chickens to eat?
Yes! Rice is certainly on the chickens menu. This cereal is rich in carbohydrate providing your birds with much needed energy in their bodies.
Apart from carbohydrate, rice contains small amounts of protein, potassium and other nutrients. Chickens can eat both cooked and uncooked rice.
Although rice is not the main course, chickens can eat it well as they eat fruits, vegetables and other treats tossed them.
My Americans chickens eat rice well when mixed with other treats like cherries, cheese, peanuts and popcorn.
Both hens and roosters eat rice well but I normally avoid feeding them much of it because it contains little nutrients.
Can chickens eat white rice?
White rice is good and can be fed to chickens. However, white rice is not the low in nutrients compared to brown rice because it is more processed.
Although rice is good for chickens, it should not make you do away with the main diet they eat. Rice is equal to bread which has a low nutritional value.
Brown rice is better compared to white rice. It is not over-processed and contains more nutrients making it healthier.
Rice can be offered to chickens together with chicken scratch. You can choose to supplement their protein levels by tossing dried meal worms from Manna Pro.
Can chicks eat rice?
Some people argue that chicks should not eat rice while others have an opposite opinion and say they should.
As for me, chicks should stick to their diet of chick starter feed and other protein rich foods meant for them. Remember they are developing and require a healthy diet for proper growth.
But this does not mean that they cannot eat rice if given. Dried rice can be hard for them to digest. Their tiny gizzards do not have tough muscles that will grind hard rice with ease.
Too much rice can give the little bird’s diarrhea and make their butt feathers wet and messed with chicken poop.
In this case, cooked rice will be easier for them to digest. Let them have it in moderation as a treat.
What about cooked rice?
Chickens can eat cooked rice pretty well. However cooked rice might not be the best because probably it was cooked for you and contains salt, butter and other spices.
The digestive system of chickens cannot digest salt, oils and spices. Salt is rich in sodium which can damage the chickens kidneys.
Butter and other oils will give them a diarrhea. This will make them loose too much water leading to dehydration.
If you have plenty of leftover cooked rice, you can choose to share some with your chickens. You can serve it warm in a clean chicken feeder especially during winter.
If you do not want to feed you chickens raw rice, you can boil it in plain clean water and do not add salt or any seasonings.
Remove it to cool and serve it to your friendliest chicken breeds. Nothing will happen if chickens eat rice and it cannot kill them.
Are rice krispies good for chickens?
Yes chickens can eat rice krispies as well as rice cakes. However feed rice and rice products to chickens as a treat.
Apart from krispies, chickens can eat other types of cereals as long as they are not sugary. Such cereals include millet, sorghum, oats, wheat to mention just but a few.
They also enjoy eating fruits such as mango, pineapples, water melon, grapes, raisins, black berries, apples, peaches and others.
Chickens will also munch on tasty vegetables such as asparagus, cabbage, celery, radish, cucumber, carrots, onion, squash and lettuce.
What other foods can chickens eat?
Apart from rice, the list of foods that chickens can eat is long. Nturally, chickens that free range are omnivores.
They eat seeds, small weeds, table scraps, tasty grubs and all sorts of insects they get. On top of this, there are other foods that supplement the usual diet of crumbles and pellets.
Meat
Chickens can and will eat meat as whenever they get it. But watch out not to feed raw meat to chickens because it can cause salmonella poisoning.
Cooked meat is good as long as it has no salt, seasonings and oils. Chop it into small pieces` that are easy for them to swallow. This way, it won’t choke your birds.
May it be pork, chicken or beef chickens will enjoy eating it as long as it is well cooked.
Cooked beans
Cooked beans are another treat to toss to chickens. Beans are an excellent source of protein that helps in building the chickens body.
Although cooked beans are good, avoid feeding raw dry beans to chickens. Uncooked beans contain a dangerous chemical that can kill your birds.
Cereals and whole grains
Cereals are the main raw material that is used in manufacture of most chicken feeds. Whole grains like oats and cracked corn are a tasty delicacy for your flock.
Bird seed, Nuts and sunflower seeds are another good chicken food. Dried fish is also another treat but should be broken into small pieces.
Fruits and vegetables
Most fruits like kiwi, plum and berries are good for chickens. However, feed fruits in moderation because they contain too much sugar.
Avoid pits and seeds of apples, cherries, avocado, plum and peaches. These pits and seeds contain a chemical substance called cyanide which can be toxic to chickens if ingested.
Vegetables are healthy and nutritious to feed to chickens. They contain a lot of good vitamins and minerals that promote the health of chickens.
Avoid vegetables that have been grown in green houses because they are likely to contain a lot of pesticides and other farm chemicals.
Wrap up thoughts
Chickens can eat rice without it causing any harm on their health. You can let chickens go out on the rice field and collect leftover grain after harvesting.
They will also scratch in the rice bran to look for any grain. Do not feed to much of it to your birds because it contains little nutrients.
Do you feed rice to your chickens? Share your thoughts.
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