Oats are a healthy breakfast option that many people eat. Whatever the type, this food is generally more nutritious and healthy than sugary cereals.

If you grow your own oats you’ll know that the outer casing, the hull, is not edible to humans, humans cannot digest oat hulls.

The hull can be fed to a variety of animals like horses and cattle but how about chickens? Can chickens eat oats with hulls? This article explores this question. 

Chickens can eat oats with hulls, oats with hulls aren’t digestible to humans but they can be fed to livestock like cattle and horses and can even be fed to chickens. Oats with hulls help to keep chickens from cannibalizing each other and the oat hulls can even improve the bird’s feathers. 

Can chickens eat oats with hulls?

Because oat hulls are so fibrous, they are usually given to cattle and horses. The hulls are a good food option for horses and cattle because they are a good source of fiber, even though the food is low in energy and protein.

Livestock farmers usually give their animals this food when forages are in short supply.

Feeding chickens oats with hulls can be beneficial to them as well 

Benefits of chickens eating oats with hulls

One benefit that oat hulls have on chickens is that they can improve the quality of the chicken’s feathers.

Oat hulls don’t have to make up a large part of the bird’s diet to be beneficial, feeding chickens enough oat hulls to achieve a ratio of 11% fiber in the bird’s diet will be enough to improve the bird’s feathers.

Oat hulls are also said to be able to control cannibalism in chickens.

Cannibalism in chickens can happen as a result of overcrowding, unbalanced diets, excessive heat, excessive light, or the mixing of different types of birds in an area. Feeding oat hulls to chickens will reduce cannibalistic episodes

Oats are also a great source of vitamins and minerals.

Oats contain niacin, riboflavin, choline, thiamine, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, and calcium. Calcium is especially important for chickens as it promotes healthy and strong eggshells 

How to serve oats with hulls to chickens 

Chickens generally aren’t too picky about what foods they are given and how they are fed. This food can be thrown on the ground and your birds will forage for it as though they were in the wild.

You can also add some of these oats to the bird’s normal feed, the birds will eat the feed all the same. Sprinkling these oats onto your bird’s ration of fruits and vegetables is another way to get these birds to eat this food 

If you’re trying to feed a picky bird, you’ll need more patience when introducing this new food.  You may need to serve your bird oats with hulls a number of times before it warms up to them.

What to avoid when serving oats with hulls to chickens

Feeding oats to chickens may have its upsides but what you add to the meal can make the meal unsafe for the bird. Additions like milk or sugar can be bad for the bird. 

Too much sugar in a chicken’s diet can cause the bird to gain weight and even become obese. Overweight chickens usually produce less eggs, chickens that are overweight can also develop fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome.

Milk is also not great for chickens, these animals can have small amounts of milk, they are not lactose intolerant, but too much can give them diarrhea 

Conclusion

In conclusion, yes chickens can have oats with hulls, in fact, chickens can have all types of oats regardless of how it is processed.

Oats with hulls are helpful to chickens as they help prevent cannibalism and help to maintain the bird’s feathers.

This food can be added to the bird’s normal feed, sprinkled on the bird’s ration of fruits or vegetables, or thrown on the grounds for chickens to forage. Avoid giving these birds oats with milk or sugar 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can chickens eat onion peels?, Can chickens eat parrot feed?, Can chickens eat too much oyster shell?, Can chickens eat duck starter?