We all know that oatmeal is both delicious and nutritious. Many healthcare professionals suggest that we eat this comforting breakfast food over breakfast foods that are packed with sugars and artificial ingredients.

How about giving this food to chicks? This article explores the topic of ‘can chickens eat quick oats’ 

Chickens can eat quick oats. This food contains good amounts of vitamins and minerals including antioxidants, carbohydrates, fiber, zinc, calcium, iron, copper, chlorine, niacin, magnesium, thiamine, riboflavin, and choline.

Do chickens eat quick oats?

Chickens can eat more human foods than many of us know. These animals enjoy eating with us, even though some of the foods we humans eat isn’t so good for them, or for us either.

Chickens usually eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains on a daily basis. One such grain that chickens can eat is oats. 

What are quick oats?

Quick oats are regular oats that have been cooked, dried, rolled then pressed very thinly, thinner than rolled oats are. Quick oats cook faster because they have already been cooked, they are simply dry.

These oats may also have some preservatives added to them, these preservatives are added to give the oats a creamier texture when cooked.

Benefits of chickens eating oats:

Quick oats may have slightly less nutritional benefits than whole oats do, but they are still nutritious to both you and your chicken. Oats of all types are packed with vitamins and minerals which will boost the health of your bird.

Notable minerals in oats include zinc, calcium, iron, copper, chlorine, niacin, magnesium, thiamine, riboflavin and choline. 

Complex carbohydrates:

Complex carbohydrates are superior to simple carbohydrates because of their intricate structure. This intricate structure is the reason why they take longer to digest. This longer digestion time results in a longer sugar release time

Fiber:

Fibre is not digestible. It is an indigestible carbohydrate, yet, it still plays an important role in your chicken’s body. Fibre maintains good digestion as it stimulates movement in the bird’s gastrointestinal tract. 

Beta Glucan:

This is a type of fibre found in oats. This fibre not only helps to improve the bird’s immune system, but it also reduces possible heart issues by reducing cholesterol

Protein:

Proteins are known as the building blocks of muscle and tissue in humans, this is the case for chickens as well. Protein will maintain the bird’s muscle tone as it grows and lives its life 

Antioxidants:

Oats is a food that contains good amounts of antioxidants. Antioxidants are helpful in maintaining healthy feathers in chickens. 

Not only will quick oats improve your bird’s overall health, but they can also help to reduce the rates of pecking and cannibalism in your birds.

Adding oats to your chicken’s diet (around 3 percent of their total diet) will help with this according to a study done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

How to serve quick oats to chickens 

Cooked oats:

Quick oats can be fed to birds raw or cooked. If you choose to, you can feed your bird cooked oats. Cooked oats are easier to swallow, cooking the oats does not decrease the nutritional value of the food.

Adding chopped up fruits or vegetables to your chicken’s oats is a great way to get additional vitamins and minerals into your feathered friends

Raw oats:

You can also choose to serve your chicken’s raw quick oats. This is much easier and less time consuming than feeding your bird cooked oats.

To do this, simply sprinkle the oats on the floor outside and allow the birds to forage for them. Foraging is a form of exercise for chickens.

In suet balls:

If you’re feeling really creative, you can feed your chickens suet balls that contain quick oats, suet balls are particularly beneficial during the winter.

During winter, chickens need to burn more calories to keep warm, feeding chickens suet balls during the wintertime will supply the much needed calories 

Note: If you’re serving suet balls to egg-laying chickens, be sure to not overfeed them this treat. Suet calls can be too high in fat and low in vitamins for this type of chicken

Conclusion

In conclusion, feel free to feed your chicken quick oats. These oats deliver a variety of vitamins and minerals to the bird. Feed them cooked or raw quick oats, or, you can feed these birds quick oats in suet balls 

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:  Do chickens eat quiche?, Do chickens eat quinoa?, Do chickens eat wild bird seed?