red river cereal good for chickens?

Hi everyone!

I have some red river cereal and thought I would make some up as my chickens turned up their noses
as the oatmeal/paprika concoction I made. I seem to remember reading that flax might be a problem?
If anyone can let me know I'd appreciate it!

Red river cereal is fine to use. The flax shouldn't be a problem, if the flax is not cracked or milled they just crap it out because they do not digest the husk on the seed. When I want to introduce a new food I mix in canned corn which they usually can't resist.

Flax is great for them if it is not whole but cracked

Thank you! We'll see if they like this - I find the different breeds seem to have different food preferences - so interesting!

Isn't funny how they can be so picky. Everyone tells me give them carrot(shredded) so I did and wouldn't yah know it NOPE not gonna eat it. An to this day still won't. Oh well I try and try and try.......haha

I feed grated carrots to mine all the time and all the other veggies as well fruit to, what mine love is blueberry waffles

My birds love there fruit any and all fruit. If I give them potatoe peelings celery and carrot they everything but the carrot. The ducks on the other hand love all veggies more so cucumber and brocoli.

Hey pops can birds eat yogurt?

Ruffledfeathers wrote:My birds love there fruit any and all fruit. If I give them potatoe peelings celery and carrot they everything but the carrot. The ducks on the other hand love all veggies more so cucumber and brocoli.

Hey pops can birds eat yogurt?

Yes it is very good for them I feed it all the time and cottage cheese as well

Cool I will definatly try that with them now

when the stores have it on for 50% off or more because of best before date I buy lots and they cobble it up

when feeding cereal to your birds its good to poor some hot water on it to cook it a bit or the cereal will expand in thare stomach not a good thing for the birds

uncooked cereal should be cook yes, corn flakes are good to go and it is a crop not a stomach

pops coops wrote:uncooked cereal should be cook yes, corn flakes are good to go and it is a crop not a stomach

you are right about the crop but not every body refers to it as a crop

Terre Wilde wrote:Hi everyone!

I have some red river cereal and thought I would make some up as my chickens turned up their noses
as the oatmeal/paprika concoction I made. I seem to remember reading that flax might be a problem?
If anyone can let me know I'd appreciate it!

Why paprika Terre?

Paprika is a spice made from ground up bell or chilli peppers - it can be mild to quite intense. A neighbour told me to put a little paprika in the oatmeal and feed it to the chickens - she said that it prevents their feet from freezing so I thought I'd try it. I might have put too much in though as they
wouldn't eat it - going to try again with the red river cereal and put less spice in this time.

My understanding is that paprika is made from sweet peppers not hot. If you don't mind me saying, try chili flakes instead, as that is what warms their insides, not sweet peppers and my birds won't eat sweet peppers but they will happily eat hot peppers mixed in with a yummy treat like oatmeal. If you have any bacon fat or suet, melt a little of that and stir it in with your oatmeal and crushed chilis or chili flakes.

But they don't need the bacon fat to eat the oatmeal and chilis.

Sorry - didn't communicate this well. You can purchase paprika made out of sweet peppers or you can purchase paprika that is spicy - made from chilli peppers.(I was watching a travel show that talked about the two different kinds but maybe our grocery stores here only carry one kind) I do have some chilli flakes and I'll try that - thanks for the tip! I gave them some cracked corn yesterday and they loved that so hopefully they will start to feel a little warmer!

Lucky chickens. If you're concerned about their feet freezing just make sure they can't roost on anything metal and that their roosts are wide enough so they can cover their feet easily with their feathers at night.

Two days ago I made up some warm polenta (corn grits cooked in water for 10 minutes) and added chili flakes (with melted suet) and they loved it! Good luck. Great to see you caring for them so well.

Just make sure they don't get fat!

you can also put it in thare water

Terre Wilde wrote:Paprika is a spice made from ground up bell or chilli peppers - it can be mild to quite intense. A neighbour told me to put a little paprika in the oatmeal and feed it to the chickens - she said that it prevents their feet from freezing so I thought I'd try it. I might have put too much in though as they
wouldn't eat it - going to try again with the red river cereal and put less spice in this time.

So I ground some chilli flakes and added peanut butter as well. They are eating it but seem to like the cracked corn best. I do have 2x4 and 1x6 for roosting but some of the birds are choosing to roost on the ground. I've put hay on the floor on top of the shavings in all the coops plus a heat lamp in the coop where they seemed to be feeling the cold the most. I don't do everything perfectly but I really do try to take very good care of my birds - they're family! I've also been sprouting hen scratch and they like that although it was so cold the sprouts were frozen by the time I got them to the last coop. Brrrr -27 is pretty cold for this part of the world although I hear others have had it much worse.

Chili flakes and peanut butter on your red River???

No wonder you guys are giving it to your chickens! I just have it with a bit of brown sugar and milk.

Ya, I don't know about the peanut butter.........don't give up on the oatmeal though. Not sure if they'd be a fan of Red River or not.....depends on the grains in it.

I didn't realize it got so cold out your way. It only went to -10 here in the Nelson area.

I feel like I'm giving you my unsolicited advice here....hope you don't mind. I love talkin' chicken and therefore also wanted to say, I put all my birds up on their roosts at night and having said that it is only my silkies that occasionally don't make it up on the roosts. Any idea why yours aren't roosting?

Cayenne is also recommended for Black Head in turkeys. This is a hot pepper product. Try "Frank's Red Hot Sauce" . Remember the granma that states "I put that *#&$ on everything!"

I believe Red River is simply wheat, oats, and flax. Pretty expensive "scratch" ?

turkeylurkey wrote:Cayenne is also recommended for Black Head in turkeys. This is a hot pepper product. Try "Frank's Red Hot Sauce" . Remember the granma that states "I put that *#&$ on everything!"

I believe Red River is simply wheat, oats, and flax. Pretty expensive "scratch" ?

Cayenne/chili flakes also helps fights internal parasites, I've been told. Didn't know about the blackhead in turkey.

I love Frank's hot sauce myself but not sure if the chickens would appreciate the vinegar in it.

This is great information and I appreciate suggestions anytime. I actually tasted the cereal, peanut butter and chilli flake concoction - it actually tastes pretty good. I agree pretty expensive choice but I had it on hand and wanted to give them something extra.

Do you physically put the birds on the roost if they haven't made it up there by nightfall? These birds are new and they favour one roost and ignore the other - if they can't get on the preferred roost they are sleeping on the floor - maybe I've got it set up wrong.