Seeds are intended to pass thru undigested and be deposited with fertilizer at the exit. The seed coat should be broken. Rolled oats, crimped oats, cracked corn, parboiled rice, hominy and bulgar wheat are all more digestible than the intact seed.
Pullets and Oats?
I use the crimped oats, but I don't give the chickens
a lot of this. I was reading above about some mixing a
50:50 ratio of oats, and I was thinking this would fill
them up and deprive them of some vitamin content.
I got the 30/50 mix from Gail Damerow's Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens--the 50/50 from Leonard S. Mercia's Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry--has a lot about game, quail and water fowl. My babies free range everyday---hopefull they are chosing well:0). So far we are up to about 20%. I'd be comfortable with 30% and I think Damerow is more focused on chickens anyway--although they agree on almost everything.
I'm going to have to go back into my Damerow's
book to get a better idea on the oats. I haven't read
enough on the feeding part, then. It would sure make
things very easy, as we already have them on hand for
the goats and horse. I just don't like it I don't have non
medicated feed close by. Game or otherwise. One feed
store owner said "You can't hardley find it un medicated
nowadays". Boy, they need to come into the 21st century.
Woops! Got it crossed. Damerow is the one with the 50/50. Hard to do because I can't get pellets and the big oats get picked out of the starter mash--don't know if someone is hogging them:0)