[T C]

Hi  can any one tell me if its ok to feed hens uncooked rice, i have a lot of it and have been cooking it for them but they are not to keen on it,  thanks Tina

[Bantymad]

Think uncooked rice would swell inside the chickens. My neighbour adds a tiny bit of marmite to her rice while its cooking sometimes.

[T C]

Hi i wasnt sure, i do add marmite sometimes, and also cook up veg and mix it in, they seem to like pasta better, Tina

[Bantymad]

My girls eat just about anything, in winter when its realy cold i'v made them porridge with water and added cooked rice and veg, served warm of course!! if thay are out in the garden when i come out of the back door one of my little pekins flies up onto my arm to get to it first 

[Sassy]

I would NOT feed uncooked rice. It would swell inside the chooks and could cause serious illness.

[New shoot]

Mine completely lose their minds for leftover cooked rice.  It's their absolute second favourite - after the mightly mealworm natch 

I re-wet cold cooked rice with a bit of boiling water and then usually put some poultry spice in as well and leave it to sit for a few mins to cool. Maybe you could try adding a bit more water and layers mash to it - mine were pretty keen on that 

[joyfull]

be very careful with reheating rice - this is a major cause of upset stomachs in humans 

[Flowerpower136]

My girls like cooked rice, never tried them with uncooked.  Don't think I'd risk it to be honest.
They all have their own likes and dislikes, so just given them what they like!  Tinned sweet corn is current favourise.  Supermarket economy brand is a good cheap treat.

[evie2]

Uncooked rice swells in the stomach, not good and reheating rice is a bit dodge too.  I'm sure at one time there was an advert from Food Standards? on tv telling us we could get Salmonella if it wasn't reheated properly but I could be wrong.

[Sassy]

My sister nearly died from Salmonella caught from rice from an ethnic restaurant. She was in hospital for weeks and monitored for over 6 months!

[New shoot]

It's not so much the reheating as what you do with the rice once its cooked that poses the risk.

If you leave it to cool slowly or leave it standing out at room temperature for any length of time you can get nasties developing.  If you cool it quickly and keep refrigerated until you want to re-use it, it's safe. Most ethnic people know this well so a restaurant not treating its cooked rice properly is really bad.  Your poor sister Sassy 

 

[orchardlady]

After reading this post I put one tablespoon of rice in a small glass and the same of mixed corn in another glass. I covered them both with cold water and left them for 24 hours in a warm kitchen to see what would happen. Well, yes the rice did swell and take up more water than the mixed corn but not so significantly that it was a serious difference. I feel sure that chickens in Asia are fed uncooked rice as they are not wheat producing nations. A chickens metabolism is very fast so I think it would pass through the system in less than 24 hours. My guess would be feed it uncooked if they like it but don't be over generous.

[carolbriar]

I wouldn't feed mine uncooked rice.  Because its quite small and could compact down in the gullet and then swell.  I am probably over cautious with what I give my hens.

[cluckingnuts]

My Chinese neighbour feeds his birds just as he did when in Hong Kong, mostly rice.

[evie2]

I've googled and stand corrected, several articles say it's perfectly safe to give birds uncooked rice which they would eat in the wild.  Having said that I'll stick to cooked rice which they love