White rice feeding

[pskorf]

to afraid before to post but looking for some other thoughts.
i have posted on other boards with problem i had a month ago about lightning.but main part was trying to get a few of the koi that were dwelling on bottom to start eating.well i tried boiled up rice and really got them dwellers to eat a little.hence my question about white rice as part of the diet.
these are the specs.of the bag i bought last night(in human form)cost was $5/20 lb. bag so sparked my interest even more.
ingrediants;extra long grain rice(not long at all)iron phosphate,niacin,thiamine mononitrate,folic acid. calories 160, protein 3g,carbs 3g,potassuim 40mg,fat 0g iron 8% ,thiamine 15%,niacin 8%, folate 15%
the koi really like it and thought of feeding them koi food with a little rice maybe not everyday but as a treat with the idea of getting a little more into them for growth.
also gets them pecking at the bottom of my liner pond that does not have tpr"s and one bottom drain to keep things stirred up and moving on bottom.

[keokoi]

Welcome PSkorf,

What is he serving size the bag says... Usually white rice in General does not have a lot of Nurtional value. With the caloric intake I think you can find something else as a filler with some carbs and a lot more value. Notice that the fiber content on white rice is pretty much not there. So how would the koi digest this non fiberous material. If your koi are down below you may want to try some Boiled up sweet potato since it sinks well.


Maybe that Chris Neaves dude will chime in as I speak from human consumption... LOL

Joe

[pskorf]

serving size is 1/4 cup (45g) dry about 3/4 cup cooked.
The koi that do not want to eat are becoming responsive when i throw the rice in and the vitamin b benefits sparked something in me but do not know if good or not.
i almost bought some sweet potatoe to see how they like it.do they go crazy for it the first time or is it something they learn to like.my expierence with oranges are not that crazy like other peoples koi seem to be.

[KoiCCAPW]

I've use rice and other grains such as barley and oatmeal, but I use brown rice. If you have a rice maker it's very easy. (except for the oatmeal, that I make on the stove top).
I alternate the type of grains they get fed. Not really sure why, just seems like a good idea.

White rice is not very nutritional, but brown rice is better. I throw in a couple chopped up garlic cloves when it cooks, and the koi go nuts! But I check the water temps first(55*F and above) and also wait until they are grazing on the algae before I offer them anything to eat. It doesn't get very cold here in winter. But I do fast them in the dead of winter for at least 6-8 weeks.

Disclaimer tho', mine are strictly pond muts, so I'm not trying to achive anything except their comfort and health. Plus I haven't been in the hobby very long.

[jnorth]

Mine didn't go crazy for sweet potato until I sprinkled some garlic powder on it. That seems to work everytime.

[dick benbow]

Rice is a carbo and therefore easily converted into simple sugar. NOT what you want to be feeding your koi on a regular basis. If you feel you want to feed a grain go with barley. I use garlic salt while it is cooking to add flavor. It has very little nutritional value but good roughage. i feed it in conjunction with hikari sinking wheatgerm.

let's look at it from a common sense viewpoint...in japan where rice is a main staple and koi has been around for a very long time, do they feed or recommend using rice...( would seem to be a natural ? ) NO! they don't Ummmmm, must be a reason.

If you have access to the KHA online lesson plans that our advisors learn from for AKCA there is quite the push to educate about the value of protein ( in lesser amounts) for winter time use as opposed to feed with carbos in them.

Thanks for asking the question, but it seems with all things koi there is more to thier care than meets the eye

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow Rice is a carbo and therefore easily converted into simple sugar. NOT what you want to be feeding your koi on a regular basis. If you feel you want to feed a grain go with barley. I use garlic salt while it is cooking to add flavor. It has very little nutritional value but good roughage. i feed it in conjunction with hikari sinking wheatgerm. let's look at it from a common sense viewpoint...in japan where rice is a main staple and koi has been around for a very long time, do they feed or recommend using rice...( would seem to be a natural ? ) NO! they don't Ummmmm, must be a reason. If you have access to the KHA online lesson plans that our advisors learn from for AKCA there is quite the push to educate about the value of protein ( in lesser amounts) for winter time use as opposed to feed with carbos in them. Thanks for asking the question, but it seems with all things koi there is more to thier care than meets the eye

Thank you for the good information Dick.

[Rich L]

Stick to a dedicated koi food. Koi diets normally have too many carbs because of the fillers they use. Hikari Winter has less than 20% carbs. The carb content is determined by adding up the ingredients on the package, the remaionder is the carb content and should be 20% or less year round. In the summer that can be achieved by cutting back on a particular feed and adding protein such as worms, snails, shrimp, etc. to make up the difference.

[pskorf]

Thanks for the replies.
i was intrigued by the vitamin b's in it which on the akca nutrition part said how bad on growth if they were missing.now i have 20 lbs to git rid of.i will still through a little hand ful in for fun and to spark some action in the koi till i try the sweet potatoe thing.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by pskorf Thanks for the replies. i was intrigued by the vitamin b's in it which on the akca nutrition part said how bad on growth if they were missing.now i have 20 lbs to git rid of.i will still through a little hand ful in for fun and to spark some action in the koi till i try the sweet potatoe thing.

You could take vitamin B and grind it up, ad water to it and the soak it into your food. Maybe you could even find it as a liquid and add it to your Koi pellet food. Just some thoughts.