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Spring Feeding
I wrote this letter sometime back while
in Japan and feel that it is so important it needs to be
done again and should be done every year at this time.
I am thinking of the people getting ready
to start feeding their Koi. When I was in Japan last
spring the Japanese breeders were giving me a little talk
and I have been cautioned by them that Koi Hobbyists make
a big mistake this time of year by feeding to early and
feeding too much.
They reminded me not to feed the Koi until
the water temperature is established above 50 degrees and
no chance of it dropping below that mark. They say it is
better to under feed our Koi than to over feed them. Our
Koi in the cooler climates have not eaten for six months
and maybe longer, and they need to be treated with great
care at this delicate time in their cycle.
Spring time is the time our Koi show signs
of hole disease. We are always quick to blame this on the
fluctuating temperatures and while this is hard on the
Koi, we tend to complicate their ability to cope with this
stressful situation by overfeeding. I have been guilty of
this thinking that feeding them will help give them energy
to fight this problem but it only contributes to adding to
the problem. You see the Koi do not have a stomach and
when they eat the food we give them, the cooler
temperatures don't allow them to process the food they eat
and it has to pass through their long intestine. They
can't do this efficiently and before they can pass it, it
begins to rot and causes many different problems such as
hole disease, septicemia, or dropsy, along with any other
complication. The Koi are not really up and going yet so
their resistance to parasites and these other
complications are at a very minimum.
When you start feeding in the spring, start
them off with uncooked Quaker oats or presoaked cheerios.
I think maybe even a good quality wheat germ Koi food
would be good too, if you soak it until it is soft this
way it would be easily digested by the Koi. Paste food is
good to feed at this time of year but a lot of people
don't like it because it is too messy but it is very
digestible and nutritious for the Koi. You can mix it with
orange juice instead of water and add vitamins to it too.
I feel the soaked wheat germ or the paste food is far
superior to the cheerios and oatmeal. Please check any
food you feed at this time of year and make sure it is not
to high in protein as protein is harder to digest. Also
make sure that the food is fresh and free of mold or
spoilage. If your food has been stored over the winter and
you see any moisture in the container throw the food out
because it will be spoiled and one Koi is far more
expensive than one bag of food.
When you start to feed your Koi feed them
sparingly. All they need is just a couple pieces each
depending on their size. If we go on a fast we don't go
out and start eating a big steak dinner we are told to
drink broth or soup to get our system going again and that
is after going just a day or two without eating and our
Koi have gone six months. Use the same caution with
your Koi.
At first with the water temperature between
50 and 60 degrees you should only feed once a week. After
the water temperature gets to 60 degrees you can feed 2 to
3 times a week. I know this doesn't sound like much food
but it is going to reduce the amount of illness you have
with your Koi in the spring. Once you begin feeding you
need to watch the Koi very close if you see them with
scales beginning to raise or turning red stop feeding
immediately and watch them if they don't go down you may
need to treat them with an anti bacterial medication, or
move the affected Koi to a heated hospital tank. When the
water gets to 65 degrees you can feed them once a day and
just continue to watch them for any tail end effects of
the cold water and early feeding. Sometimes it takes a
month or more for problems too show up.
I have been guilty of overfeeding in my
greenhouse and when I tried this routine it has worked so
good that usually at this time of year I have 10 to 20 Koi
in my hospital tank, and it absolutely empty this year.
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