Several koi-keepers are asking about feeding koi in the winter months and I think a repeat of a message posted by Alan in January is well worth repeating again and I have added it below.
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Posted 8th January 2005 by Alan.
With temperatures hovering around the 46oF mark, if you haven't already done so, now is the time to stop feeding your koi. Here are two good reasons why this is necessary:-
1. Food moves very slowly through the digestive tract in cold water and there is a danger that it can start rotting inside the fish. Sounds like bad news to me!
2. At low temperatures, many foods actually cause the Koi to use more energy to consume it than they can extract from it. What a waste of energy!
Now is the time when our Koi make use of the "reserves" they built up during the previous three seasons. If all went to plan, they built up enough of these "reserves" to last until the Spring when warmer water and a decent wheatgerm diet help them regain some of the lost weight.
Don't make the mistake, as I did for the first 6-7 years, of thinking that a bit of feeding during a mild spell will really be of any benefit to the koi either. It's too late to build up weight now and they must survive with what they have.
If this is your first winter with an un-heated pond, keep your water quality up, stop feeding and enjoy the quietest period in the Koi keeping year.
Posted on Oct 6, 2005, 12:00 PM from IP address 86.128.124.147