Page 70 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 64

WINTER FEEDING In winter, metabolism is slower, growth ceases and the
energy expended in swimming is very small but this
energy and the energy required to stay alive cannot be
Syd Mitchell. disregarded. Wild carp will occasionally feel the need
to find something to eat. With no high protein insects
about, they will eat the odd scrap of plant material. In
a pond in winter, if this small amount of energy isn’t
replaced by feeding, it will be replaced by burning
stored fat. As this is depleted, energy will eventually
Have you ever seen notices alongside natural lakes
have to come from burning muscle protein to stay
warning the fish not to eat when the temperatures are
alive. Over an extended period without food, your Koi
low? Me neither.
will be slowly wasting away.
Yet still throughout Koi keeping circles there are Be sensible about winter feeding. Wheat-germ with
warnings that feeding your Koi when water low protein content is the obvious choice for Koi
temperatures are lower than about 10ºC will do them during winter. Offer small amounts but only when they
harm or possibly kill them.
are obviously hungry and remove any that is not
Fish in the wild are not constrained by such thinking. immediately eaten.
Obviously their appetite will be much less in winter
than in summer but they eat when they want to eat
and they have been doing this since fish first evolved.
To understand why fish need to eat during winter it
might be easier to first understand what happens to
the food they eat in summer.
CARP ARE Carp are omnivorous; they will eat whatever they can
find. The food they find to eat in summer will include
OMNIVOROUS; a good proportion of small aquatic creatures such as
THEY WILL EAT bloodworms, insects and insect larvae. These will be
high in protein. Protein is required for growth, so part
WHATEVER of this food will go towards increasing the fish’s size.
There will also be some plant material which is a
THEY CAN FIND source of carbohydrates. The residual protein and the
carbohydrates are used as a source of energy. The
greatest demand on this energy source is the energy
used for swimming. There is also energy that is used
for simply staying alive. The heart needs energy for
every single beat, the gills need energy, even the
optic nerve requires a small amount of energy to
transfer light into the brain from the eyes in the form
of electrical impulses.

70 71