What can we expect for the next season from our Yoshikigoi Koifood?
Many people are asking the same question ………..what and how to feed and when should you stop?
This is a difficult subject, for instance we have seen that over the last few months that seasonal temperatures have remained unusually high and it’s clear we can never say with any degree of certainty just what the temperature will be over the coming months or coming seasons. So the best we can do is recognise that it can go in any direction.
So that said, what are the most important things to know !
•Food is very important. If you see that your Koi are still active it is best to feed them. But you have to be sure that the digestion of the koifood takes less energy than the energy the koifood will provide, so that it continues to build up new reserves in your koi.
•Over the last few years the seasons are definitely changing. We have a longer period of warmer water and as a result , we can feed our Koi for longer, sometimes even going into December and January.
•In the colder months of the year your Koi will tell you how they feel and if they still want koifood, so by simply observing them you can tell in what condition they are in.
Now the question arises ……..when we should start and stop feeding, what to feed and at what temperature?
Because we only feed Yoshikigoi koifood on our farm we believe that it is best the feed the Koi until water temperature drops to about 5 – 6 Celsius. But at water temperatures below 13 Celsius we feed only koifood that is easy to digest, normally called wheat-germ and when water temperatures go below 5-6 Celsius it takes more energy for the Koi to digest the koifood than what they can get out of it. If the Koi become less active at slightly higher temperatures, and lay on the bottom of the pond it is better to stop feeding a bit earlier, and if this happens at about 8-10 degrees Celsius, I would also advise you to check your Koi for parasites.
In spring, when the water temperature gets to 13 degrees Celsius we advise that you start to slowly begin mixing the summer koifood with the winter koifood. Doing this will allow the enzymes in the koi’s intestine to adjust to digesting the summer koifood.
As soon as the water temperature is above 15 degrees Celsius we can completely stop the winter koifood and provide only summer koifood. How much to feed and how to control the water quality by carefully increasing food quantities has already been covered elsewhere on the Yoshikigoi koifood website.
We advise that during the colder months of the year that you keep both Yoshikigoi summer and winter food in stock.
Yoshikigoi Summerfood 3-mm
Yoshikigoi Winterfood 3-mm