Feeding fish through the winter

[Nathanclothier]

total newbie, we purchased a new home with a pond and have no clue how to manage it! Do we need to feed the fish during the winter months??

 

[moby]

As far as I'm aware, it's not advised to feed fish when the water temp is below 10C. I tested mine only this morning as my neighbour was throwing handfuls of food into their pond and the fish were ignoring it. Whilst I know two ponds can differ in temp for lots of reasons, mine was only 3C. I've not fed mine for two weeks now. I'll let the experts come in with their opinions though...but first it may be best if you give us some more info.....

What does it say on the pack of food you have? It usually states some info about winter feeding on it?
Is it protein based or wheat germ based food, 1st is summer food, 2nd is winter food.
What fish have you got, types?
Is your pond in sun or shade etc?
Is it planted?
It's size and depth
All this may not be entirely relevant, but if the Info is given, someone may use it to answer better.

 

[budgenator]

The textbook answer is, Feed normal food until the water temperature goes down to 10C (50F), then feed cold weather, wheat germ based food until the water temperature hits 5C (about 40F), stop feeding. In the spring start feeding cold weather food when the water warms up to 5C, then start normal food at 10C. Only feed as much as they'll eat in about 5 minutes.

Koi like treats too cabbage, oranges, watermelon are good, mealworms too, I don't know if goldfish like stuff like that.