We put our pond in last August and wintered our 2 koi and 33 goldfish okay and this summer has been great with our new brood. I spotted maybe 3 fry earlier this summer and just saw one grown up to about 1 1/2". Now comes the dumb question..........can I hurt the koi by feeding them by hand?! I started by laying piece of food on my fingernail and laying it in the water, now they'll both take a large pellet out of my fingers. Can they get anything bad from my skin?

Thanks,
Sharon

My friend feeds her fish off her hand all the time, and has never had a problem.

Mine will swim near me, but are not quite ready for hand feeding.

I think you will all be fine.

I've feed mine by hand for years with no problem.

I just make sure my hands are clean, and I haven't handled fertlizer or anything toxic just prior.

I've heard petting them, which I love to do, isn't good for their stress coat. So I refrain from doing that too often.

It's ok to hand feed the fish. I would wash your hands both before and after doing so. Also, if you're feeding close, they may one day put their mouth around your finger. Since they don't have teeth, you should be ok!

I always wash my hands off before I go out to the pond anyway but I rinse them off with a nearby hose if I've been working outside. I don't use extra herbacides/pesticides but they do 'bite' a finger once in awhile. I've quit playing pickup since Spot died ( he was the one that enjoyed it the most ) but I let them rub into me.

I have hand fed mine since I got them my shubunkin is amazingly friendly almost dog like. It took me a week for him to eat then about a month for him to rub up on my and suck my finger even if I didn't have food if I am at the pond he comes right to the top and stares at me and follows me everywhere ( I think he would follow me inside if he could) The others the koi takes food out of my hand and he took awhile and the sarassa has taken the longest but it is hard for him with mouth and mouth all over me when I just go by the pond the last koi the newest comes close but never has touched me.
Now a helpful tip (maybe). I also have a placostimis (good lord the spelling sorry) which I put in 1 month ago and have not seen him since. So (if he is still there) I put algae waffers in. Well the other fish get wind of those and it is like chumming for sharks Try to hold one of those and I am sure the fish will come (except the one you are trying to give it to of course) If the waffers are quartered the bigger fish pika and curly eat them in one gulp if they are bigger waffers I hold them in my finger and they just attack it like they have not eaten in years. and they swim around all crazy it is very entertaining. Even the shyest of fish come over to me for those.
If you just drop them in the water you can tell they get wind of them and OMG they go all over the place to find them and attack.