Can I feed whole, dried corn to chickens?

[newchickenmom33]

Thanks. I wondered if I should soak it to make it softer to eat. It’s still basically all there. When I threw out wheat and barley for the first time they loved it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... I purchased some whole dried corn at the grocery store - thinking I'd feed it to my chickens. Most people on this forum talk about feeding cracked corn. I was wondering if there was any reason... that I shouldn't feed it...

Whole shelled corn is no more harmful to a chickens' health or well being than oats, soybean meal, wheat, grain sorghum, millet, barley, or sunflower seeds. There are many more times of dried out, broken, powdered, or #3 grade corn kernels in cracked corn than there is in #1 or #2 shelled corn. IMHO the only thing standing in the way of feeding your chickens whole corn is the unfamiliarity most modern "farmers" have with farming.

I have watched young chicks spend 10 minutes getting a grain of shelled corn turned just right in their wittle bitty beaks so the peep could swallow the kernel and besides the chick never showed any ill effects.

Besides cracked corn is missing many of the good parts of a corn kernel because it has dried out in storage. Cracked corn is routinely augmented with the dust and sweepings from the floor of the truck, barge, train car, ship, silo, or elevator it was shipped or stored in.

Don't worry about your chicks having trouble chewing their dry shelled corn because chickens have that chewing thing figured out.

 

[wyndham carruth]

You said "as long as they have access to grit." What exactly is grit, what does that mean?

grit is the small rocks/broken oyster shell that helps the chicken to digest their food. they only need a small amount but it really helps. grit will help break up the kernels, rather than the chicken doing it all itself.

 

[newchickenmom33]

The ground is still covered with most of what I put out. They do have grit and OS. They must just not like corn but I’ll leave it and see... I also have some I’m trying to sprout.