Got free old buggy popping corn. OK for Chickens?

[amiachicknorwat]

It's even organic. My partner got it. Don't know what or if she paid for it, really. But we have lots of it now. I was joking about it going off in their guts, but surely i could only be joking about that, right? Really is popping corn good food for chickens, given they get layer pellets & other compost too.

Thanks, ami...orwat

 

[Hanathehappyhen]

Is the corn moldy, or just old. If it's old that's fine. Corn is a good treats for chickens, a lot of chicken scratch mixes have corn in them. But if it's moldy or looks like it's gone bad I would avoid feeding them the corn.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It is a really tough kernel. I would be tempted to pop it first.

I agree if it is moldy do not feed it.....regardless of WHAT feed it is moldy is not good for anyone.

 

[aart]

Buggy?
Wonder how old it is?
Is it good feed, I doubt it....nutritionally it's probably nothing.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I feed unpopped popcorn kernels to my flock in small quantities (mostly the "duds" after popping up a big bowl). They certainly prefer the popped corn, but they do eat the unpopped as well.

I'd say (again, if it's not moldy, as others said) that throwing some out to them and seeing if they enjoy it is a good approach. If they do, using it as a treat is probably fine, although as others mentioned not a complete food source.

I'd also be interested in how much the chickens actually digest the unpopped corn...if they do, great...if they don't, it basically would double as grit in their systems.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Like everyone else said, don't feed if it's moldy. I'm not sure where you're located, but winter is a good time to feed corn. The energy they take to digest it warms them up (by the same token, try to limit corn in summer).

 

[aart]

Free and Buggy is worth just what you paid for it....nothing

if they don't, it basically would double as grit in their systems.

They'd need good granite grit to grind it whole corn......it won't act as grit, it's too smooth.

The energy they take to digest it warms them up (by the same token, try to limit corn in summer).

This is pretty much a fallacy.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

They'd need good granite grit to grind it whole corn......it won't act as grit, it's too smooth.

Ah, that makes sense...wasn't thinking about the smoothness of the unpopped corn.

Popcorn is a LOT harder than standard corn. I can vouch for this as my father has grown popcorn pretty much my entire life, and I can still remember suffering from "worn down thumb" from shelling a ton of the stuff in front of the TV as a kid!

Even with granite grit, do you think the chickens are able to digest it? I'd expect yes, but interested in others thoughts.

(BTW, once us kids moved out, my father got a metal handheld sheller....no thumb skin investment required).

 

[21hens-incharge]

Buggy?
Wonder how old it is?
Is it good feed, I doubt it....nutritionally it's probably nothing.

For some reason I was thinking "buggy" as in portable popcorn vendor on wheels thing not actual bugs.


Bugs eating it would make it kind of risky to bring in the house/garage/anywhere other grains are stored too.....transplanting the infestation along with the corn.

 

[centrarchid]

Buggy part needs to be better characterized, as well as its age. If good enough for most to germinate, then I would call it suitable as a component for feed.

When we used to make our own feed mixes, popcorn was preferred over dent / field corn. The latter had proportionally more starch / energy which chickens on a maintenance ration did not need. When temperatures got low we did supplement with the more starch rich dent corn to promote carbohydrate loading of crop contents over the long winter nights. The additional energy consumption promoted by the highly palatable corn kernels did promote availability of energy for heat production. The chickens were / are not motivated to consume additional materials when offered just regular feed when compared to the shell corn.