Whew! I have read and read this volatile thread and am finally caught up. Now here's my thoughts about rice. First let me say I don't feed my chickens rice. But why? Because it never occurred to me to do so. But what I'm about to say may help those of you who are scratching your heads over this...
I truly believe that chickens won't eat what they shouldn't. Otherwise they'd be extinct already. I don't think they need us to do their thinking for them.
I offered my hens a mouse previously caught in a trap and they were decidedly uninterested. They likewise were not interested when a fresh, live mouse ran right out under their feet from the well house, zigzagged among them and departed to parts unknown. Where is the owner's manual they need to...