Can I feed whole, dried corn to chickens?

[Gullygarden]

Quote:
Free range?

 

[Beekissed]

A lot but not all the time.

 

[Trishkabob]

funny, we just wandered over to a corn field near our property and found that the farmer never harvested. Lots of ears of rock hard corn that we picked off and gave our 3 girls (who never looked twice at cracked corn scratch we BOUGHT for them)...they loved it.
But then I wondered if it might be bad for them so I'm glad to see I was overthinking...
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

[RedHawk027]

Greetings!
When I was a young boy, we fed the chickens by shelling corn directly from the cob. I do not remember my Grandma feeding them anything else but food scraps. We always had plenty of fresh eggs and chicken meat. We ate most everything. She even put the chicken feet in soups for flavor.
I currently have over 100 fowl (guineas, chickens, ducks, and geese) which are "very" free ranged, and feed them mostly scratch grains. I keep them mainly for the eggs, pest and rodent control, and for the joy of it. Due to feed costs, I am going to try whole corn soon and see how that works. I can get the whole corn locally at about half the cost of scratch.
Take care!
Happy New Year!

 

[Chicken Farmer WV Hick]

I was thinking about feeding my flock whole corn on days I can let them free range and then give them mix grain scratch in the winter when they are pinned up. Do you think this would be fine since they will get plenty of extra and grit from free ranging? I am considering the cornmeal for my chicks if it is cheaper than the starter. Or maybe starting them out on starter for a few weeks and switching over to corn meal or mixing it. The price of feed has went up so much! Anyone know if ducks can eat whole corn? I have a few ducks mixed in with my chickens. Thanks

 

[Tigertrea]

Thought I'd revive this topic a bit too since I was wondering about whole corn.

I had considered buying cracked corn but, whole is currently half price at the TSC I work at so I picked up a few bags. The chickens are going nuts over it. I mainly bought it as a "time to go back to your run" lure and am glad they are, so far, going nuts for it!

 

[chickbird]

Thought I'd revive this topic a bit too since I was wondering about whole corn.

I had considered buying cracked corn but, whole is currently half price at the TSC I work at so I picked up a few bags. The chickens are going nuts over it. I mainly bought it as a "time to go back to your run" lure and am glad they are, so far, going nuts for

you can feed whole corn to your chickens, but will need to feed layer also, my parents/grandparents and most farmers in the south fed whole corn to the chickens, they did not lay as well as chickens today who are fed a balanced fed. the 5 way scratch now in our area even has laying pellets as well as other grains, and in the past year i feed more of this and a little laying pellets extra added and have noticed no decrease in my egg production. i do let my chickens free range all day , shutting up at night.

 

[LipsChicks]

I've been giving my flock whole corn for months now as a treat and they love it. The first couple of times I tossed it out, they barely touched it. Well, we raise corn and have thousands of bushels so I didn't give up. Now, they expect it every time we even drive by the coop! I give them plenty of grit and I have some very healthy, happy chickens.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Yesterday, 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 - other than the size of the whole kernels - that I shouldn't feed it. Or should I throw it in the vitamix for a couple of seconds, first?

Thanks for anyone who can help with this.

Any chicken big enough to swallow a whole corn kernel can safely eat whole corn. I am talking about 10 day old chicks. I have even seen day old chicks try to swallow whole corn. Cracked corn has dried out and is no where near as notorious as whole corn is.

Read posts 9 & 10 to learn more.

 

[dragonsmenageri]

Thank you this thread was very helpful I am looking to grow my own feed along with letting my birds forage.