Corn for heat? Is it myth or no?

[Nenad]

Ive read somewhere before about mixing stuff like your bacon/sausage grease with the feed to give in the winter for them to stay warmer, is this true?

I don't know, I saw from one guy that raises game fowls and when he wants to add weight, he puts grease for 3-4 days in feed. I also saw on here that too much fat doesn't let them lay eggs, they slow down I guess.

 

[raingarden]

For what it's worth, chickens will burn fat for energy preferentially to burning protein for energy.

 

[Painted Calls]

Ive read somewhere before about mixing stuff like your bacon/sausage grease with the feed to give in the winter for them to stay warmer, is this true?

The sodium in that alone would be horrible for them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

For what it's worth, chickens will burn fat for energy preferentially to burning protein for energy.

I think everything burns everything preferentially before protein. Because burning protein typically means you are burning your own body. Carbs first. Then fats, then protein. Natures' way.

Its why some feeds will up their energy content by adding a fat to the mix, and litterally pour on some oil - typically for fast growth birds.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The thing about corn is they will eat it even when full. When the birds are about to coop up at night if you throw some down they will gobble it up. That extra quicker energy intake is not a bad thing. The idea is you are not replacing their total diet feed with it- not feeding it during the day. Fat is great for cold, fast to burn high energy. Is it needed? Not in most cases. What people deem cold and constantly exaggerate with wind chill factors are typically not the kind of cold where supplementing fat if warranted. I'll toss black oil sunflower down on mornings below 0 F. And when it's -10 F I'll toss it in the coop as the birds usually wait for temps to warm up later in the morning to come out and feed.

We eat BLT's almost every weekend here. The fat in the pan is absorbed into oats then fed to the birds. There is no concern of elevated salt. This salt concern is another perpetuated myth. What people need to remember is the salt studies were intended to be lethal. The birds literally had to be force fed salt (sodium solution injected into crops) as they would not consume it at those insane levels. Chickens are no more sensitive to salt than any other animal. We all die if force fed incredible amounts of it. The studies made sense to a point as in effects of salt, benefits at specific dosage. All animals need salt. Where it went off the rail was finding the lethal intake requirement. But you'll see all feeds have 1% sodium and that's the result of these often misconstrued studies.

 

[Painted Calls]

The thing about corn is they will eat it even when full. When the birds are about to coop up at night if you throw some down they will gobble it up. That extra quicker energy intake is not a bad thing. The idea is you are not replacing their total diet feed with it- not feeding it during the day. Fat is great for cold, fast to burn high energy. Is it needed? Not in most cases. What people deem cold and constantly exaggerate with wind chill factors are typically not the kind of cold where supplementing fat if warranted. I'll toss black oil sunflower down on mornings below 0 F. And when it's -10 F I'll toss it in the coop as the birds usually wait for temps to warm up later in the morning to come out and feed.

We eat BLT's almost every weekend here. The fat in the pan is absorbed into oats then fed to the birds. There is no concern of elevated salt. This salt concern is another perpetuated myth. What people need to remember is the salt studies were intended to be lethal. The birds literally had to be force fed the sodium (injected into crops) as they would not consume it at those insane levels. Chickens are no more sensitive to salt than any other animal. We all die if force fed incredible amounts of it. The studies made sense to a point as in effects of salt, benefits at specific dosage. All animals need salt. Where it went off the rail was finding the lethal intake requirement. But you'll see all feeds have 1% sodium and that's the result of these often misconstrued studies.

Thank you for explaining this. Where did this particular myth start? My whole life I've heard that they cannot metabolize it. My ornithologist that I used to take my Amazon to even told me this. Granted that was a LONG time ago.

 

[Brooks_]

Not to derail, but I'd be interested in learning more about salt (NaCl) vs sodium (Na). Does the sodium get a separate listing on the tag because it's the "bad" part of salt or is it also another ingredient?

 

[Fluffy family]

I don’t know about it making them warmer by digesting it but we do feed ours corn to help them put on a layer of fat over winter.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Thank you for explaining this. Where did this particular myth start? My whole life I've heard that they cannot metabolize it. My ornithologist that I used to take my Amazon to even told me this. Granted that was a LONG time ago.

It is the dramatic part of those studies. "Chickens dying from salt" and that's the sensationalism that's carried forward then somehow it becomes a rule. Years ago I got tired of hearing how sensitive they were, people saying they can't have any yet it's in feed, so researched the studies. It was eye opening for sure. I learned that sadists are in every profession of life. It's not just dentist! I mean, I'd have stopped the study at the point where birds stopped eating the food. I can't remember the percentage but that was ridiculously high as it was. Those sadists trudged on and started mummifying the birds from the inside out. I suspect dehydration was the cause of death.

 

[Painted Calls]

It is the dramatic part of those studies. "Chickens dying from salt" and that's the sensationalism that's carried forward then somehow it becomes a rule. Years ago I got tired of hearing how sensitive they were, people saying they can't have any yet it's in feed, so researched the studies. It was eye opening for sure. I learned that sadists are in every profession of life. It's not just dentist! I mean, I'd have stopped the study at the point where birds stopped eating the food. I can't remember the percentage but that was ridiculously high as it was. Those sadists trudged on and started mummifying the birds from the inside out. Dehydration was the cause of death.

Awful awful. Thank you for the info!