Corn good or bad?

[chicken vet girl]

Are layer crumbles with a high percentage of corn good for chickens? Can chickens receive complete nutrition from one source of grain? It seems that a lot of companies make their chicken feed with lots of corn, then they fix the protein levels with soy, add minerals to balance it, AND to top everything else the nutrition analysis just says "grain products, plant protein products, processed grain by-products". Is this good for my chickens if I want them to live a long healthy life (8-12 years)? We would never think that we ourselves could eat corn bread, corn chips, corn tortillas, etc. and actually be healthy. GMO (and politics) aside, is corn and soy good or bad? Should I look for a complete layer ration with more "other grains" and lower amounts of corn?

What do you think?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It really doesn't matter what the blend of grains and legumes are in the feed. A complete feed will be assayed by the manufacturer to insure all the nutrients chickens are known to need are present in the correct ratios.
A single grain or legume aren't sufficient to feed chickens but that isn't what is in a complete chicken feed.
Often when specific grains and legumes are listed in the ingredient list, those are higher quality feeds than those that list things like grain by-products.
Allowing the use of generic terms in feed ingredients allows for more flexibility in formulating feed. Seasonally, some things may not be available or are prohibitively expensive so the flexibility allows the formulation of a complete feed without specifically naming grains. Then they don't have to reprint the guaranteed analysis tag every time they acquire a new grain.
Plant Protein Products may include beans, cottonseed meal, peas, soybeans, sunflower meal and active dried yeast.
Grain Products include any “normal form” of grain, including barley, corn, oats, wheat, rice and rye. These grains may be whole, ground, cracked, flaked, kibbled, toasted or heat processed.
Processed Grain By-Products can include brewers dried grains, corn gluten meal, distillers dried grains, peanut skins, rice bran, rye and wheat middlings and grain sorghum mill feed.

They are striving for an nutrient blend for each age and type of poultry when they formulate feed whether that be starter, grower, finisher, layer or all flock.
Using the generic terms, they can mix and match feedstuffs, assay those when the trainloads come in and the automated mill automatically compensates additives to arrive at the finished product that is a complete feed - regardless of ingredients.

 

[Folly's place]

x100 everything that CC had to say! There aren't 'good' or 'bad' ingredients, so much as those that are more or less expensive or available at any given time. The feed must be balanced and that's what's important.
A person who happens to be allergic/ sensitive to some grain or other may want to avoid it in their chicken feed, so as to avoid inhaling it or handling it in the coop. I'm very careful to buy fresh feed, by the mill date on each bag, for two reasons. Older feed is loosing some vitamins, not a good thing for my birds, and I'm personally allergic to dust mites, and maybe grain mites, so fresh is best for me too. And a face mask when I'm out there in the dust.
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... And a face mask when I'm out there in the dust.
Mary

A big box of dust masks is a must have for any chicken owner.

 

[Folly's place]

Make them at least the N95 masks, available in paint departments. Generic 'dust masks' aren't good enough. Ask me how I know this...
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How do you know?
Every time I muck out a coop or need to catch birds I go through a couple masks.
In two weeks they'll be blood testing all my birds for NPIP. I hope to have all coops mucked out with new shavings by then. I have to catch every bird over 4 months of age and that stirs up a lot of dust. I have the fewest number of adults now than I've had since I started NPIP. I'm down to 21 hens and 3 roosters. But a bunch of chicks and more hatching.

 

[Folly's place]

I have too many birds right now, with the last batch of (unexpected) June chicks. Ten days ago a hawk came visiting and took one of the bantams, and since then they've been locked in. Yesterday finally they are out ranging again, and so far now hawk has been back. So, my coop and covered run are a lot messier than usual, and fall clean-up may be needed fairly soon. I'm going to spread more shavings today to 'freshen' it all up. Facemask time again!
Mary

 

[Sofia Salazar]

Are layer crumbles with a high percentage of corn good for chickens? Can chickens receive complete nutrition from one source of grain? It seems that a lot of companies make their chicken feed with lots of corn, then they fix the protein levels with soy, add minerals to balance it, AND to top everything else the nutrition analysis just says "grain products, plant protein products, processed grain by-products". Is this good for my chickens if I want them to live a long healthy life (8-12 years)? We would never think that we ourselves could eat corn bread, corn chips, corn tortillas, etc. and actually be healthy. GMO (and politics) aside, is corn and soy good or bad? Should I look for a complete layer ration with more "other grains" and lower amounts of corn?

What do you think?

I completely agree with your point. However, some times I feel that some members here are direct representatives of some manufacture companies such feed or even pharmasurical. It’s all about money. Very rarely you will get honest advised. Personally, I feel that all this people promoting all these good for nothing deworming etc are sponsored, in my opinion.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm sorry that you fell that way, although advice certainly does vary! I for one haven't been paid off by anybody!
Mary

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Are layer crumbles with a high percentage of corn good for chickens?.... It seems that a lot of companies make their chicken feed with lots of corn, then they fix the protein levels with soy, add minerals to balance it, AND to top everything else the nutrition analysis just says "grain products, plant protein products, processed grain by-products". Is this good for my chickens... GMO (and politics) aside, is corn and soy good or bad? ... What do you think?

The chicken feed that you buy from almost every milling company is far and away superior to anything that a new chicken keeper can formulate. As for the prevalence of corn over soy in milled chicken feed the corn starch and sugars are superior to soy protein.

Soy protein is a trade off that is made to keep the overall cost of chicken food low. Thus something of considerable cost is referred too as "This ain't Chicken feed." This is especially true when you realize that every so called humane organization are constantly meddling in things that they have no idea about. Therefor a well known humain organization is responsible for the troubles faced by Orangutans, because this humane organization pushed the conversion from animal based oils and cooking ingredients to palm oil. Now the orangutans are paying a price because their environment is being destroyed to produce more palm oil instead of lard, tallow, ghee, or butter.