Effects of feeding corn to chickens?

[seedcorn]

Quote:
Open pollinated varieties are essentially 2 different types--dent or flint.

Flint corn tests very high for protein but because of the type of starch, it is highly indigestable. Most famous flint is popcorn.

Dent corn is higher in soft starches and depending on genetics what it is on protein.

Protein in field corn is dependent upon nitrogen available versus yield. Less nitrogen or higher yields, lower protein. Higher nitrogen or lower yields, higher protein. Protein levels have NOTHING to do w/amino acid levels which is what we should be looking at. Amino acids are controlled by genetics, nitrogen available, and yield levels. There are families of hybrid corn that are very high in essential amino acids and there are families that are the opposite.

For those that are feeding 2009 raised corn.....expect a lot of molds/toxins in this crop. Several fields are being rejected. Do a study on vomitoxin as that's the big culprit.

 

[seedcorn]

Quote:
Very important observation. Corn HAS been bred to have higher sugars than in the past (one in a multitude of reasons Americans are fatter today.) However, I don't know about field corn. Someone in this thread raised that point.

However, most corn produced in this country is GM - 80% in 2007. Usually, they modify the genes using a virus. GM products have been subject to very little testing; a major reason they are largely banned in Europe. Like you, chookchick, I've grown wary of using very much corn and use more sunflower and other seed.

Katherine

GMO corn is not banned in Europe. Just like in USA, asian market, the european market all do testing. You do realize that the genes everyone worries about are the same genes you eat every day in other products? Most people have no realization of the millions spent in testing every year.

Don't like GMO products, no problem, don't buy them. There are options.

 

[greathorse]

Quote:
Open pollinated varieties are essentially 2 different types--dent or flint.

Flint corn tests very high for protein but because of the type of starch, it is highly indigestable. Most famous flint is popcorn.

Dent corn is higher in soft starches and depending on genetics what it is on protein.

Protein in field corn is dependent upon nitrogen available versus yield. Less nitrogen or higher yields, lower protein. Higher nitrogen or lower yields, higher protein. Protein levels have NOTHING to do w/amino acid levels which is what we should be looking at. Amino acids are controlled by genetics, nitrogen available, and yield levels. There are families of hybrid corn that are very high in essential amino acids and there are families that are the opposite.

For those that are feeding 2009 raised corn.....expect a lot of molds/toxins in this crop. Several fields are being rejected. Do a study on vomitoxin as that's the big culprit.

Thanks, but you are way over my head. So are you saying that with the lower nitrogen and lower yeilds and open pollinated that corn may have provided a more balanced feed than the corn we produce today? I did not know that popcorn was hard for animals to digest that is interestiing.

I know there are zealots everywhere you look but I have had some folks go on and on about the merits of the old open pollinated stuff. I wouldnt know my dad was a seed corn salesman and was very much a believer in the next new hybrid.

I like this kind of education thanks again.

 

[chookchick]

Quote:
Okay--so that makes sense to me. Available nitrogen determines protein levels and amino acid levels. Likewise amounts of vitamins and minerals are going to be somewhat determined by the soil levels and nutrition provided. Therefore I find it VERY hard to believe that corn that yields 10 times as much per acre is going to be as nutritious as corn that yields much less.

Regarding GM corn--just saw an ad for ROUNDUP READY corn. This is what we are talking about folks--corn that has been modified so you can soak the whole field in roundup (glyphosate to be exact) and not kill the corn, supposedly just the weeds. By soaking, I mean aerial spraying. This is the future of our food crops. So they've fed these crops to animals for a few years and haven't seen bad effects, so now you and I get to taste it. I'm not thrilled about eating food that has been raised this way.....

 

[houndit]

Quote:
It also causes black feathers to shine iridescent purple which they should not.

 

[Mattemma]

I give crumbles but also have a bag of scratch with corn that I give in the afternoon before I lock them up.In the summer I grew corn for privacy(12 foot stalk),and would give the hens the fresh corn.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Quick question for you..
Do you know glyphosate is?

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum, nonselective systemic herbicide used for control of annual and perennial plants including grasses, sedges, broad-leaved weeds, and woody plants. It can be used on non-cropland as well as on a great variety of crops. Glyphosate itself is an acid, but it is commonly used in salt form, most commonly the isopropylamine salt. It may also be available in acidic or trimethylsulfonium salt forms. It is generally distributed as water-soluble concentrates and powders.
Glyphosate sesquisodium is used as a plant regulator on sugar cane.
Glyphosate is a generic name for N-phosphonomethyl glycine witch is sodium salt.

Roundup Ready plant have been around for some time it isn't a new thing.. In 1996 Roundup Ready soybeans resistant to Roundup became available, followed by Roundup Ready corn in 1998.
Other Roundup Ready crops include soy, maize (corn), canola, sugar beet and cotton, with wheat and alfalfa still under development.

So if Roundup basically a salt that would meen that the "Roundup" ready crops are just resistant to salt much like Sugar Cane and if it "water-soluble" that would meen that it would wash away in the first good rain.
Right?


Chris

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Quote:
Fair enough. Let me state the case more accurately:

European consumers, farmers, retailers, NGOs and Governments are leading the global resistance to GM food and farming. The European Commission prohibits the cultivation of GM crops without a positive risk assessment followed by legal approval. Despite a lack of due diligence in the EU risk assessment and the undemocratic nature of the approval process, the only GM crop approved for cultivation (Monsanto's patented MON810 maize) is grown on 0.06% of arable land in the EU, where 99.94% of arable land thus remains GM-free. Most EU Member States and Switzerland oppose the cultivation of GM crops, and many of them have banned or restricted GM cultivation at their national and/or regional levels.

The European Commission is trying to "ban the bans," so to speak, but member countries are fighting to retain their bans. From an article in April of 2009 :

Only last month, Germany, along with at least 20 other EU member states, voted down a European Commission attempt to have Austria and Hungary lift bans on growing maize.

EU environment ministers, meeting in Brussels on March 2, voted against forcing Vienna and Budapest to allow Monsanto's MON810 GM grain to be grown in their countries.

Only four EU nations -- Britain, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden -- supported the Commission's effort to have the Austrian and Hungarian bans lifted.

Under EU law, member states can legislate a national ban on genetically modified organisms (GMO) if the government in question can justify the prohibition.

It was the third time that the Commission had tried to force Austria to lift its ban, and the second time for Hungary. Austria also has a "safeguard" ban on Germany's Bayer AG's T25 GM corn . . .

The March defeat followed a similar vote in February, which foiled the European Commission's attempts to force France and Greece to allow GM corn from Monsanto to be grown in their fields.

Nine of the 27 EU nations supported the Commission's call for the ban to be lifted, while 16 opposed it or abstained.

This gives a little of the flavor of what's going on. Many member countries have or are in the process of instituting, bans on GM corn; the European Commission is trying to force them to lift their bans.

Mexico and other countries have been resisting GM corn as well. It's a testament to the corporate power of Monsanto that they have to struggle so hard to resist it.

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I don't if I can avoid it. But Monsanto and others DO want to limit our options, by resisting attempts to label products GM or not. That's just a fact.

Katherine​

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

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I second the recommendation of "King Corn."

Another great one is "The Future of Food." It explains how exactly seeds are genetically modified and what the scientific issues are.

 

[GardenWeasel]

I won't get started on my rant. I'll just give another vote for "King Corn"