Fermented Feed- Does it break down the corn?

[Riahchu]

Hi y'all.

I've been looking into fermented feed and am ready to try it. My question is this: Will fermenting the commercial feed I buy break down the corn enough to be safe for my chickens to consume on hot days? I've been feeding them mostly vegetables and seeds because it's been over 100 here and I'm worried about heat stroke, but I know they're not getting adequate nutrition with that. I want to ferment the feed so I can feed them 'normally' even on very hot days.

Thanks in advance,

Riah.

 

[Dephora]

Okay...

I have had chickens for years, I feed corn in the summer, in fact MOST feed is corn based. That myth exists because.... Yes, corn is considered a “hot” food. But this “heat” is a caloric measure, not temperature. Eating high-calorie foods keeps chickens warm in the winter because it fuels their metabolisms, the same way that fatty food gives us energy to shovel snow or get us stacking wood. But eating fatty and carb based food doesn't make you "hotter". I know this is a very well known myth and it is true high calorie food does keep you "warm" but not because it makes you hot. But I would not withhold a balanced feed to your chickens in summer just because the main ingredient is corn.

Fermenting feed would be very good for them, as they would be getting more water that way. But fermenting will not get rid of any fat or carbs from the ingredients.