is corn as main ingredient good for chickens?

[BitsyB]

Quote:
Just stick the word corn in somewhere and you're right back on the original topic... I think the OP lost interest long ago.

BTW, no offense or anything, but you guys really got off into the weeds with the hybrid stuff. I've taken several plant courses and worked at garden centers for over 15 yrs. but you were beyond me. Some of it is semantics, or maybe a little miscommunication. But it's nice that you kept the discourse "civil" (to use the buzzword of the month).

And welcome to the New Eggs out there- thanks for chiming in!

 

[sean_danny]

Quote:
i know a lot of you guys are on about avoiding the gmo stuff. but what if that was not so much a problem where i am. the eu is much strickter than the states on it. i was hoping maybe someone out there could say list some grains for me to mix up. or these are good, these are for occational, etc. my chickens have their own grassy park they live in, so they have lots to forage about in. also, i give them loads of veggie scraps and their own egg shells. any help would really be appreciated. thanks, jean.

 

[Organics North]

Jean,
Do a google search on the internet and this forum for "home made feed recipes" or feed recipies. A fairly large group of us on BYC make our own. It is my opinion it needs to be a hobby, not something one just throws together.

What I feed can be seen on my BYC page.

Here is a link to one of the many threads on the topic:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4477&p=1


Ah France! (I keep French Marans..

)

ON

 

[UrbanGrower]

Obviously corn is a suitable energy source for chickens, and like others have said it's probably more important what percentage of the feed is corn, than the fact that they are getting it at all. The commercial mixes are a good place to start, but clearly if they are adding vitamins and minerals, then the original mix is lacking. It seems hard to argue that there aren't healthier sources of energy, but we aren't just talking health here we're also talking costs. For me personally I'll take it, my pocket book forces me too, and I'm sure the chickens aren't too worried about it. Mine seem healthy enough providing me with a bounty of eggs and as far as I can tell they are pretty happy overall.

GMO crops, well that's a whole different topic. GMOs as far as I know are virtually indifferent nutritionally speaking (maybe someone has proof otherwise). However, it seems strange to me that a plant killer like roundup can be sprayed on a plant with no ill effect. I don't like the fact that Monsanto has a patent on a live creature, which is why I personally wouldn't plant GMO crops (contrary to what has been posted, most of what is available to the public is not GMO). I don't like the fact that these GMO plants can spread to other farms crossing with other cultivars, leaving those farmers on the hook (maybe this isn't true), which is definitely possible through plant reproduction. However, in a whole I don't see them as bad.

I used to be against pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, until I took some horticulture classes and lost some of my own plants to pests. I can understand the need for these things, and the need for GMO crops.

What I do see as bad is the fact that we have 90% of our corn in one cultivar or a few very similar cultivars, which is controlled by Monsanto. The amount of seeds required to reseed each year may not be available from other sources, making Monsanto a monopoly in a sense. Yet this still isn't the largest problem.

The worst of all this is the fact that our way of life, low food costs and ample supply, is dependent on this current system. Disease, pest, & chemical resistance and control is of the utmost importance when we are monocropping thousands of acres. This is dangerous because we can lose a lot of food very easily. It's a problem because the land is over used, in most cases it absolutely requires fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides to be as productive as we need it to be. We need our to be this productive because we have become too familiar with low cost food, and we've let our farming community fall to the wayside leaving only about 2% to do the deed for our whole population. A small farmer cannot compete unless through a niche market, although this is slowly changing. Only large operations are efficient enough, and again, the larger and more centralized the operation, the more likely we can lose so much food it causes national & global problems.

People simply cannot stop eating, it's essential. If there is a shortage in food, even for a few weeks, there will be major problems.

Finally, back to the Ominivorous chicken, we can look no further than ourselves. I think of my lunch, a can of soda sweetened with corn syrup, some corn chips, and a lunchmeat sandwich(probably meat from corn fed animals), and I ask myself, how much corn is optimal for me and my chickens? My answer, probably less than we're getting now.

I don't know if the points I've added were already brought up, I didn't read every single post thoroughly, hopefully I didn't repeat much.

 

[Suechick]

I just want to say thanks for the interesting read everyone!
ON, Ridgerunner, Spartacus, amyable, Chris09 etc.
It has taken me 5 days to get through this whole thread

and I have enjoyed most of it.

Now I am inspired to work harder to raise my own and find different sources for our food.

Just to add - I am less concerned about GMOs as many of the genes that are added to these plants are also in other organisms that go into a normal human diet.

I am very concerned about chemical fertilizers, pesticide and herbicide residue getting into the food supply; that would be the main reason I would be against the round up ready products. I also want to see a balanced ecosystem where predatory bugs can thrive and our soils are not barren of nutrients.

My chickens get an organic feed, the first ingredients are corn and soy, I have no idea where I could go to find grain to mix my own feed to have less of that stuff. I live in a planned community with tiny lots in the suburbs, I'm sure I don't even have space to store the equipment I would need. I'm hoping that the "free ranging" that they do in my yard balances out their diet enough to give us nutritious eggs. They certainly live a good life here!

 

[phasianidae]

Corn screenings make great chicken feed.

 

[sjh]

Quote:
Floor sweepings do too!!

 

[spartacus_63]

What I do see as bad is the fact that we have 90% of our corn in one cultivar or a few very similar cultivars, which is controlled by Monsanto.

Keep in mind that the corn genes change from year to year due to breeding and that Monsanto maintains a bank of seeds to draw from. They have to have parent stock to continue the hybrid strains. I still am of the mind that any corn grown for personal consumption and local sale is better from heirloom seeds. This helps to keep the crop genetics varied.
Also there are many seed companies although Monsanto is by far the biggest. Pioneer, Agrigold, AsGrow, Gekalb, Krueger Stein and Legend Seeds also a large seed companies.

I am very concerned about chemical fertilizers, pesticide and herbicide residue getting into the food supply; that would be the main reason I would be against the round up ready products.

Round up ready crops use inhibitors to block Round Up from getting into the roots, so this would reduce the uptake of chemicals into the food source. Although Round Up even in non Ready crops would not effect the food or fruit of the plant and round up is non toxic to animals. Also Round Up becomes inactive once it comes in contact with the soil. Pesticides are a big problem AND they are heavily regulated by the Gov. Although here in the mid west it has caused problems. Chemical fertilizers, also heavily regulated is/has changed and is moving more towards absorption by the plant vs. saturating the ground. It is still not perfect, but with out it there would be lots of poor and hungry.​

 

[Organics North]

UrbanGrower
I enjoyed your post and your perspective.... Well written!

Suechick

Just to add - I am less concerned about GMOs as many of the genes that are added to these plants are also in other organisms that go into a normal human diet.

I am very concerned about chemical fertilizers, pesticide and herbicide residue getting into the food supply; that would be the main reason I would be against the round up ready products.

Many GMO folks would contend that the use of GMO seed reduces the overall amount of herbicides use.. I do believe this is true. However, we find our selves relying heavily on Round up. Which we think/have been told is "safer" for the environment at least when compared to what we have learned about some of the herbicides like Atrazine. Then again back in the day, we were told that was "safer" too..

I personally do not trust large corporations out to make a profit on much of anything, let alone Monsanto, who happens to own the company that makes Round up and happens to own the patents on round up ready seed! Besides that Monsanto has a track record, with being wrong on herbicides... As they told the US goverment to spray agent orange while our troops were on the ground in Vietnam..

For know Round up appears to be the safest chemical herbicide to date.......Some day in the near future we may find out Round up is less safe than we thought!

Here is an informative piece on one aspect of the debate:
http://www.ghorganics.com/Roundup&weeds.htm

Spart,
Heavy regulation by the gov, does not mean that much to me.. Regulatory positions are appointed positions not elected positions... Way to often the appointed experts are from the very industry they are supposed to regulate... IMO way to much conflict of interest. Lobbies to influential, and the all mighty dollar is in play..

ON​

 

[spartacus_63]

Spart,
Heavy regulation by the gov, does not mean that much to me.. Regulatory positions are appointed positions not elected positions... Way to often the appointed experts are from the very industry they are supposed to regulate... IMO way to much conflict of interest. Lobbies to influential, and the all mighty dollar is in play..wink

ON

Another issue we agree on. I did not intend to imply that because of regulation, it was safer or better, just that the use of it was strictly controlled. The one size fits all government mentality rarely works and in this case is often detrimental. There could be a process available that is capable of miracles, yet until Uncle Sam labels it, it can not be used on anything dealing with food. It is a trade off that is necessary but not efficient.

We could have another 20 pages of posts on the politics of agriculture, but this is one area I will only discuss in private.

Those that believe Monsanto is a bad guy company do not know the company. You will be hard pressed to find a single company that has advanced agriculture techniques more. They have a responsive proactive group of people that look for innovation as well as problems. Monsanto has a few things working against them. They are a "Chemical" company, therefore they are an automatic target for tree huggers and they are not a union company so they are a huge target for Labor groups. All I say is do not believe every thing you read and look at who publishes the articles and You Tube videos.

You will also be hard pressed to find an unhappy Monsanto employee...unhappy enough to find another job.​