is corn as main ingredient good for chickens?

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Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

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And the Fallacies just keep coming!

I keep waiting for my chickens to combust as they are eating their corn in July.​

 

[Chris09]

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And the Fallacies just keep coming!

I keep waiting for my chickens to combust as they are eating their corn in July.

The pigeon grain I use as a scratch has popcorn in it, does that mean I have a better chance of chicken combustion? They could be jiffy-pop chicken

Chris

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Maybe a long time ago people used to feed their birds too much corn and that's where all the hype about spontaneous combustion came from!

 

[4nematode]

After talking to lots of experienced poultry growers, I add corn to the pellet mix I feed my girls since it's supposed to help them stay warm. Who knows if it works, but they're happy and haven't died of hypothermia yet. I will quit the corn come about March 1, mainly because I've been warned not to let the hens get fat. One more thing we have in common with hens is the propensity to develop corn-fed physiques!

 

[halo]

Quote:
I keep waiting for my chickens to combust as they are eating their corn in July.

The pigeon grain I use as a scratch has popcorn in it, does that mean I have a better chance of chicken combustion? They could be jiffy-pop chicken

Chris

Shoot, feed them popcorn, and stick them in the microwave. Better than Orvilles!

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

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Regardless of the anecdotes the facts don't bear out that feeding corn makes them warm. In fact if you really want to get them warm due to the heat increment use a high protein feed ingredient such as soybean meal.

 

[Terri O]

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The pigeon grain I use as a scratch has popcorn in it, does that mean I have a better chance of chicken combustion? They could be jiffy-pop chicken

Chris

Shoot, feed them popcorn, and stick them in the microwave. Better than Orvilles!

You silly kids....doncha know that's where Walmart gets their popcorn chicken?

TErri O

 

[spartacus_63]

The real question we need to ask is: Is feeding our chichens Genetically Modified Food (GMO food, aka "frankenfood") good for them?

All corn is Genetically Modified and has been for so long that most folks would not recognize "corn" in it's original form. There are several methods to modify a species' genetics and when one uses terms such as Frankenfoods, it tells me there is an agenda there. There is very little difference between genetically modified grains and genetically modified chickens.​

 

[spartacus_63]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
Regardless of the anecdotes the facts don't bear out that feeding corn makes them warm. In fact if you really want to get them warm due to the heat increment use a high protein feed ingredient such as soybean meal.

Heat production in regard to diet would be directly proportional to calorie content of the feed. Fats and ethanol have the highest food energy followed by protein and carbs. It does get a bit complicated but I doubt feeding corn causes any significant difference in body heat vs. any other grain.​

 

[BigIslandChicks]

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All corn is Genetically Modified and has been for so long that most folks would not recognize "corn" in it's original form. There are several methods to modify a species' genetics and when one uses terms such as Frankenfoods, it tells me there is an agenda there. There is very little difference between genetically modified grains and genetically modified chickens.

this is some great debate y'all have going on here!! just my 2 cents.....


i agree that most folks would not recognize corn in its original form but this is due to hundreds of years of selective seed saving - not adding some wacky genes from something else to it in a lab! i dont know about you but i have a problem if my soybeans are being sprayed with roundup and they dont die. also i try to avoid all processed, preservative and gmo food for our family and the chickens as much as we can. we try to eat and buy locally and/or organic.

and btw. the big island grass fed beef we have locally is the best and i will never buy non- organic beef from the mainland or regular chicken/turkey for that matter ever again. only local. buy organic buy local whenever possible. on thanksgiving i paid $43 for a 12lb. free range turkey from a small farm and the old ladies at the grocery store looked at me like i had 3 heads! to me it is worth it to support SUSTAINABLE agriculture - not GMO not big ag. that is not sustainable without petroleum (for BIG farm machinery) and petroleum based pesticides/chemicals and now gmo seeds that contaminate other farmers crops. then the big co. sues the small time farmer. and dont even get me started on the now all to common practice of seed pattens...are we really going to let these money hungry ceo's take control of OUR food. not only are gmo not properly tested for long enough before they are approved and unleashed out in nature. we should leave nature to do its job. its one thing to cross 2 breeds of chicken by letting them do their thing - they will mate together on their own but to try and clone animals and screw with the fish is just wrong! cant wait for all that gmo salmon to infect all the wild salmon.. good thing i dont like salmon anyhow.

my chickens get organic feed unless i am totally out of feed and there is no other option...ordering stuff out here takes forever. i had to buy flockraiser for my chicks nothing organic available. i get organic layer pellets and organic cracked corn for a little scratch - a handful or 2 a day for them is all they get of straight corn. plus they free range almost all day. oyster and egg shells and kitchen scraps. and as of now everyone is doing great. i think everyone has to do the best they can with whats available. we all dont have the options that are available to some of you all the time. i have one feed store in town with very limited choices. the other is over an hours drive for some more limited choices. so sometimes i have to take what i can get even if its not exactly what i want. just have to keep trying and looking for the best available for the chickens and us.

edit for typo's