Possible feed issue??

[abrisbin]

I have 23 hens( Isa browns) I feed my hens layer crumbles in the morning and a scratch in the late afternoon. They also brows freely in there large fenced area. Just in the past few months I have been struggling to understand why my hens stopped eating the cracked corn in the scratch..they pick it all up but that it just lays there..I changed brands..then suppliers ...anyone know what's up?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Can't really think of a particular reason for the change - fortunately, corn really has little nutritional value as part of their overall diet (the only real "benefit" can be the ability to "burn" the corn to increase body temperature/warmth during winter - which in the summer can be a bad thing), so them not eating it would not concern me at all as it is more of a good thing than bad thing that they aren't enjoying it now.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Welcome to BYC!

Maybe it coincides with the weather. My gals ate it if I fed it in the winter, but they're also not as interested in the summer.

Keep in mind scratch grains for chickens is like candy to us. Try not to feed too much of it. And if you don't already you may want to consider putting a dish of oyster shell and a dish of grit free choice. The grit will help break up the food in their gut and the oyster shell will help replenish any calcium lost during egg laying.

 

[abrisbin]

Yes I do have oyster shells there for them. Ty

 

[BayBay Peepers]

That's good I wouldn't worry too much about the corn. I'm sure once the temperatures drop again they'll be more interested. Good luck!

 

[Chris09]

There could a number of reasons why your birds stopped eating corn, the main reason could be that there getting all there caloric needs without having to eat the corn. The coarseness of the corn could be another reason.

 

[Chris09]

Corn will not raise a animals temperature or even do any good at keeping them warm in the winter.
The energy that is in corn is quickly burned off with little work.
If corn remotely raised the temperature or even made them warm there would be a lot of hot, overheated chicken in this world just from eating there normal poultry feed since most feeds contain a good bit of corn.

As far as corn not being nutritious, I have to disagree. In fact Corn has more total digestible nutrients that oat, barley, wheat and sorghum just to name a few.

TDN = Total Digestible Nutrients
NEm = Net Energy of Maintenance
NEg = Net Energy of Gain
CP = Crude Protein
NDF = Neutral Detergent Fiber
ADF = Acid Detergent Fiber
​

----------------------------------------------------------------
Corn Barley Wheat Oats Sorghum
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TDN, % 90 88 88 77 82
NEm, Mcal/lb 1.02 0.94 0.99 0.84 0.91
NEg, Mcal/lb 0.70 0.64 0.68 0.55 0.61
CP, % 9.8 13.2 14.2 13.6 12.6
Escape Protein, % of CP 55 27 23 17 57
NDF, % 10.8 18.1 11.8 29.3 16.1
ADF, % 3.3 5.8 4.2 14.0 6.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------

​

Table 2. Mineral content of major feed grains (NRC, 1996).
----------------------------------------------------------
Corn Barley Wheat Oats Sorghum
----------------------------------------------------------
Calcium, % 0.03 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.04
Phosphorus, % 0.32 0.35 0.44 0.41 0.34
Potassium, % 0.44 0.57 0.40 0.51 0.44
Magnesium, % 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.16 0.17
Sodium, % 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
Sulfur, % 0.11 0.15 0.14 0.21 0.14
Copper, ppm 2.5 5.3 6.5 8.6 4.7
Iron, ppm 54.5 59.5 45.1 94.1 80.8
Manganese, ppm 7.9 18.3 36.6 40.3 15.4
Selenium, ppm 0.14 - 0.05 0.24 0.46
Zinc, ppm 24.2 13.0 38.1 40.8 0.99
Cobalt, ppm - 0.35 - 0.06 -
Molybdenum, ppm 0.60 1.16 0.12 1.70 -


Table 3. Nutrient content of corn using different harvest, storage,
or processing methods.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Escape
Dry TDN, NEm, NEg, Protein,
Corn Type Matter % Mcal/lb Mcal/lb CP, % % of CP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dry Rolled Corn 86 90 1.02 0.70 9.8 60
Ear Corn 87 83 0.92 0.62 9.0 60
Steam Flaked Corn 82 94 1.06 0.73 10.0 45
High Moisture Corn 75 90 1.02 0.70 10.0 40
High Moisture Ear Corn 75 83 0.92 0.62 8.7 40
High Moisture Snapped Corn 74 81 0.90 0.59 8.8 40

 

[DaveOmak]

Corn will not raise a animals temperature or even do any good at keeping them warm in the winter.
The energy that is in corn is quickly burned off with little work.
If corn remotely raised the temperature or even made them warm there would be a lot of hot, overheated chicken in this world just from eating there normal poultry feed since most feeds contain a good bit of corn.

As far as corn not being nutritious, I have to disagree. In fact Corn has more total digestible nutrients that oat, barley, wheat and sorghum just to name a few.

TDN = Total Digestible Nutrients​

NEm = Net Energy of Maintenance​

NEg = Net Energy of Gain​

CP = Crude Protein​

NDF = Neutral Detergent Fiber​

ADF = Acid Detergent Fiber​

​

----------------------------------------------------------------
Corn Barley Wheat Oats Sorghum
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TDN, % 90 88 88 77 82
NEm, Mcal/lb 1.02 0.94 0.99 0.84 0.91
NEg, Mcal/lb 0.70 0.64 0.68 0.55 0.61
CP, % 9.8 13.2 14.2 13.6 12.6
Escape Protein, % of CP 55 27 23 17 57
NDF, % 10.8 18.1 11.8 29.3 16.1
ADF, % 3.3 5.8 4.2 14.0 6.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------

​

Table 2. Mineral content of major feed grains (NRC, 1996).
----------------------------------------------------------
Corn Barley Wheat Oats Sorghum
----------------------------------------------------------
Calcium, % 0.03 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.04
Phosphorus, % 0.32 0.35 0.44 0.41 0.34
Potassium, % 0.44 0.57 0.40 0.51 0.44
Magnesium, % 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.16 0.17
Sodium, % 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
Sulfur, % 0.11 0.15 0.14 0.21 0.14
Copper, ppm 2.5 5.3 6.5 8.6 4.7
Iron, ppm 54.5 59.5 45.1 94.1 80.8
Manganese, ppm 7.9 18.3 36.6 40.3 15.4
Selenium, ppm 0.14 - 0.05 0.24 0.46
Zinc, ppm 24.2 13.0 38.1 40.8 0.99
Cobalt, ppm - 0.35 - 0.06 -
Molybdenum, ppm 0.60 1.16 0.12 1.70 -


Table 3. Nutrient content of corn using different harvest, storage,
or processing methods.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Escape
Dry TDN, NEm, NEg, Protein,
Corn Type Matter % Mcal/lb Mcal/lb CP, % % of CP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dry Rolled Corn 86 90 1.02 0.70 9.8 60
Ear Corn 87 83 0.92 0.62 9.0 60
Steam Flaked Corn 82 94 1.06 0.73 10.0 45
High Moisture Corn 75 90 1.02 0.70 10.0 40
High Moisture Ear Corn 75 83 0.92 0.62 8.7 40
High Moisture Snapped Corn 74 81 0.90 0.59 8.8 40

 

[Chris09]

I think this is the spot, I have a ton of pdf's on animal nutrition on this laptop.
It was a article on feeding corn to beef cattle but all the nutritional information is the same.
The pdf link is at the bottom and saysView Full Publication

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/publications/landing-pages/livestock/feeding-corn-to-beef-cattle-as-1238

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Though corn may not raise the temperature, it is high in calories. Thus helping to replace burned calories to stay warm in winter.