Scratch and Mash now I'm confused

[Their Other Mother]

Jim, Back about 40 years ago for my highschool Ag project we raised a brown swiss dairy bull calf for beef. The teacher said to feed him hay, rolled corn, oats and barley to fatten him up. The meat was so lean we had to add fat to make the hamburger stick together. The cost per pound was way more than what we could have paid at the grocery store (but it was healthier) So my question is "What's the Scoop" on that?

 

[hinkjc]

If corn is so highly digestible, why is it passed undigested in the feces of most animals, including us.

I know my dog cannot digest corn, as he vomits anything that contains corn.

If corn doesn't produce heat, why use it for a biofuel?

Corn does put fat on birds. I have proven this with my own meat birds. We raised some without adding corn at the end of their growing season and some where we provided corn the last week before slaughter. The batch that was provided corn had a heavy layer of fat and much juicier when cooked, while the batch without had a very thin layer of fat and was less tasty/juicy upon cooking.

Even on Purina's site, they do not recommend scratch as a primary feed source: http://www.poultrynutrition.com/OURPRODUCTS/Products/ScratchGrains/default.aspx

Important:
Scratch Grains is a grain supplement, not a complete feed. If too much is fed, it will dilute the feed intake of complete feeds such as Purina Mills

Start & Grow

SunFresh

Recipe, Purina Mills

Flock Raiser

SunFresh

Recipe or Purina Mills

Layena

SunFresh

Recipe, reducing the bird’s nutritional intake and overall performance. A feeding program is only as effective as the management practices. Actual results can vary depending upon feed intake, environmental conditions and the quality of management practices.

Jody​

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Jody

Jody:

Corn has a dry matter digestiblity of about 80% in swine and poultry feeds. It IS a very digestible feed.

Corn does not produce heat in the sense of warming an animal, it is simply to digestible to have a high heat increment.

The use of Corn in biofuels is due to the high level of starch NOT the amount of heat it makes in digestion in an animal.

I am afraid you have construed the comments of this thread into something they were not, of course feeding corn can result in fatter animals especially if you are not providing a properly formulated ration. However, fat content in the carcass does not mean the animal had increased core body temperature.

Jim

 

[silkiechicken]

Ok, to my understanding it is "hot" because per gram, there is more energy. If the bird can put 100g of food in it's tummy before bed. 100g of corn will have more energy than 100g of let's say lettuce. Thus corn being more energy dense, will be "hot" because there are more calories to burn per volume.

 

[MissPrissy]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
CORN DOES NOT CAUSE A BIRD TO HEAT UP!!!!!!!

This is an old wives tale.

Jim

Corn does produce higher body heat.

If you don't think so you should discuss it with the people who did the BTU body heat tests.

8 BTU's of heat per bird per hour in the dead of winter.​

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
CORN DOES NOT CAUSE A BIRD TO HEAT UP!!!!!!!

This is an old wives tale.

Jim

Corn does produce higher body heat.

If you don't think so you should discuss it with the people who did the BTU body heat tests.

8 BTU's of heat per bird per hour in the dead of winter.

Miss Prissy:

Can you provide the reference for this research? Was it published in the Journal of Poultry Science or World Poultry Science Journal.

JIm

 

[MissPrissy]

If you want to disprove me you can search online for a refernece.

It was several years ago when I was researching for a book I published that I found the article.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Anything you consume will result in an increase in body temperature since heat is one of the products of metabolism. HOWEVER, corn does not result in the "heat" that is constantly talked about on these and other forums.

All of the "what ifs" and "I read somewhere" have taken this thread away from my disagreement with the premise that corn heats up a body and should be only used winter.

Jim

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

Quote:
I'll tell you what I buy. My feed mill has this "magic stuff" that they add to corn and whatever else in proper proportion to give it the vitamin/mineral content necessary ($9.45/50lbs). When I open the bag it looks like ground corn to me. I ask for layer, grower, starter...it is all grain mixed with different proportions of suppliments to meet the requirements. So If you have been buying "laying mash" I would assume you are just fine. If, on the other hand you are getting only cracked corn you may want to concider looking for another option. As a side note here...and some may not agree with me...my girls survived just fine for a week on corn alone with no measurable loss of production but they are free rangers to the point where some days they barely touch the feeder at all. They prefer grasshoppers.

 

[Crest Acres Girl]

I can be teh human test for my girls, I'll eat a week of corn and nothing else..I wonder what will happen haha..

Thanks for all the input though everyone!