Whole grains? Yes or NO?

[farmerbly]

Can we feed whole grains such as Wheat, Whole Corn, Milo, Soybeans, or Rice to our chickens?
Thanks
Bp

 

[Fred's Hens]

I sometimes do. The whole grain diet seems to please our heritage birds. The best 5 grain, whole grain mix I can affordably buy is nice and clean, but only 12% protein, which is far too low. So I feed two parts Game Bird at 24% to one part whole grain for a 19%-20% approx protein blend. I hand mix in a 5 gallon pail and scoop it out as needed. They like and are doing great on it.

 

[farmerbly]

Can we feed Whole corn or does it have to be cracked? I pretty much can get all whole grains for free. What about rice that hasnt been milled (still has husk on the grain)?

 

[HEChicken]

Personally I feel whole corn has a lot more nutrition than the cracked. IMHO (I say it like that because this is a "hot" topic for some), oxidation causes nutrients to start being lost as soon as a grain is cracked so by the time it is bagged, stored and later eaten, very little of nutritive value is left. I don't feed a lot of corn but when I do it is whole corn. (I buy a 25-lb bag of deer corn at the beginning of each winter and it lasts about a year. I do the deep litter method and throw a couple of handfuls into the bedding in the coop when I need it turned over. Bwahahaha).

 

[Fred's Hens]

My mix has cracked corn. Whole rice is not likely a big deal, dunno for certain. Milo is just little red balls, so that's not a problem. Our birds usually pick those out first, must be a favorite. They don't jump all over the whole oats or the whole millet either, but they eat them. Rolled or cut oats? Wow, stand back and watch those go!
Many younger fowl will balk at whole kernel corn.

 

[farmerbly]

hey thanks for the info