whole kernel corn

[stronggirl]

A friend of mine told me that I should not be tossing out whole kernel corn (dried field corn) for my chickens to have for an occasional treat because "they r unable to digest it ". Is this true? Does it have to b cracked corn? They gobble up afew pieces and return throughout the day for afew more bites.

 

[Chris09]

A friend of mine told me that I should not be tossing out whole kernel corn (dried field corn) for my chickens to have for an occasional treat because "they r unable to digest it ". Is this true? Does it have to b cracked corn? They gobble up afew pieces and return throughout the day for afew more bites.

Not true,

Chickens have a crop that acts like a "predigesting" system, the food is allowed to moisten some before interring the gizzard. The gizzard is made up of muscular walls that grind the food down to a digestible size. The gizzard also contains grit (stones) that help the gizzard grind the food by grinding against the food. The gizzard works very similar to a mortar and pestle.


Chris

 

[stronggirl]

Thanks, Chris. That's pretty much what I thought but wanted to be sure.

 

[Chris09]

Thanks, Chris. That's pretty much what I thought but wanted to be sure.

Your Welcome,

Another way you could look at it is, if a chicken can "eat" a rock and then grind it down to the point that it dust in there stool then a kernel of corn doesn't have a chance in there digestive system.


Chris

 

[NYREDS]

Another plus to whole corn is it retains nutrition better than cracked corn. Once corn is cracked it begins to deteriorate. They can digest whole corn just fine & it's more nutritious than cracked corn.

 

[donrae]

After watching my hen swallow a half grown mouse, I'm a firm believer in the power of the gizzard! They can digest darn near anything!

 

[kuntrygirl]

I was always afraid to throw out whole corn to them but it sounds like it's ok.

 

[stronggirl]

Well stated! Gave me a big smile!

 

[zekii]

Well this is good too know, we found a relatively cheap source of whole corn, I have been feeding it to my turkeys as a treat, but I thought
whole corn might be a bit too large for chickens, and I was going to try and find a method to crack some of the whole corn.
Guess I'll try the whole corn with my chickens !!

 

[stronggirl]

Mine gobble it up like its gold!