# Feeding wheat berries and whole corn



## masawyer (Dec 31, 2010)

My landlord has about 8 buckets of wheat berries 2 whole corn that he bought around 15 years ago and he said I can feed it to our chickens.
Can they eat the wheat berries and corn like they are? Would they need
anything else? They will be in out in a chicken tractor tomorrow so they
will also have grass, bugs, rocks, etc.

TIA,

Marsha in OK


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

yes they can eat whole grain, but they will need other things too eat as well, whole grain especially just one or two kinds is not a ballanced diet, corn is the equivalent of candy, not really good for much other than a filler fat maker, wheat is better but still not a compleat food, if they were free range on good fresh territory you could suppliment with the grain and other treats in the summer but it would have to be a good rich plot of land, 
what i would do is feed them chicken feed and then TREAT them with the grain after they have had their good ballanced chicken feed, 

i mix wild bird seed in with my layer/chick starter mash for the birds, it helps streach the good stuff with out hurting them in the long run,


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

As long as they have layer for a main food source, you can feed that for extra/treat. Will not do as a sole feed though.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

If they were completely free range you could let them eat mostly the grain and what they scrounge, but in a tractor they won't be able to find enough bugs to make up for it. However, if you put a solar night light in the tractor they will get more bugs to eat. Might not be enough though.


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## masawyer (Dec 31, 2010)

Thanks for your help!

Marsha


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## suelandress (May 10, 2002)

15 years old? I wonder what kind of food value it has left.


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## Guest (May 3, 2011)

WstTxLady said:


> As long as they have layer for a main food source, you can feed that for extra/treat. Will not do as a sole feed though.


 Exactly. A little every day as a scratch feed.


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## hayzor (Dec 8, 2003)

suelandress said:


> 15 years old? I wonder what kind of food value it has left.


Alot depends on the storage method, but it should be pretty good unless it was allowed to get wet. Long term storage of grains is good for 30+ yrs.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

Great idea on the light in the run to attract extra bugs.


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## suelandress (May 10, 2002)

palatability and nutrient content aren't the same thing though



hayzor said:


> Alot depends on the storage method, but it should be pretty good unless it was allowed to get wet. Long term storage of grains is good for 30+ yrs.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Corn is usually cracked for chickens. The wheat whole is fine, but if you don't have any way to crack the corn, I'd soak a scoop of the corn in hot water before I put it out for the chickens.

If grain is spoiled, it smells moldy or musty. If the smell is off, put it in the compost.


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## Guest (May 3, 2011)

Assuming proper storage palatability should be good. Nutrient content will be somewhat off, but the major nutrients will still be largely intact.

I feed thousands of pounds of whole corn and wheat (and oats) to my birds every year. It's a good poultry feed if not a complete one.

Cracked corn goes off quickly.


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## scarnucci (Feb 28, 2010)

suelandress said:


> palatability and nutrient content aren't the same thing though



You've watched chickens eat, right? They will eat the butt hole out of a dead warthog. They'll devour each other given half a chance. They wont be picky if the wheat berries have been stored awhile. They will still find them "palatable".

To me, homesteading and self sufficiency go hand in hand. It is fairly common knowledge that properly stored wheat berries are one of the staples of long term food preps. As long as they are kept whole, dark and cool, the wheat berries will darn near outlive you.


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