Cornbread

[SilkieBantams]

Is cornbread good for chickens? Because my hens enjoy eating cornbread as a good tasty treat.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Don't know if it's good for them, but they sure love it. My grandparents told me they used corn meal and crumbled cornbread as chick starter in the 20's and 30's.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

If you look at the ingredients in corn bread, the only thing that doesn't also show up in most chicken feeds is the sugar. That would lead me to believe that corn bread is a good treat for your chickens but not something for their regular diet. A week or so back I baked a batch that just turned out wrong...dry, too hard, not tasty. My kids rightfully turned up their noses after a small slice each but the chickens thought it was great stuff and enjoyed it as a special treat (in addition to their regular food) for several days in a row.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Dad did the same thing in the 50's and 60's, using mostly cornmeal as a Starter, but it is not a balanced diet. He's also let them out to fend for themselves a lot earlier than most people on this forum do.

They'll do much better if you treat it like a treat, just a little extra like you would give a kid (or yourself) candy. The sugar in it would not really bother me. I'd be more concerned if it was real salty. They don't handle excess amounts of salt real well. But in small amounts, it will not hurt the chicks or grown chickens at all.

 

[Chris09]

Regular cornbread as a treat is fine.

There is a old mix that was called "chicken cornbread" or "cock bread" it had some variations to the mix but was basically---
For every pint of corn meal use 2 eggs, then add sufficient amount of "Sweet Milk" to make a light dough. Make into cakes about 1/2 inch thick and bake well..

* Sweet Milk is just regular Whole Milk that has not gone sour *

Chris

 

[Chicky Babe]

In Kentucky putting sugar in cornbread is considered high treason! I am making a pone for my chickens tonight. Ran out of feed and need something to tide them over until I can return with their starter mix. IDK if this is an old post, just couldn't resist!