Today, I noticed one of my chickens relentlessly pecking at a broken node of a dry corn stalk that my daughter had broken off and was terrorizing the chickens with. Curious, I broke another one off, cracked it open and pulled out the long soft pithy center and threw it to them. They fought over it! This is after they had just enjoyed a fresh bunch of kale, a couple handfuls of scratch, and free access to their layer pellets and crumbles. So, I was curious to see what the fuss was about. I took a bite and it was slightly sweet, and had the consistency of a fibrous stale marshmallow. It must have some carbs in it. So, I've read now about silage as a feed for bigger animals but that is fermented, but I'm curious if other people dry and feed their chickens the centers of corn stalks in the winter. Exactly how much nutrition is in them? I notice chickens always like to eat styrafoam too. Is it a texture or consistency thing that feels good in their crop, or does dried corn pith have value as feed? The corn in question that I fed was a dent variety with massive 14 foot tall corn stalks.
