How to make cracked corn?

[Nyna]

Hi! I am wondering if anyone has made cracked corn before? I have a whole bunch of fresh corn in my garden and I wanted to dry some and store it for this winter when they could use the fat to keep warm. Is it as easy as letting it dry and cracking it with a mallet or something? Would it stay good until this winter? Should I add any thing to the corn?

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, first off, do you have the right kind of corn? If you are growing sweet corn there isn' t that much dry mass to them and won't really make that good of a cracked corn. If you do have the right type, let the corn grow up and dry out and pick them once they are all hard and dry, then I would guess you could use a hammer and mallet and "crack" them so to say.

As for any corn. It's just a treat for the birds.

 

[Nyna]

Oh, yeah I have sweet corn. I did not think of that. Okay, thanks for the reply though. I will have to try it with just a couple. Next year I will plant a different kind. Do you know what kind of corn works well? Yes, I know to use corn in moderation. I think it will be a good treat for them this winter. Right now I am trying to store as many veggies as I can for the winter, why not think about the birds too!

 

[MissPrissy]

Feed corn is different fom the corn people eat. You can go to your local Feed and Seed and see what hybrid they have in stock for farmers or visit someone you know who plants corn and see what they are using. You might even score a half a pound to plant for yourself.

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't know much about non sweet corn but I remember when I was little I planted a small patch of corn from my hamster feed. It grew slowly and ended up with hard starchy kernels unlike sweet corn and then the frost killed it all before having a chance to dry. I think the corn took too many days. I only plant sweet corn with days listed as being under 75 days... Not sure. I bet if your climate is agreeable to corn, any whole corn would work. Like the type people use to feed squirrels with.