Popcorn? (unpopped)

[Tala]

See I have this bottle of "popcorn seeds" as we call them. Problem is our popcorn popper broke, so now I never go through the trouble to pop the loose kind anymore. It's just sitting in the pantry. Since I don't cook it for myself, I sure wouldn't cook it for the birds. . . .but I was wondering if they can eat it whole/unpopped?
They eat corn, it's kinda the same right?

 

[Dora'smom]

I'm not sure that this would be good for your chickens as what corn is normally fed is "cracked corn". I'm not sure how easy this would be for a chicken to digest. It may be too hard.

Christina

 

[Tala]

My chickens eat deer corn, it's not cracked. It's hard, but not quite popcorn hard -- which is why I thought I'd ask if anyone else has tried it.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Many pigeon grain mixes have popcorn included in them, so I think it would be fine. I plan on feeding an old bag of Jolly Time popcorn to mine. If they can eat whole kernels of field corn, the smaller popcorn should be no problem.

 

[Kim_NC]

We've never fed unpopped popcorn to ours - so, no experience with it.

But you can pop it in the microwave for yourself/family or chickens to eat . Put 1/4 cup kernels in a paper lunch bag. Fold top over a couple times. Stand bag in microwave, cook on "High" for a couple minutes or use "popcorn" setting. Watch it closely, you may find it doesn't take as long as store bought microwave popcorn. You can add melted butter, salt, grated parmesean cheese, etc.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:

You will be fine.. My chickens eat pigeon grain as a scratch grain and it had popcorn in it..

Chris

 

[Lollipop]

Many gamefowl breeders feed popcorn in their feed blends. It is more nutritious than even whole corn and, as long as the birds have access to grit, it can easily be digested.

One thing I should mention as this thread has mentioned it. Cracked corn should only be used as treats. Corn looses its nutritional value rapidly after being cracked and after only three days, it`s about as nutritious as feeding dirt. Whole corn is around 12% protien and in only 3 days, cracked corn is down to 7 or maybe 6%, depending on the type of corn. I don`t have the nutritional info for pop corn, but it is definately better than most whole corns and way better than cacked corn. Caution, make sure your pop corn is not moldy..........Pop

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Quote:
Thank you for this tip. I will try it on my popcorn!

 

[sjh]

Quote:
Cracked corn does not loose it nutritional value as you stated. If you believe this so much prove it. Due not use wiki eather you will atomaticaly loose.

 

[daisy_dukers]

Everytime my wife wants popcorn I end up making way way too much, the excess goes to the chickens, including unpopped kernals... I still have all 25 of my birds and they are pumping out an egg a day each minimum.

Not attributing the egg laying to the popcorn....just happy chickens..