Maize/corn???

[hoggie]

OK - so I am looking at trying to grow some of the animal feedstuff myself. One of the things that I thought might be worth growing is corn. So ........

If I grow an area of corn for animal food, how do I dry it? Do I leave it to dry completely on the stalk? Or do I pick it at the "sweet corn" stage and dry it off the stalk?

Feeding it. Presumably poultry can eat it as it is - in kernels? Can goats eat it like that or do they need to have it crushed or something? I have seen little machines for getting the kernels off the cob - are they worth it for a small scale? Or just scrape them off? I imagine chickens would be quite happy picking the kernels off for themselves.

Thanks in advance

hoggie

[fantasymaker]

Why waste your time? For a small farmer to raise corn is much like a custom builder to build Chevy's, the big guy can do it much more efficiently than you.
I raise 65 acres of corn some years and think what a moron I am to have it on the place.
But life is not all about money and homesteaders like to experiment so if you are going to it why not try out some different things and see how they work for you?

Let it dry on the stalk.....its the cheep easy way to do it,want to keep it easy? Just leave it there! Corn will stand on the stalk for as much as a year!!!! As you want to feed it open up small areas to your livestock.Cows, hogs,sheep and horses will eat it off the stalk.For most fowl you need to knock it down
You could of course gather the ears and if you want dry them but heck if you are doing all that why not gather the entire plant while still green into bundles and let the bundles dry in the field? Those are called shocks and the dried stalks in the inside of the bundle stay a bit greener and make better fodder than those not so protected.
Want to do even better? take the bundles inside to dry standing against the wall.Now this gets a bit tricky cause to many with out enough air movement can just rot or even worse heat up and cause a fire.Ive found as long as I just hand stack them I'm OK.
The next level of work would be to run the through a shredder into bags that you can seal well and let them ferment to create silage.
I'm sure other folks will have more Ideas.

[DaleK]

Hard for us to tell you what will work without knowing more about your climate. We leave most of our corn on the stalk to dry as much as possible, you can harvest it wet but need more investment in storage that way. We can get ours ALMOST dry enough on the stalk (most years) then we have to take it to a dryer to dry it with heat. Some places in the UK can do the same... a lot can't. I have a feeling you probably can't on the Channel Islands with the moisture in the air but I can't say for sure. Chickens won't eat the whole kernel. Have to grind it somehow. Same for the goats.

[hoggie]

Thank you fantasymaker

There are two main reasons for wanting to grow it myself - one is just "self-sufficiency" I would like to be able to produce at least some of my animals feed myself.

The other is money - living on an island, it costs me in excess of £100/tonne to ship animal feed to the island. So for every 50lb bag I pay an extra £2 (about $4) on top of the cost of buying the feed.

That soon adds up! It may turn out not to be viable, but obviously if I could produce even a fraction of the feed myself i would be gaining.

hoggie

[DaleK]

In most of the UK, barley seems to be a much better crop than corn Hoggie. Works just about the same for animal feed too, at least on smaller scales. What do you see growing around you?

[hoggie]

Sorry DaleK - you must have posted while I was typing.

Sounds as though it might not dry out in time. It tends to be a bit damp.

What do I see around me ? Nothing I know wheat has been grown here, and maize is grown to the "sweetcorn" stage. Barley and oats I don't know about. Have to ask some of the old timers I guess

hoggie

[hoggie]

I forgot to say - I am also looking at planting up field beans this Winter and maybe mangels next year

hoggie

[rwzzz]

I'm a rank amatuer with a few chickens so taken with a grain of salt?

I feed my small flock (20 birds) whole corn from a local farmer. This corn is dryed on the cob in a corn crib and run through a small sheller that takes the kernels off the cob. The kernels are whole not "cracked".
I do feed them occasionally in season (mid Aug through Sept), whole corn on the ear by tossing them ears from the garden. They attack them. The goat enjoys the ears and the stalks.

I have read in a book called the Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon ( a small farmer in Ohio), that you can feed chickens whole corn on the ears.
Anyway in the book Gene Logsdon describes his method of cultivation and harvesting corn for feed. Which is generally let it dry on the stalk, pick in Oct/Nov by hand, dry in a crib on the cob.

With the corn not cracked, the animals are not getting the most out of it but like I said I'm not a proffesional and they still seem to enjoy it.

[Maura]

If you decide to grow your own, make it the best. The corn with the highest nutrition is going to be the oldest variety. Sweet corn is younger than dent corn, which is younger than flint corn. Use flint or an older variety, if you can get it. You will get less yeild, but higher nutrition per pound. Try Seed Savers or Heritage.

My poultry eats a lot of corn in the winter, but the sheep and donkeys eat mostly hay with a little oats and corn as a bitty treat. Oats are a better grain for them, but hay is best.

[rambler]

Corn needs to be 14.5% moisture or less to store for long periods as kernals. It is _very_ hard to get the corn this dry naturally in most climates.

On the ear you can store it at 25% moisture in a crib - where air is allowed to flow through it. Not in a tight bin tho!

So, let it dry down on the stalk, then store it in a crib, or ventilated area on the cob, with the husks removed.

Your climate will determine a lot of this and what works or doesn't, but that is the basics.

--->Paul

[Beeman]

Corn doesn't grow well everywhere. It's also a heavy feeder needing a lot of fertilizer which adds to the expnse most likely tipping the scales toward buying it.

[agmantoo]

mangels are not grown to any extent here is the US. However we do grow a forage turnip that extends the forage crops for cold weather grazing. The forage turnips are an inexpensive crop that does very well in growing zone 7. Goats, cattle and pigs would consume them. Have you researched to verify if you could grow millet or milo in your area? Both of these are low demand crops and could product feed for a variety of animals including the chickens.

[FarmboyBill]

When I left my corn on the stalk out in the field, the deer, and I suppose possom and coon nearly cleaned out the field. My dad and grandad would break the ear over the edge of the bucket or basket and then give both pieces to the chickens, but were talking about 100 birds or more

[hoggie]

Thank you all for the answers - I obviously have a bit to think about.

It sounds as though this year I might be better to stick to the beans and a root crop. I have heard about sheep being folded over turnip - I suppose the advantage of turnip over mangel is that the turnip you leave in and graze them over - the mangels, I think, need lifting and storing.

It sounds as though drying the corn would be the biggest hurdle. hhmm - back to the drawing board.

hoggie

[Cyngbaeld]

You might want to get a variety of seeds and see what works best for you. Even with maize, there are many varieties. Some, like Painted Mountain are best for cooler climates and some do better in very hot and others in between. You might look at things like amaranth and quinoa as well.

[fantasymaker]

For Drying you could stack whole stalks against a wall in the garage ,
For feeding the kernals to stock that is passing them through their system try soaking the kernals for 24 hours. Ie refill the bucket you feed from as soon as you feed and let them soak in the water.

[Jenn]

Unsure of your areas but remember to plant maize at least 5x5 grid not in a long row since it needs to windpollinate (plant in a square not a single file queue).