Hand crank cracked corn mill

[jeremynj]

I see a lot of hand crank mills to make flour out of wheat but I would like to find one that will just crack corn so that I can feed it to chickens. Grinding corn into meal/flour would be the 2nd option.

Can anyone tell me the names or what types of plates I should be looking for when I see them at the auction/farmers mart. If anyone knows of a website that has pictures of the different plates and what they are meant for, that would really help me out.

I put whole corn through the wood chipper but I want a way to keep some of the meal for cooking and not have the chickens dust it all over the ground and waste it.

[3DayFarm]

They sell some small ones here locally, I think they bring them in from Mexico. I will try and to get you some pictures and a price.

[FarmboyBill]

What in the world makes you think U cant feed shelled whole corn to chickens. I feed it to chicken farm chickens that have had their beaks bipped. They eat it fine.

[braggscowboy]

If you are feeding fighting chickens, everyone used one of the mills to feed the chickens with mixed other things. If you are not in any big hurry and you will maked a lot of antique shops in your area, especially small town, you can find a grinder pretty easy. Look somwhat like a commerical coffee grinder. You can find two or three different sizes. Not real expensive as a rule. Might even find one on Craig's list, or ebay, but cost of shipping would be a lot on ebay.

[PD-Riverman]

Originally Posted by jeremynj

I see a lot of hand crank mills to make flour out of wheat but I would like to find one that will just crack corn so that I can feed it to chickens. Grinding corn into meal/flour would be the 2nd option.

Can anyone tell me the names or what types of plates I should be looking for when I see them at the auction/farmers mart. If anyone knows of a website that has pictures of the different plates and what they are meant for, that would really help me out.

I put whole corn through the wood chipper but I want a way to keep some of the meal for cooking and not have the chickens dust it all over the ground and waste it.

This is what I use.



I bought it at a antique auction at a cheap price because the front clamp was broke. I quickly modded a C clamp(see on front) to fix that problem. This thing was made in the late 1800's and from what I found out it is a coffee grinder. I took off one of the side wheels and put on a 12" V pulley, Added a DC motor off a scooter,(running off solar) built a timer to control the run time, hung the big funnel over the top(funnel is a big discarded ball field light fixture). The grinder has a adjustment where it will grind some what fine to cracked corn. Now I just pour a 5 gal bucket of corn in the funnel, mash a button to start timer and forget it. I can come back in about 15 minutes or later in the day and it will have the corn ground(about 12 minutes for ground, 8 minutes for cracked) and cuts off with timer. I have been using it for 5 years regularly with no problems.

The mixer beside it, I bought at a auction with a burned out motor. I adapted a DC motor to it---I pour the 5 gal bucket of ground corn in it and add supplement and whatever else I want to mix with the chicken feed or Hog feed(when I got some pigs) and turn it on and let it mix. Works good.

[RobinL]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

What in the world makes you think U cant feed shelled whole corn to chickens. I feed it to chicken farm chickens that have had their beaks bipped. They eat it fine.

FarmBoy, He didn't say he can't feed whole corn to his chickens. I believe he is just asking where he can find a mill that cracks corn for his chickens. I am looking for the same thing. It is very hard to find unless you want to pay lots of money. I feed whole corn to my chickens in the winter and cracked corn in the summer. I would like to know what & where to find a mill that can crack corn like jeremynj asked about also. Hope someone can lead us in the right direction. I will try to look around auction and such, but not much around here.

[FarmboyBill]

whole shelled corn was all me, my folks and grandfolks ever fed chickens.

[COWS]

I have had for many years a hand grinder to grind flour, cornmeal,and grits. It has adjustable tension to grind coarse or fine. If I wanted coarsely ground corn, i would just adjust the tension.

COWS

[FarmboyBill]

I now have 2 of them. I bought one around 2yrs ago. I bought another, both at the sale, which was shinier and I thought bigger. Brought it home and it was the same size, tho shinier

[brosil]

I just open the plates on a steel cut flour to crack corn.