Remember those dried corn snacks of the 90s? They are literally what comes to mind every time I’m around actual corn. Especially, if I get to feed that corn to some animals – they go bonkers.
For Christmas, my mom (Nana Jeanne) got the kids a full toy farm complete with silo full of actual, real, from-the-big-farm, harvested corn. There are, though, a lot of problems with keeping real corn in your house. First, your [read: my] infant will inevitably try to eat it and will not be successful. Second, that shit is the glitter of crops. It will be everywhere in no time and you will never have it all cleaned up. Finally, mice. Mice eat corn. Corn stored in your house is going to get found and going to get eaten. And, then, you will have no corn, but plenty of mice. Ew.
We can’t just throw a bag of corn away, though. We’re not wasteful heathens.
So, I did what any good, animal-loving farmer would do – I fed that bag of corn to the goats and chickens. Let me tell you – I’m their new favorite farmer.
I had the whole flock out and about in the sunshine on what would have otherwise been a chilly day in the pole barn. The hugely pregnant goats were bouncing around in the pole barn pen. They chased me as far as the fences would allow – then bellowed for more as I scattered it about for the birds.
Corn – it turns out – is genuinely beneficial for the animals during this time of year. Particularly whole kernels. The grain is harder to process and digest in the body. So, feeding whole kernels early on a chilly morning or afternoon not only gets the animals moving, but it fills their bellies and puts kicks their bodies into overdrive trying to break down the food. This heavier process can help to warm them well into the night.