Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

We feed corn to our poultry all year but less in the summer than the winter. Poultry LOVE corn! It is the same as giving humans sweets or chocolate! Poultry however have virtually no taste buds compared to humans: we have around 10 000 and chickens for example have just 20 or 30 with the main ones being situated so far down their mouths, that by the time the food passes over them, if the bird doesn't like the taste, it is too late!!
Corn in large quantities is not that good for poultry as it is high in calories and will make them fat. You cannot actually tell if a bird is fat because unlike humans (and many other mammals), any extra fat they have simply builds up around their internal organs and/or under their breast. They may look okay therefore, but not actually be in great health. Extra fat will also seriously affect a hen's ability to lay eggs.
As the daylight hours decrease, poultry spend a lot of time indoors, as much as 16-17 hours in the middle of winter when it might be dark by 3-4pm and not light until 8am the following morning. When it is dark, poultry simply perch and sleep (on and off) and so extra corn in the winter can be a GOOD thing as it fills their crop and keeps them full, warm and content throughout the long nights.
We always try to feed our corn on the ground to encourage the birds to forage and move around and so still get some exercise and stimulation. We have various 'scratching' areas for this rather than feeding them direct on the grass as otherwise they scratch the grass up.
Corn feeding time is also a great way to observe the birds close up - they are more than happy to be peered at as they peck away and so it's a fab time to check bums, beaks, eyes and overall conditions!!