How to make frozen corn chicken treats to help them cool of on a hot day. An easy snack for chickens and a great way to keep them happy in the summer!
About a year ago, I achieved my childhood dream of moving out to the country. My husband, a city boy by birth, has been a good sport and dare I say, even embraced the dream himself.
Over the past year we’ve adopted a goat, rescued two (BIG) puppies, planted a garden, and established a flock of chickens.
Since we live in Texas, one of the things we have to watch out for is overheating in our animal family. During the summer, the temperatures hover in the mid-90s for weeks at a time, and some days it even reaches 100 degrees or more.
I was going to wait to type of the full blog post until I started my new website about our homesteading adventures (yep, one more website to add to my list!) However, the video has been so popular on Facebook and TikTok (where we share more homesteading content) that I figured I should go ahead and put together complete instructions in case anyone else would like to try this for their flock!
For your convenience, I’ve provided shop-able ad links to supplies we used to make our chicken treats; read our disclosure policy here.
What you need to make frozen corn treats for chickens:
- Silicone donut mold — You can also use a muffin tin or any other similar silicone mold.
- Whole kernel corn — We used canned, but you could cut it off the cob too!
- Water
How to Make Frozen Corn Donuts for Chickens
Since we have silicone donut pans already, we decided to make frozen corn donuts! These seemed like a good size that they would start melting right away, so the chickens could get at the good stuff quickly. (Click here to get silicone donut molds on Amazon like the ones we used).
I’ve seen others who used regular metal muffin tins to make frozen corn treats for their chickens, but I thought silicone would be easier to work with because they ice wouldn’t get stuck.
We use silicone baking pans for a lot of regular recipes because our baked good pop right out of the pans — and these chicken treats were no different! Super easy!
The first step is to fill your donut pans about halfway with corn. One can worked out perfectly for us and filled up a 6-donut pan.
Next, fill the donut pans the rest of the way with water. I recommend leaving maybe about 1/4″ from the top of the pans, so they don’t spill while you’re moving them.
I also recommend putting your donut pan on top of a cookie sheet because the silicone pans are floppy. This makes it a lot easier to move to the freezer without spilling.
Once your pans are full, pop them in the freezer until they’re frozen — about 1-2 hours. This is another reason we used a donut pan instead of filling up a big container and making one big ice block. Our frozen corn treats were ready much faster this way! No need to plan ahead!
When they’re fully frozen, pop the ice donuts out of the pan. I have 6 chickens right now and we put two of the donuts in the coop at the same time so there is less fighting and plenty of room for everyone to get a snack.
How do you tell if your chickens are too hot?
Chickens deal with heat and regulate their body heat by:
- Panting (similar to how dogs do)
- Fluffing up their feathers to allow air to circulate against their body
Generally, this is normal chicken behavior in the summer and if you make sure to provide ample water and ventilation, they’ll be just fine.
However, if you notice the following symptoms, then your chickens may be suffering from more severe heat stress and may need emergency care:
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
- Trouble breathing
- Convulsions
Keep in mind that these frozen corn treats are simply for fun — they’re not meant to rescue a chicken that is experiencing true heat stress.
And boy do they love them!
Does corn raise chickens body temperature?
This is a comment I’ve gotten on the videos, that corn may have the opposite effect and actually make chickens hotter.
Corn itself is not going to make chickens hotter or raise their body temperature. It is the act of digestion that raises body temperature, so this would happen with any type of food.
But chickens gotta eat and digestion isn’t going to make them hotter to the point of overheating, especially if they have good ventilation (from the breeze or fan) and plenty of cool water. And they do get some of the ice from the frozen treats, which would have a cooling effect.
The main thing to keep in mind is that this is a snack — corn shouldn’t be their primary food. We always have their regular feeder available during the day and supplement with fun treats maybe once a day.
Chickens LOVE their treats! Happy hens lay more eggs 😉
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Frozen Corn Chicken Treats Recipe (Printable Copy)
Frozen Corn Treats for Chickens
Equipment
- Silicone donut pan
Ingredients
- 1 can whole kernel corn
- water
Instructions
- Fill your donut pans about halfway with corn. One can should be perfect for a 6-donut pan.
- Fill the donut pans the rest of the way with water, stopping about 1/4" from the top of the pans, so they don't spill.
- Freeze 1-2 hours.
- When they're fully frozen, pop the ice donuts out of the pan and serve to chickens.
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Darleen says
So thankful for this frozen treat recipe for my chickens! I also live in Houston and this will be my chickens’ first summer! I’m excited to try this treat for them! Thank you!