My co-worker thought of this. He checks every delivery to our business for styrofoam packing peanuts. Some of them are the new biodegradable type made of cornstarch. When he finds some corn-based packing material, he takes it home and throws it to his chickens. The chx eat it eagerly.

Thought I would tell you about this - it amused me.

Sandy

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Answers

Hah! That's really ingenious! I wonder if there's any food value in them?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

I got some in a box that said 'not for human consumption'. So of course I tasted one (well...). They don't taste very good. I don't know what makes them 'NFHC' in processing, maybe it's because there's too many bug/rat parts per million to label it as such. I've just been dumping them out under the pine trees to degrade, since I can't/don't have chickens, but it sounds better than feeding them styrofoam (reported on the CS thread).

-- Anonymous, April 07, 2001

After being spoiled eating fresh food from the garden, makes me realize how much overly processed food tastes like those packing peanuts look.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2001

I don't know if this is such a good idea since some of them made from starch are not entirely made from starch and still contain plastics. It may block the chickens system. I would think it would be okay if you dissolved one in water from each batch and if it completely dissolved then it would probably be okay. If not, he may want to look a little closer to see if the remnants are plastic (styrofoam).

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2001

Hmmmm!! Interesting idea!! Though... I would wonder about the way they make them. Still... Might be great in a pinch -

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001