Fermented Feed & Sprouting Questions (NEWBIE)

Thank you so much. you have all made it much clearer to me now. Im going to try that wild bird seed . Going to ferment some of their layer pellets and some scratch tonight for them and then a separate mix of lentils, chick peas and BOSS into sprouts as well See what they like best

Thanks

Normally I only "sprout"..no green leaves at all. It's only a treat and just slightly better for them then dry un-sprouted...but some! Fodder would be green leaves showing. It's the green leaves that produce the acidic poison in some "grasses". There's a stage of where wheat/rye has some questionable properties as well...but it's far into growing up at that point. Using 4" to 6" tall "green" wheat or rye, oats, millet, or rice even shouldn't be much problem. I can assure you deer love all of them at that height..lol
And if ya wanna scrounge up some deer for the freezer...or just click a pic of... plant a 10'x10' piece of ground in alfalfa or (red too) clover and let them just smell it from a mile away.. Clover is GOOD forage/fodder/sprouts for chickens too.. Mine love the little 3 leaved wonders I pick from my yard and throw over the fence.
And when ya sprout Alfalfa seeds..about one inch long...do it really clean and rinsed 4 times a day and save some for a winter (or anytime really) sammich with a slight skim of mayo..maybe some pickles. Something left over from my health food/hippy days....lol

disagree that sprouts are a treat. Sprouts are a large improvement in vitamins, significant improvement in minerals, a small improvement in proteins, and a large improvement in enzymes. They make for healthier birds for sure.

Please explain where the extra nutrients are coming from in a magically sprouting seed?
And basically one cup of dry wheat seeds has 4 times the protein and calories of one cup of sprouted seeds.
IF the water content is removed there's an improvement in other nutrients, but cup for cup measurement there's less in sprouts because of the water content.
Sprouts or fodder more healthy?..yes by a large margin. But "more" protein? Not in any scientific study done properly in the last 100 years.

Thanks @stevethack !
Good luck @julia305 !
I feed sprouts once a day (since it's cool in the morning and evenings) right now...I will stop when it's hot @glib

stevethack said:

Please explain where the extra nutrients are coming from in a magically sprouting seed?
... "more" protein? Not in any scientific study done properly in the last 100 years.

Click to expand...

Actually, scientists were shocked to discover not that long ago that microgreens ( the next stage after sprouts )
can have up to 40 times the nutrients of the mature plant.
All this energy is stored in the first set of leaves, also called the false leaves, or cotyledons.
Photosynthesis converts the power of the seed into something even more potent in preparation for developing the plant.

Dormant enzymes are activated by germination. The enzymes result in an increase in vitamins, minerals and carbs.
Protein levels in Sunflower microgreens are 24-30% and they develop 8 amino acids.

Read the reports from WebMD, Dr. Lynette Morgan, foodforhealth.com & renowned herbalist Isabel Shipard here.

Still gobbldegook playing with numbers...comparing a thimblefull of nutrients in a fistfull of young plants that's full of water...or sprouted seed plumb full of water to what's needed in a feed is rather ridiculous. A chicken can't eat a gallon bucket of sprouted feed in a day to get the needed proteins or minerals and vitamins.
Sprouted seeds have many more vitamins/minerals and "POSSIBLY" more protein available...good stuff!! I use them! But they also occupy 3-4 times as much space!. Since most of us only feed a cup or less of scratch a day (it's less then 7% protein---it's a TREAT!) how many will take out 4 cups a day instead to make up for the water involved?
Simply measuring basic protein, mineral, and vitamin levels is a rather simplistic approach to a complex problem.. Is the stuff in question in a form more readily available to an animal?...or just the original seed/plant itself? Soybeans have a good protein level...also a substance that keeps animals from using the proteins and carbs...i.e....you can starve to death eating tons of raw soybeans that "look" really swell for nutrients ...on paper.
But the basic problem is....the seeds swell and occupy far more space then dried. Sprouts are a good more nutritious way to give a treat...and also a **really** good way to be able to limit the treats to less then the recommended 10% max daily intake too since they are giving less then the bare dry seeds...PER MEASUREMENT...cups to cups...pounds to pounds..handfuls to handfuls.
My chickens love sprouts about as much as they love meal worms....neither of which I dish out in 4 cup amounts for a treat.

I don't rely on sprouts, fodder or free range for the main staple in the diet of my flock. However it seems they choose all the above and are among the healthiest flock I have seen in a long time. They always have free choice grower pellet and oyster shell but it takes them forever to finish either. No soft shells no health problems just chickens being chickens eating what they were intended to by nature.