anybody raise sprouts to feed the chickens?

[firsthouse_mp]

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How do you make yogurt in a slow cooker? I have read joebryant's probiotics thread and I am intrigued. I do love yogurt and my family goes through tons of it in a week. I think I buy 2-3 quart containers each week! I am very good with my slow cooker...so I figured between that and the bread machine, I'll be churning out breakfast each day with ease!

 

[yazzymon]

I bought a 50# bag of oats - they have the hulls on them, would they soak well, what do you all think?

 

[Delmar]

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I am on day five with my first batch and the only oats that have sprouted are the ones that had cracked or no hulls. It could be I didn't soak them long enough. The directions I read said to soak them for 4-6 hours. I'm thinking those directions were for oats with no hulls. I'm going to start another batch this morning and soak for 24 hours.
The good news is that oats are very nutritious even if they never sprout, so even if it never happens, I haven't wasted any money. My chickens do love oatmeal!

 

[Kassaundra]

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So chickpeas don't need to be cooked, right? I have *lots* of dry garbanzo beans!

If you are going to sprout them, they can't be cooked. I'm not sure just soaked and fed to the chickens raw, I've heard both ways (beans/rice must be cooked and they can eat them raw)

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Quote:
How do you make yogurt in a slow cooker? I have read joebryant's probiotics thread and I am intrigued. I do love yogurt and my family goes through tons of it in a week. I think I buy 2-3 quart containers each week! I am very good with my slow cooker...so I figured between that and the bread machine, I'll be churning out breakfast each day with ease!

You can follow those directions for preparing the milk and adding the starter culture. The only difference is that instead of using the insulated cooler to keep the milk warm enough for the yogurt culture to grow, you can put your jars into a slow cooker, instead. That's if you have a slow cooker that will hold a temperature that is good for yogurt. I think the best temperature range is supposed to be 108 to 115. Just add water to your slow cooker and after it's heated up, see what the temperature of the water reads. If it's too hot or too cold and your slow cooker allows you to adjust the temperature, try adjusting it.

I use a rack to keep the jars off the bottom, where it could be hotter. I have water around the jars, to keep the temperature around the jars even.

I feel so guilty that I haven't been sprouting for the girls lately. It is a wasteland of winter white out there. Pretty, but not very tasty. I re-injured my knee and am having trouble just doing the basics to get by. Poor chickens.

 

[HeritageHens]

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So chickpeas don't need to be cooked, right? I have *lots* of dry garbanzo beans!

...I'm not sure just soaked and fed to the chickens raw, I've heard both ways (beans/rice must be cooked and they can eat them raw)

Exactly. That's my point. For sprouting, are they considered a legume or a grain?

I am dumbfounded about how well they love sprouted grains. Every morning, I give them greens (typically spinach) and whatever else would be wasted (old fruit, stale bread, vegetable trimmings, the can of jack mackerel cat food I just opened thinking it was salmon for my salad,

etc.). They always go after the bread first (but they rarely get it) and then the spinach. With sprouts, they devour these first.

Time to rethink their basic food source.

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I've been soaking the grains in warm water overnight and they sprout very well.

 

[Kassaundra]

Mine LOVE anything bread, I don't have a good inexpensive souce so they don't get it often, but they also love their sprouts. I really love the burlap method of growing sprouts, works well w/ my schedual, easy and so far everything starts sprouting the first day and by day 4 it's going to town!!!!!

Beans, peas, lentils etc... would be fine sprouted to feed them, they can eat the plants in the garden, or yard, it isn't going to hurt them. The only thing I am not sure about sprout wise is if the antinutrients are still active, if so then they may not be as nutritious, but their was a previous post not sure if this sprout thread or another that talked about sprouting decreasing the antinutrients even when not fermented if that is true there would be no problem at all.

 

[Organics North]

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-It is what I sprout. Just soak at least overnight..
ON

 

[noodleroo]

Quote:
-It is what I sprout. Just soak at least overnight..
ON

And that reminds me, the point of sprouting is to release the 'life force' inside the seed to make it all more nutritionally available and replentish enzymes. In some cases, just soaking the seed the appropriate amount of time (like sprouting flax seeds) is all you need to do...

 

[shesaredroan]

Quote:
-It is what I sprout. Just soak at least overnight..
ON

On,
I was truly interested in learning about sprouting to supplement winter forage, when there are no bugs or green anythings available.
I found your bucket sprouting method this past summer on a thread and have been sprouting for my flock ever since. Chickens really can smile!!

Thank you for your info and clear instructions.

Kassaundra,
I can't wait to try your burlap sprouting method!!! It makes so much sense....I've seen it happen for years around the horse barn,....... spilled grain sprouting around the grain bin and burlap feed sacks that weren't quite empty growing 'green whiskers'.

All my grains/seeds come from the Mom & Pop feed store I go to...... BOSS, oats, pigeon mix and hard wheat in 25 & 50lb bags. (The purina pigeon mix is expensive, but has a lot of good seed in it that I can't get any other way.....I only put a small amount in per batch, so it goes a long way.)

My horses watch with great interest as I work with the sprouts and can't understand why they don't get any of those 'special treats'. I tell 'em, when you start giving me eggs I'll start sprouting for you. But they always get a handful of raw oats & boss as I prepare the sprouting buckets.
Everybody's happy!!