Can I Ferment Dried Lentils?

[MROO]

I have a bag of human-food-grade dried lentils. There is no way I will consume all of them before their expiration, but I don't want to waste them. I know that my chickens can't have them straight from the bag or even cracked. Should I just cook the dried lentils and feed them straight to my birds or can I ferment them, as is? I've been wanting to try fermented feed for a long time, but I don't want to start out with a potentially toxic mix.

 

[MROO]

I hate to have to admit it, but I have bags of several varieties of dried beans and lentils that have hibernated in my pantry since the American Revolution.

About the only dried legumes that don't gather dust around here are split peas. I do love me some split-pea soup! On the rare occasion that I have leftovers, my chickens like it, too, especially if I warm it up on a cold day. I did learn (the hard way) about giving it to my dogs. They love it, but feeding split pea soup to an 80 pound dog is like giving baked beans to Grandpa ... the aftereffects will clear a room in seconds flat!

 

[azygous]

I hate to have to admit it, but I have bags of several varieties of dried beans and lentils that have hibernated in my pantry since the American Revolution.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a bag of human-food-grade dried lentils. There is no way I will consume all of them before their expiration,

I wouldn't take the "use by" date as a hard and fast rule with dried beans/rice/legumes. As long as they haven't gotten wet, moldy, and no critters have found them, they will be good for a looooong time.

But thank you, @azygous and @Perris , for the information!

 

[azygous]

I recommend sprouting them and then adding them to your fermented feed. Fermenting feed is very easy. Just add enough warm water to cover your dry feed and add a little splash of ACV to kick start the ferment. Stir once a day, and feed when it becomes light and fluffy, giving off a pleasant yeasty odor. You can stir the sprouted lentils in at the beginning or add later.

For the following batches of fermented feed, just add a spoonful of the previous ferment.

I add dried organo to my fermented feed that I grow myself. My fermented feed is the consistency of cookie dough, very dry, not wet and sloppy. I've found that, not only to chickens like the dryer consistency, but it doesn't end up caked like cement on their beaks and facial feathers.

 

[Perris]

I have a bag of human-food-grade dried lentils. There is no way I will consume all of them before their expiration, but I don't want to waste them. I know that my chickens can't have them straight from the bag or even cracked. Should I just cook the dried lentils and feed them straight to my birds or can I ferment them, as is? I've been wanting to try fermented feed for a long time, but I don't want to start out with a potentially toxic mix.

I have added them to a ferment mix in years past, inclusion rate of not more than about 10%, and they're not toxic, but there's something in them that is not great and I do not normally include them now. Cooked I'm sure they're fine, and a good source of protein. I'll try to find what I read that put me off them. As Azygous adds oregano, I sometimes add some fennel seeds, since I have a huge bag of them, more than we'll consume before their date's up, and the chooks certainly love them. Smell nice in the ferment too.

 

[Sally PB]

I hate to have to admit it, but I have bags of several varieties of dried beans and lentils that have hibernated in my pantry since the American Revolution.

I have some that were in my MIL's house. The foundation of her house dates from the 1700s. The beans don't, of course.

 

[nuthatched]

I can sprout grocery store dried lentils? It never occurred to me that they would sprout! Do I just spread them out between wet paper towels, like I would regular seed-beans or is there a better method?

You can sprout bagged grocery beans! I didn't know until we had a javelina find and rip up a dropped bag of kidney beans, we had a big swath of bean plants in our driveway until the deer found them. Not paying $4 for little seed packets of bean anymore....

 

[Perris]

About the only dried legumes that don't gather dust around here are split peas. I do love me some split-pea soup! On the rare occasion that I have leftovers, my chickens like it, too, especially if I warm it up on a cold day. I did learn (the hard way) about giving it to my dogs. They love it, but feeding split pea soup to an 80 pound dog is like giving baked beans to Grandpa ... the aftereffects will clear a room in seconds flat!

my flock love split peas too, especially pigeon peas (which I just ferment, don't cook). Peas + grains make a complete protein. My flock also eats white, blue, green and maple peas (all fermented with the grains).

Although you're going to sprout the lentils, I hope you'll try fermenting one day - assuming you do it with unprocessed foods of course. (I don't see the point with processed poultry feeds.) Vinegar mother favours one set of gut-friendly bacteria, natural yogurt a different set, and sourdough starter another. The older a bird, and the more variety they get in their diet, the more variety they'll develop in their microbiome, and the current rule of thumb is the more variety, the better, so you can't go wrong really.

 

[azygous]

They should sprout the way you sprout any legume as long as they are still viable, which they should be. If some fail to sprout due to age, soaking will have made them digestible. None will need to go to waste.