feeding sprouts, grass alternative?

[Ashdoes]

Can chickens eat clover?
I've been looking at this, for flats of grass with hardware cloth, it would continue to grow, and uses very little water. Which is pretty important out here right now.
http://www.earthturf.com/

 

[griffinkid02]

Can chickens eat clover?
I've been looking at this, for flats of grass with hardware cloth, it would continue to grow, and uses very little water. Which is pretty important out here right now.
http://www.earthturf.com/

CAN? Bwahahahahahaha! Clover patches live in terror of the day my chickens find them. They will, no joke, haunt a single patch all day, ignoring anything else around it, until they have scratched up and eaten every last root.

 

[DeesHens]

Hi.
FWIW, I did read that some breeds get dermatitis from exposure to white clover.

 

[bluefeather2697]

thank you very much for ur ideas!

 

[dragonlair]

I haven't read all the posts yet, but like most of you I feed weeds and grass I pull up to the chickens daily, at least during the warmer months. I do throw them some of the horse and goats hay during the winter months but mostly give them meat and fat scraps in the winter that I get for the dogs.

Some places, Tractor Supply for 1, sells deer plot seeds. I wonder if that would be good for sprouting for chickens? I think it's mostly clover and alfalfa and stuff like that.

 

[Lookin4space]

Even in the desert there are things for chickens to eat as long as they have a regular feed source and water supply. Though grass is nice and beneficial, I would definitely allow your flock to take advantage of what you do have.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Found this online at Google Books while cruising the subject and spent the afternoon getting it ready to post. Interesting reading.
American Poultry Journal Vol. 52. Starting on page 1064 or 1065 and concluding on page 1068


Experiments in Feeding.
The Editor of the American Poultry Journal, in- view of the kindly reception given my other articles, kindly suggested I write a further article of interest to back lotters. Between you and I, I was going to write it without this request, but it is nice to be asked to do so—kind of stiffens up a fellow's pride. But pride or no pride, I wanted to give-to the readers of this magazine the benefit of several experiments in the feeding and the care and attention of the flock I have made in the past year.
In my experience of many years with any number of back lotters I have found that but very few understand the relation of the amount and kind of feed they give the chickens, bears to the number of eggs they receive. The vast majority of them fail to understand that they cannot simply throw into the coop enough feed to keep the chickens alive and yet get eggs. And but very few of them seem to realize that there is no one kind of grain or food that contains, in itself, all the constituent materials that will make eggs. This is also generally true with most farmers. A farmer will feed all one kind of grain of which he has the greatest .surplus. And yet if he would but read the poultry magazines regularly he would know that eggs have been analyzed time and again; that composition of any egg is thoroughly known; that all grains have also been so analyzed and that it has been found that no one grain contains in the proper proportion, all the necessary nutrients to make the egg. And yet most farmers go right along feeding but the one whole grain, and, of course, they fail to get the winter eggs. And if it is true, if the farmers, where the chickens have the run (unreadable, perhaps "the place"?) and can get the hayseed of the barn and the oats of the manure pile as a variety, how much more true is it in the case of a back lotter where the chickens can secure only such feed as is actually given them by the owner.
The sooner we back lotters realize that the contents of an egg is scientifically known and that neither corn, wheat, oats, nor green food, each in itself, contains what is required to make an egg, but that certain joined portions of each are required, then, and then only, will we understand that to get eggs in plenty we must feed the right food to get those eggs. With this in view I undertook certain experiments in feeding. We all know these experiments have been ma'de before by colleges and experiment stations, but I wanted to apply them in the back yard flock where every possible condition is known and the peculiarities of each particular hen is an open book to the owner.
I had two flocks of fifteen pullets, all hatched the same day, all out of the same mating, and all raised exactly alike. For several months I compared the egg laying qualities of both pens and they had been practically the same. I had always hesitated to make such an experiment for one does not willingly wish to spoil extra good stock. But for my own satisfaction, I went ahead with it. The results to me were surprising and may be helpful to you.
What I Have Learned.
The first experiment was in feeding exactly as I had always fed and which was fully described in the April issue, with the exception that I omitted all green food. In my case it was the omitting of the feeding of sprouted oats for that constitutes my only green food with the exception of particles contained in table scraps.
Now, you back lotters, how many of you feed green food except to throw in some grass when it is handy and plentiful? How many of you expect eggs in Winter when there is no grass to feed or late in Summer when it is old and tough? Listen to what my experiment proved to me as to the results of no green food.
In the period for which I fed the one pen sprouted oats and the other pen no green food whatever, the pullets in the pen fed with the sprouted oats laid 93 eggs and the pen without any green food whatever laid 56 eggs, or. in other words, two pens that had been laying almost egg for egg for months, in a few weeks the one without the green food dropped 37 eggs, or 40 per cent. And I am satisfied that the difference would have been much greater had the experiment been continued longer. If this is true, and it is true, you can readily see why the farmer's egg yield practically stops in Winter and why your eggs become fewer and fewer in number if you do not feed green food.
Sprouted oats is such a cheap food, and a food so easily produced, it is a crime against poultrydom if you have good chickens and do not feed it. How simple it is to have all the sprouted oats you need. And now get busy.
The second experiment was in feeding grass instead of sprouted oats. I found that when the grass was young and tender in the Spring, but very little difference exists for egg laying purposes between the grass and the sprouted oats. But when it becomes older and tougher there is a difference in egg laying values of at least 9 per cent in favor of the sprouted oats. And in feeding steamed grass in the Winter that has been shade dried and kept over from the Spring, the percentage in favor of sprouted oats increases to 12 per cent. This would seem only natural when we compare them (Continued on page 1068)
and note the juicy tender blades of the sprouted oats and the stringy, tough looking strands of dried grass. But even with the 12 per cent difference in the favor of the oats, feed the grrass in perference to no green food at all for even at that you gain 28 per cent.
No Single Grain Suffcient.
The next experiment was in feeding corn alone, then wheat alone, then dry mash alone.
The experiment of feeding corn alone was of short duration and ended abruptly. I had no desire to further ruin a fine flock of pullets in that manner. When in 2 weeks' time you can reduce the laying of hens over 60 per cent, no further demonstration is necessary and it is time to stop. And that is just what you corn feeders are doing- ruining your chickens and throwing away money. Corn alone cannot make eggs in quantity. Do not try it, and if you are doing it now, stop it.
With wheat alone I had better success. If there is any one grain that can nearly equal a scienficially balanced ration, wheat is that food. When fed alone, the result was only a diminished egg production of 12 per cent. While this is a great unecessary loss in itself, yet compared to the nearly 60 per cent loss of the egg alone, it is small. But why ever have this 12 per cent loss? There are many balanced scratch foods on the markert that cost but little, if any, more than a straight wheat ration. Why not use the (unreadable) and save this 12 per cent.
Then I tried feeding the dry mash alone, the dry mash containing the extra portion of dry buttermilk and the extra meat scraps as advised in the April article. No whole grains were fed in this experiment at all. If one did not stop to reason, he would naturally see no cause why, if the hens ate all they desired of the dry mash, and with the dry mash to sustain life and make eggs; third, as in the balanced scratch feed, the results would not be all right. But the results are not the same, and the 28 per cent less eggs were laid with the dry mash alone than when combined with the dry scratch food. First, the combination is not exactly the same; second, the hens do not like dry mash as much as the whole grains and will not eat enough mash to sustain life and make eggs; third, the digestive processes are not the same and the proper exercise is not give the organs of the body.
Then I tried the properly balanced scratch food without the dry mash. That was equally bad on the egg production. Each hen picked out the particular grains she liked; she ate her fill of those particular grains before starting on what was left and never had all the combined grains at the same time and in the right quantities, to properly make the egg in her body. This is what the dry mash does, forces the right proportion of all the grains at the same time. So that grain without dry mash and dry mash without whole grains is about as broad as it is long- you need both the dry grains and the whole mash to secure our full allotment of eggs.
Next I fed in the usual manner, whole grains scratch food and dry mash but omitted from the dry mash the extra portion of 2 percent of dried buttermilk. This proved to me that buttermilk in the mash adds a 10 percent value in egg production for that is just the proportion the egg laying fell off when not using the dried buttermilk in the mash. And when I added the buttermilk again but in less proportion, I found the milk scraps had a value of 14 per cent. Recollect, this mash already had meat scraps in it and the 14 per cent does not mean that if no scraps are in the mash your loss will only be the 14 per cent-far from it, it will be vastly greater.
All of these experiments can be very easily verified by any back lotter who has two pens of the same age, breeding and consistant laying qualities as those with which I made the comparison. As a single instance of the value of an animal protein supplement to the ration, which my own experiments verify in substance, let me cite that at Purdue University a pen of fowls that recieved a balanced ration. grain , and mash produced 135 eggs, while a pen that recieved the ame food except that all the meat scraps and milk were withdrawn from the mash, produced about 33 eggs per hen in the course of a year. Just as it takes nails, lumber, plaster, plumbing, and brick to build a house, so it takes a variety of material to build the frame of a chicken or to cause that chicken to produce eggs in paying quanitities. No one grain is sufficent; and my experience shows that no simplified or abridged system of feeding is anything like as satisfactory as the more compound methods of mixed grains for a scratch feed, supplemented by dry mash which carries animal protein in the form of meat scarps and dried buttermilk. These things add to the cost of feeding but increased returns make their use highly profitable."
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

I
Some places, Tractor Supply for 1, sells deer plot seeds. I wonder if that would be good for sprouting for chickens? I think it's mostly clover and alfalfa and stuff like that.

It's excellent. As you say Plotspike is a forage oat. Better than seed oats for animals because
seed oats can have an anti-fungal spray on them which causes the seeds to mold instead of sprout.
Also, they are specially line-bred, not GMO. I said earlier a 50 lb. bag of Plotspike makes 330 lbs.
of sprouted oats. My math was poop. It's more like 70 lbs. Oh well, LOL. I was always better with
words than numbers.
Best,
Karen

 

[Lewjay]

My girls are used to me cutting some weeds in the afternoon and feeding them. They also like it when I stick grass through the wire and let them pull it. I usually use some trimming clippers and cut the grass up to feed them. When they see me coming they cluster by the fence waiting to be fed.

 

[BethanyS]

love this blog! I have been sprouting and growing microgreen for about 6 months now for myself and my birds.sunflower green grown for a week in dirt tray.chia will sprout wonderfully on a unglazed terra cotta dish. I also have a mix of mustard kale and broccoli seeds I sprout in jars until green. the biggest majority of sprouts I use is a dear plot mix I purchase from Tractor Supply with no chemicals. the bag is a bit expensive but it is still cheaper than buying from the health food store. my last bag of plot I purchased was 40 or 50 dollars for 40 pound bag. it contains rye wheat oat clover radish and a few more. my girls don't like dry scratch but they love love sprouted grains. doing my own research about nutritional benefit of sprouts I learned when a seed is dormant it contains enzyme inhibitors that make it harder for the body to digest nutrients. want the seed has come to life even if it is just soaked in water for 8 hours it is way more nutritional than before. also small sprouts are nutrient than full size vegetable. for instance you would have to eat about 6 heads of broccoli to get the same nutrition as 1 cup of broccoli sprouts. this is because the seed is remarkable and contains so much nutrition to get the plant started growing. you can start sprout broccoli seeds into a green using nothing but filtered watet. it's pretty amazing