anybody raise sprouts to feed the chickens?

[Lisa Harmon]

I went to a local health food store and got organic bulk whole grains. No organic mills around here in the GMO belt... ugh. That way I could avoid corn and soy. For my small flock of layers, it wasn't too very expensive. Got the recipe from Garden Betty website. They took awhile to understand to eat it since they'd been on layer crumbles from a feeder and a concrete floor their whole lives (got them at 9 mo old). Didn't even know how to scratch. But so far they seem to be healthy and laying okay once they transitioned. The eggs aren't as dark brown, but are still good size.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Is Garden Betty the one on Facebook or another? Can you PM me her website address please.

 

[Lisa Harmon]

here's the fb page, and her website can be accessed through the page:
https://www.facebook.com/GardenBetty?fref=ts

 

[hennypenney]

This is a really great idea. I have a bunch of sprouting seeds and thought about trying it for my chickens. I looked it up to see if other people have tried it.
Surprise! Love this site.

 

[dkvanli]

I see a lot about sprouting just a couple of days. I saw sonewhere that you can sprout barley all the way until it is basically a mat of grass. Can you go this far with oats? All I see are people sprouting for a couple of days till they barely grow a tail.

 

[mg15]

Hi,
Just put spouting for chickens in the search box on Backyard Chickens site and you will find a lot of information.
I sprouted last winter and learned quite a lot. I thought it was going to be too much for me, but it is easy.
And the girls get fresh greens in winter. Can't get better than that.

 

[Freeholder]

I tried sprouting small quantities of wheat and rye in a quart jar last winter, and the chickens liked them, but I couldn't figure out how to keep enough going to give it to them regularly. Now that I've read the WHOLE THREAD, LOL!, I have several ideas. Hope I can get the girls production back up -- I like my chickens, but if they don't lay, they go in the stew pot!

Kathleen

 

[3riverschick]

Hi dkvanli

Yes, but... If I was doing this I would sprout them on burlap or in the dirt. Too much chance of them going rancid if you do this for this long in pure water method. See pages 24 thru 29 of this thread for all the whys and hows of sprouting forage oats.

There's a reason for that. Sprouted oats have historically and scientifically been shown to be the best sprouted seed to feed poultry. Fed as "green feed", they help bring the hens into lay and help the cocks manufacture more robust sperm which helps result in more robust chicks.

Forage oats are best for sprouting. They are the oats that farmers seed their fields with for livestock grazing and hunter seed plots with for wild game like deer. Feed oats are the seeds you buy to feed your horse in the stable. Often feed oats are sprayed with a chemical to prevent mold. That's fine but when one tries to sprout them, they mold instead of sprouting. I use Plotspike Forage Oats for sprouting. ( 20.-25. a 50 lb. sack at Tractor Supply Company) http://www.plotspike.com/forageoats.htm They were created by specialized line breeding at Louisiana State University circa 2002. They are not Genetically Modified Organisms we are so often warned about. PFO sprout vigorously and fast. I have less than 22 chickens at a time so I use the glass jar and water method (pgs. 24 thru 29). It works well and doesn't take up too much space. Untreated burlap is 1-2. a yd. at JoAnns Fabric (use as a single layer, toss old piece when making a new crop of sprouts.) . I use leftover mason and food jars. Rubber bands are always hanging around. I use regular tap water to wash the sprouts. in the jar. Feed birds one cubic inch per bird per day or feed to bowl tolerance. If poops get soft, just back off the amount a bit and they will firm up again. I feed my sprouts as green feed, not grain feed.

Karen in western PA, USA

Waterford English Light Sussex

 

[Kassaundra]

I don't know when that was written, but they obviously haven't been to a fabric store in a while there is NO fabric that is $1-2 per yard!!!!!! lol lol lol I use burlap sacs and have for a couple of years, and I get my burlap at Hancocks fabrics and it is more like $3-4 per yard, but still an awesome deal, you can make 4 nice size sacs plenty big enough for a 30ish chicken flock w/ 1.5 yards of fabric.

I get my oats from the feed store as feed oats and have no problems sprouting w/o mold at the 4 day mark in the sacs. But I have read others having problems I would say try the feed oats first since they are about $10 for 50 lbs, but if you have problems ferment those and try the seed oats.

 

[3riverschick]

I don't know when that was written, but they obviously haven't been to a fabric store in a while there is NO fabric that is $1-2 per yard!!!!!! lol lol lol
---
I bought mine on sale.
Best,
Karen