anybody raise sprouts to feed the chickens?

[lazy gardener]

I mix all of my sprouting seeds together (BOSS, wheat, barley, lentils) and use 1 qt mason jar. Pre soak for a few hours, then rinse at least 2 x /day. I've found that the BOSS lag behind a bit, but not enough to really warrant changing my procedure. I just give an extra day in the jar for them to catch up.

 

[BeccaSmith]

I haven't written anything on the thread in a long time..hi everyone!

I just wanted to state a word of caution when feeding legumes (beans/peas) raw (including sprouting). Many of the legumes are toxic and can cause health issues over time if they have not been roasted or otherwise cooked. The birds won't choose to eat them if they have a variety of other feed available. But if they are forced with lack of other choice they will.

Here are a couple of links that might be helpful in determining what you want or don't want to feed. (For me, there are some things on these lists that I would never feed my birds under any circumstances...but there is a lot of info worth looking at if you get a chance.)

If you look at the "protein sources" (as well as the grains), there are some listed that MUST BE ROASTED (heat treated) AND SHOULDN'T BE FED RAW NOT EVEN SPROUTED, SOAKED OR FERMENTED. (2 examples of this are Amaranth and soy beans. Kidney beans are another I believe.)

"Protein Sources"
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrition-Protein_sources.html


If you want to get a look at some of the issues with grains and percentages recommended, this is worth reading through

Grains:

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrition-Grains.html


http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrition.html

Thank you for the helpful information, I would have never have thought that some legumes would be toxic if fed raw! Perhaps I will stay away from legumes! I bought some lentils and mung beans from the bulk section at my grocery store in the regular sized produce bags so I don't have a ton, I see others sprout these for their chickens as well so I am assuming they are safe? I also bought a 50 lb bag of barley from my feed store and forgot to ask for a bag of BOSS.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I just haven't read anything specific about having to cook the lentils for feeding. Maybe someone else has some info on that...

If it were me, I'd probably try sprouting a small amount and seeing how the chickens respond. I know that when I sprouted some specific legumes they wouldn't touch them. But they would devour the sprouted BOSS, organic wheat, barley and oats.

It was totally amazing when I tried sprouting the field peas that are used in my main feed. I would put them out and they would run out there all excited..then take a look at what they were and just walk away. Looked at me like I was insane and said, "Where's the beef?"

I tried those peas several times over a couple months and same response every time. But boy did they go bananas for the sprouted grains!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I have sprouted lentils many many times and my birds all devour them. In fact, they pick them out of the mix to eat first!

I had heard a while back that they were toxic and I checked it out but I don't remember the exact place I found the information. What I do remember is that their intake would have to be pretty high for it to be an issue. My birds get them only occasionally and I only sprout a half pound at a time. It makes for lots of sprouts but I've got a lot of birds to divide them between.

 

[Phottoman]

Thank you for the helpful information, I would have never have thought that some legumes would be toxic if fed raw! Perhaps I will stay away from legumes! I bought some lentils and mung beans from the bulk section at my grocery store in the regular sized produce bags so I don't have a ton, I see others sprout these for their chickens as well so I am assuming they are safe? I also bought a 50 lb bag of barley from my feed store and forgot to ask for a bag of BOSS.

I asked about BOSS at the place I buy my barley, they looked at me like I was crazy, however ... next time you are in Wal*Mart, look in the pet department, they have bags (10 pounds I believe) for around $10 of BOSS. It's labeled as wild bird feed and sprouts beautifully, plus is a great way to entice the girls back into their run in the afternoon if I have to leave before dark.

 

[Kassaundra]

Especially this time of year mine will choose grain sprouts over any other food or treat, except dubias.

 

[Kassaundra]

So, Kassaundra, you don't buy the race horse oats that are full and healthy looking? You get the garbage oats? That's just what I call them. Those bags, here, come with a lot of chaff and the oats are skinny and have next to no weight to the them.

Are they crimped or anything like that?

Okay here are the promised pics









They are not crimped or changed in any way, they don't feel dusty and don't leave my hands dirty feeling. All I know is they are inexpensive, sprout like little champs (for 2 winters and I have never had any sprouting issues described on this thread), and my chickens love them. The wheat is also this brand.

 

[vmdanielsen]

I have sprouted oats and BOSS. The BOSS sprouted good the oats not so good. I started sprouting wheat 3 days ago. I will see how they like that tomorrow. I think that the wheat sprouted the fastest.

Mine love wheat!!

The oats do sprout slower for me, too. It is better for them to go 4 days instead of 3. I also recently read that oats need a shorter initial soaking time than the other grains that I sprout. I have been trying to only soak them for 1-4 hours instead of the 8-10 hours that I soak the other grains.

oats go sour on me.

So have done the mason jar method with munga beans a few times...they look at the sprouts and walk right past them???

My chickens don't like bean sprouts either!

 

[BeccaSmith]

My hens liked the sprouted lentils!

 

[Chickens R Us]

I put my wheat and BOSS under the kitchen sink where the heat register is what a difference they sprouted so fast. The oats are done with their 24 hour soak so I'm going to see if I have better luck with that under the sink