anyone fed spent beer grain?

[perchie.girl]

There are a couple of ads on Craigslist saying its good for chickens and goats. I am wondering if it could be fed to Guineas as well.

Just wonderin. They want four bucks for a five gallon pail.

deb

 

[PeepsCA]

Is that the same as distiller's grains? If so that stuff's in a lot of processed poultry & livestock feeds, (and usually pretty near the beginning of the ingredients list, so I'd say it's safe to assume there's a decent % of it in the feed mixes). Not sure of the nutritional values of feeding it straight tho... I've never used it

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Yep same stuff. I was curious. being a wet and formerly fermented product it would have to be fed immediately and to be honest I am very curious but hesitant.

If I get any I will feed some to the goats to see how they like it. Possibly drying it out..... first? the place that is making it is where I took a goat husbandry class once.

I will taste it first before buying. Just to see if its "off".

 

[PeepsCA]

Do they provide any info on the nutritional values and recommended feeding amounts for it? I'd try it if I had a local source for it... because even if my birds didn't like it my goats and horses would definitely hoover it up as a warm mash mixed with some molasses and other goodies in the mornings for breakfast, (they get warm soaked beat pulp with other goodies mixed in regularly already) lol.

 

[3goodeggs]

I make my own wine, and have been reluctant to let the birds have the mash because of the yeast.
I do not know if it would contribute to sour crop or if it would be good for their system. I imagine they get it off of the ground anyway, but that quantity might be hard on their digestive system. I visualize bird balloons.
I just don't know, so if in doubt... I threw it out. (Compost)

 

[HEChicken]

I've fed it to chickens. One of my egg customers brews beer and trades me beer grains for a lower price on eggs. He gave me so much the first time there was no way I could use it quickly, as I didn't want it to be their main feed source, but just a supplement/treat. So I froze most of it and that kept me going for quite awhile. I also dried some of it out in the oven. The dried stuff I bed both as is and also reconstituted it by adding it to liquid. They ate it every which way, and apparently suffered no ill effects. However, because I couldn't be sure of the nutritional content, it was never a huge percentage of their daily diet.

 

[perchie.girl]

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this is encouraging..... I think I will go ahead and get a five gallon bucket of the stuff. Freezing it is an Excellent idea.

 

[perchie.girl]

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I would be careful of feeding it to horses..... Especially since its a product of fermentation... If it still has a fizzy taste to it Definitely NOT. That Whole specter of Colic comes to mind. Though if it were dried or roasted to dry in the oven? maybe.

The goat digestive system is much more efficient than horses and can handle a wider variety of food anything that chews cud.

deb "off to go find out about horses and spent beer grain" I have had horses for 44 years and STILL learning there too. LOL

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I would think there might be a source on line discussing it. But this place I know its a small farm operating in the city on about an acre of land. I took a Goat husbandry class there. They also teach processing classes. After that first class I would say they probably don't know. The daughter is spot on with her animal knowledge but the Father...... not so much. And I get the impression he was the beer drinker.

Probably best to use it as a supplement or treat initially?

 

[perchie.girl]

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I would think so too with Wine making you are using fruit and allot more sugar. But beer uses grains and hops. I am still going to dig more on the internet....