Anyone use spent brewery grain?

[FlockO'Sheppards]

I was just discussing with my husband the possibility of supplementing our chickens feed with the barley/oats from our local brewery. We don't have an organic layer feed at any of our local feed stores---just the "organic poultry pellets". I also have been having a difficult time finding organic cracked corn. However, our brewery uses 80% organic barley in their brews. Hoping this is a feasible option---it would save us a good deal of money (I'm going through two 50# bags of feed per week!) Thanks!

 

[Tala]

My first thought is that the nutrients would be at least partially "used up" already, so it would be like a high fiber diet or something.

Thoughts anyone??

 

[Country Heart]

I think you would probably have to figure out the nutritional value - but my girls like to scratch through it and eat it.

I give them the left over barley from my DH home brewing beer projects. He boils the grain and extracts the sugar for the beer and they get the grain once he's done with it - win-win.

 

[hermiesbirdies]

here in Nascar/Moonshine country there is a chicken house of commercial layers fed specifically off of spent grains from brewing. spent grain is partially ebilitated just from boiling and brewing. but you should find a higher protien content as the brewing of the beer goes primarily after the starches. thus the protien/carb ratio would be altered in favor of the protien side.

I have a brewer here locally and am trying to get up with him to see about the spent grain. Also the alchohol content would be so low as to be insignificant, but if you were worried you could boil it out