Anyone with experience feeding brewers mash?

[Jeffross1968]

I read quite a while ago where brewers spent mash is good to feed chickens. I've made a deal with a local brewery to get buckets at a time in trade for a few eggs. But...since it's new to me, I'm not sure how to store it and feed it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[cassie]

I don't know anything about feeding brewer's mash to chickens, although there is no reason not to do so. I have known farmers to feed it to hogs and cattle, but they fed it right away. I think if held too long it would spoil.

 

[Percheron chick]

brewer's mash can make a good chicken feed extender. It is very high in protein, high in B vitamins and high in calories. The one drawback it is low in Ca and high in P (you want about 7x more Ca). The simple fix for that is eggshells or oystershells. In most commercially prepared chicken feeds it is the 2nd or 3rd most abundant ingredient.

Because of the high moisture content, it will ferment rather quickly. I will feed 5 gallons of mash to 15 birds in 3 days. Keeping it much longer than that, it starts to get ripe. You can put it in ziploc bags and freeze it for a summer time treat.

 

[Diggidy]

I brew beer at home and always have left over grain bags. I am not sure how nutritional it is after it has been boiled and you would need to know exactly whats in it as the grains may vary widely. Commercial brewers also use lots of preservatives and accelerants.

Barring that freezing it for summer treats sounds like a great idea!