Brewery grains okay???

[tricia123]

There is a brewery near me that has hundreds of pounds of spent grains (barley/wheat/rye) weekly that they want to give away. These spent grains have been stripped of their starches.

I am wondering if I can feed this to my chickens and what would need to be added to this to make it an acceptable and healthy meal for them.

Thank you for ANY information you have

 

[lazy gardener]

I have used spent grains, but not as their sole feed. It would be interesting to see a nutritional analysis of these spent grains. I really can't help you, but can suggest that you try using them at perhaps 10 - 25% of their ration, and see how that works. Fedco seeds sells some mineral supplements that are meant to provide the missing minerals when you are mixing your own feed. But, I've not done any of my own feed mixing, and find it simpler and easier to buy prepared feed. I'm on the wait list with a small local brewery when they start making beer this summer for their spent grains.

 

[Ridgerunner]

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/74

Brewers grains are a highly variable by-product whose composition and nutritional value depend on the grain used, on the industrial process (temperature, fermentation, etc.) and on the method of preservation.

I copied that statement from the link above. You’d have to know the nutritional values of that particular spent grain to know what to add to make it a complete feed. You can ask if the brewer knows but I would not count on it. I don’t know of any reason they would need to know but what does it hurt to ask?

One way you can use it is to make it about 10% of their daily intake. That’s a normal recommendation for any treat, it allows their other feed to provide enough of their daily requirements so they still get a balanced diet.

Are you getting it wet or dry? If it is wet storage life may be limited.