Brewery Spent Grain

[littlelakelife]

I work at a brewery and so have access to spent grain. This is 100% barley malt w/ no adjuncts, etc. Good to feed chickens?

 

[littlelakelife]

I should say, I've heard yes - but am interested if anyone has had experience w/ it. Thank you!

 

[SixChickFlock]

I am no expert... Others have told me that spent grain is OK as a supplement/treat but not as a full time feed. I'm guessing that all of the nutrients and good stuff have been rinsed out for wort.

I have benn adding mine to the compost pile, and now the small compost pile in the run. Worms and other insects like it. It may be better as a feed attractor than as a feed. My chicks go nuts scratching through the pile when new spent grain is added.

It will smell funky sour if not covered and turned.

I'd love to hear more from those who have more experience.

 

[CrazyTalk]

I am no expert... Others have told me that spent grain is OK as a supplement/treat but not as a full time feed. I'm guessing that all of the nutrients and good stuff have been rinsed out for wort.

I have benn adding mine to the compost pile, and now the small compost pile in the run. Worms and other insects like it. It may be better as a feed attractor than as a feed. My chicks go nuts scratching through the pile when new spent grain is added.

It will smell funky sour if not covered and turned.

I'd love to hear more from those who have more experience.

Here's some info on what is actually in spent grains:


http://www.feedipedia.org/node/11895

Looks a little high in protein, but still looks like there's a ton of nutritive value in there (which is why bacteria take to it so quickly).

Any yeah, like you said, it smells terrible if you leave it out too long, as lacto, and a handful of other bacteria take over.

 

[CrazyTalk]

The link I posted got sent to moderation for approval, but hopefully it'll show up later. Here's the basic summary on what feedipedia says for spent grains and poultry:

Brewers grains can be fed to poultry but the high fibre content and reduced protein digestibility tend to decrease their nutritional value and metabolizable energy compared to the original grain (Onifade et al., 1998). As a result, brewers grains are not well suited to the feeding of poultry with high energy requirements such as young broilers. They are better tolerated by older broilers and laying hens. Brewers grains are usually fed to poultry in dried form, as it is easier to store and more stable than the wet form (Onifade et al., 1998).

So, they're fine, just not useful as a sole food source for birds that need to grow rapidly.

 

[littlelakelife]

Neat. Thanks for the info. Worth looking into since it's FREE. We have laying hens only, but they are a little less than 3 months old. I'm thinking even if I do feed some, I should wait until they gave moved past the starter/grower feed.