Chicken won’t eat unhulled barley or sprouted peas

[Eggbutt]

This is my first post and my first time with chickens. They won’t eat the “animal feed” quality barley I put in their food mix. Its unhulled. Is this normal? They always have a pile of the barley on the ground next to their feeder. Should I stop buying unhulled grains for them or will they grow out of this? I can crack the barley in my grain grinder but my son has celiac so I’d rather not put gluten dust in the air.
They also refuse to eat sprouted field peas. (Also animal grade but organic if that’s relevant). I’m wondering if I'm making them picky by feeding them so many “treats” we sprout BOS for them as well as various other things so they get some fresh sprouts every day.
For context Our girls are 10 weeks roughy and we make their feed. It consists of millet, white wheat, barley, alfalfa, brewers yeast, black oil sunflower seeds, black seasame seeds, hulled oats and flax seeds. They’re also given free choice grit.

 

[Perris]

Have you tried fermenting the grains and peas instead of giving dry or sprouted?
Welcome to BYC

 

[Eggbutt]

Have you tried fermenting the grains and peas instead of giving dry or sprouted?
Welcome to BYC

Thanks! I haven’t. I did soak the mix over night and fed it to them the next day and they ate everything in it as far as I could tell. Maybe I’ll have to start doing that. How do you ferment it?

 

[NatJ]

For context Our girls are 10 weeks roughy and we make their feed. It consists of millet, white wheat, barley, alfalfa, brewers yeast, black oil sunflower seeds, black seasame seeds, hulled oats and flax seeds. They’re also given free choice grit.

Have you considered buying chick starter for them to eat?

When all the ingredients are ground up and mixed, and then stuck together as pellets or crumbles, the chickens are not able to pick out some bits and waste other bits.

 

[Perris]

Thanks! I haven’t. I did soak the mix over night and fed it to them the next day and they ate everything in it as far as I could tell. Maybe I’ll have to start doing that. How do you ferment it?

I am away at the moment and don't have access to my usual resources, but this post in answer to another thread should help https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds.644300/post-26800266

 

[Perris]

When all the ingredients are ground up and mixed, and then stuck together as pellets or crumbles, the chickens are not able to pick out some bits and waste other bits.

And the keeper is not able to know what exactly is in that pellet or crumble.

 

[NatJ]

And the keeper is not able to know what exactly is in that pellet or crumble.

That is important for some people, but not for everyone. Some people are satisfied that it works reasonably wel for most chickens, and leave it at that.

In this case, I saw it as one possible solution to OP's picking-and-choosing problem. (Not the only solution, just one possibility.)

 

[PoppasGrill]

Thanks! I haven’t. I did soak the mix over night and fed it to them the next day and they ate everything in it as far as I could tell. Maybe I’ll have to start doing that. How do you ferment it?

I do this regularly for my Ladies, some prefer dry feed, but most will eat it up when soaked overnight. And we go through less feed when we give them mash/ soaked feed rather than constant dry feed.
There are several good posts on fermenting feed, we just soak it overnight, seems to work well.