Grains from my local brewery???

[nuttyredhead]

I was at the local brewery (make your own) this weekend, and the grains that we used to make the beer were offerred to me for the chickens. There is no alcohol in them. My question is how do I dry them out? Do i put them in the oven? I think if i leave them outside they will be picked off my the bird before they can dry lol....

Any ideas of temp. or time?

 

[HEChicken]

Why dry them? I feed them as is. A batch contains more than they can eat in a few days so I freeze it in zip lock bags, and defrost as necessary.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
Really? I thought they would be better dry, kind of like scratch? Off to get my freezer bags out!

 

[Ariel301]

I feed this to my birds as a major part of their diet. I get it wet by the ton and spread it out in the sun to dry because I can't use all of it before it goes bad. The dried stuff, I store for winter use, since the brewery cuts back on production during winter and I can't get as much grain. I mix it with water to rehydrate it, because the animals don't seem to like it dry. It does spoil very quickly in summer heat, and also smells and attracts flies, which lay eggs in it if they can get to it, so if it sits out for a week or more it will get maggots in it. A tasty bonus for the chickens, but kind of nasty to scoop into dishes, yuck.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
I got it in a 5 gallon bucket wet. So i am throwing it in the oven to dry it a bit, i would like to store it to use for the summer.

 

[new chick 203]

what is the nutrition on this stuff? Is it a treat, or feed? Very interesting. i love recycling.

 

[krcote]

WOW! This is a great idea that I had never thought of!

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
I was planning on using at a treat. But im really not sure!

 

[Sorin]

Thats a good question! The primary ingredient in a brewery's grain would be barley, maybe some rice and wheat, but mostly barley. What's the nutritional value of barley? I guess you would have to keep in mind that a good portion of the sugar starches have been boiled out.

 

[Sorin]

Just found a link about it. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/swine/eb73w.htm#General. It gets a little scientific, but pretty informative. Again, I'm not sure how the boiled grain would affect it.