Growing fodder for chickens

[bekkanblue]

I've given my guys wheat that's sprouted and oats. They seem to prefer the wheat so far. Need to pick up some barley and try that with them. That's what the laying hens prefer. I try to give a variety, so anything missing in one grain is hopefully picked up in the next.

 

[butch vb]

I feed mine wheat and barley s prouts and the grains that did not sprout that I put acv on started at about two weeks and have have Ben doing for a year with great results they also get ff and have layer feed avail. All the time got 4/5 eggs a day all winter out of 16 hens here in co with no add light or heat

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Tell us how you really feel 

But I purposefully left the exclamation point off at the end of the last sentence....C'mon I toned it down a tad at least....lol

 

[Nate19]

Note: The pearled barley at the grocery store won't sprout. The seed has to be complete.

Welp, we should have read this before we bought the wrong stuff!

Anyways, is there anyone out there that feeds their chickens pearled barley by itself?
Now that I have several bags of it with nothing to do. Haha.

 

[tillyita]

Quote:
It wont hurt to feed it to them. If you cook it first they will love it! I put it in soups for me - or add a handful to rice when I'm cooking it. It's really good for you.

 

[Nate19]

How do you suggest cooking it? Just bring it to a boil for a certain period of time?

Does it change the safety of the matter that they are ~2 weeks old? (If it helps to know, I have been mixing in small amounts of grit to their feed over the last several days)

 

[tillyita]

I
Quote:
Grit can be offered any way that you're comfortable with. Mine is on the ground (but everyone is different). Barley generally contains (or retains if you prefer) more of the minerals that it picks up when grown, but again any whole seed will work. Wheat works quite well, oats can be a bit hit and miss dependant on the source. If you are already feeding whole grain of some description then start with that - as you already have a supply! Else, barley is a good one to start with. Nutritionally it is better than some of the others and it is relatively easy to grow.

 

[tillyita]

How do you suggest cooking it? Just bring it to a boil for a certain period of time?

Does it change the safety of the matter that they are ~2 weeks old? (If it helps to know, I have been mixing in small amounts of grit to their feed over the last several days)

Cook it like rice. When you can squish/break it with your finger it's done. So long as they have grit they can break it up and digest it. Just don't overfeed them to begin with. Are you feeding a starter crumble with or as their feed?

 

[Nate19]

I have been feeding them a starter crumble with grit mixed in. Only mixing in grit because I want to be able to introduce other foods (like this barley, mealworms, etc.) as they grow.

I will mix in the pearled barley with their crumble, if you think that's the best way to go about it?

 

[elorraine52]

Welp, we should have read this before we bought the wrong stuff!

Anyways, is there anyone out there that feeds their chickens pearled barley by itself?
Now that I have several bags of it with nothing to do. Haha.

I love to add barley to soups, it is EXCELLENT!! And good to feed to the chooks too, of course!