Home Feeding Ideas and Solutions Discussion Thread

[Kikiriki]

So here's a question: my husband just started managing an organic bakery that grows all its own wheat locally, and they slice hundreds of multigrain loaves per day - leaving a bucket of around 30lbs or so of whole, baked grains going to waste daily (and a similar amount of cornmeal that they use for proofing dough, and is left unbaked). He's been told that both buckets - baked grains and unbaked cornmeal - are his for the taking if he wants them. What would be the best way to process these for chicken feed? I was thinking fermenting the cornmeal, and either feeding the grains straight or fermenting them too. He also has access to several HUGE trash bags of burned or otherwise wrecked bread every week - I need a pig!

Wow, lucky you!! Have you considered sharing this windfall with other local chicken owners? Or even better, you could help set up a small charity: help a few poor families with children (or elderly people) start raising a couple of birds in simple coops of recycled materials and providing them all that excess organic grain!


Edit for after thought: the charity would also be an excellent public relations move for the bakery which be be good for your husband in his new manager job! Win, win, win situation!

 

[SouthDakotan]

I wouldn't ferment anything. Birds eat raw grains best. As for the bread... I'd dry it out and feed it that way. As for fermenting, it would make it so that you could be promoting molds or merely alcohol. Birds eat corn cracked all the time, corn meal just is easier for smaller birds too.

 

[Kikiriki]

A plant to supplement chicken feed with better nutrition than grass grazing and safe for all other animals, too!

The leaves of the mulberry tree can provide summer shade and fresh food for summer, or dried fodder in winter. Chicken, horses, pigs, ruminants, cattle... Weeping mulberry is appropriate for small yards, but get the fruiting variety rather than ornamental so you get the berries!


http://books.google.com/books?hl=en...&q=mulberry tree leaf in poultry feed&f=false

 

[SouthDakotan]

So here's a question: my husband just started managing an organic bakery that grows all its own wheat locally, and they slice hundreds of multigrain loaves per day - leaving a bucket of around 30lbs or so of whole, baked grains going to waste daily (and a similar amount of cornmeal that they use for proofing dough, and is left unbaked). He's been told that both buckets - baked grains and unbaked cornmeal - are his for the taking if he wants them. What would be the best way to process these for chicken feed? I was thinking fermenting the cornmeal, and either feeding the grains straight or fermenting them too. He also has access to several HUGE trash bags of burned or otherwise wrecked bread every week - I need a pig!

I'd mix the cornmeal in with their regular feed. Don't ferment anything. They don't need the alcohol that would come from fermenting. The burnt/semi burnt can be put out as well. If it too far charcoaled they will leave it to compost into the space. Or you could just put it directly into a compost heap. The "good bread" could be dried and fed or simply torn up and fed (not lots of tearing, just not entire loaf) The more birds that get goodies the better and less fighting over the spoils. I have a friend who uses Bread Treat time to "call in" her flock of farm poultry. They come running from all corners of the farm for that bakery bread! She stands out on her porch & tosses it to them, while they eat -- she gets to inspect their over all health & determine who is needing some extra special attention. So use the treat to your advantage!

 

[Kassaundra]

So here's a question: my husband just started managing an organic bakery that grows all its own wheat locally, and they slice hundreds of multigrain loaves per day - leaving a bucket of around 30lbs or so of whole, baked grains going to waste daily (and a similar amount of cornmeal that they use for proofing dough, and is left unbaked). He's been told that both buckets - baked grains and unbaked cornmeal - are his for the taking if he wants them. What would be the best way to process these for chicken feed? I was thinking fermenting the cornmeal, and either feeding the grains straight or fermenting them too. He also has access to several HUGE trash bags of burned or otherwise wrecked bread every week - I need a pig!

I feed out grains, but either ferment them or sprout them, either one makes the nutrients more bio-available. Both are very easy to do. If the grains are cooked they will not sprout, and I'm not sure about fermenting, I'd sure give it a try on a small batch of grains though. I've fermented grains for 2 years I have had the same ferment "juice" going just add more grains and water as needed. My chickens love old bread when I can get it, they will sure scarf it up, I also will wet the bread w/ the ferment "juice" from the grains and they will knock you down for that. There are two threads that are very informative about both fermenting and sprouting/fodder.

If you are worried about alcohol in the ferment, there are wine makers on the ferment grain thread that have a device that they measure the etoh content of their wine and they have used it on the fermented grains to measure any etoh content and it has been so small as to be non-existent.


Also if you have to much bread for them to eat, you could start a red wiggler composting worm bed and feed out the red wigglers to your chickens.

Here is a link to the Fermenting feed thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds The title is about meat birds but the thread as evolved to all poultry.

I tried to link the fodder and sprouting threads but the computer at work is arguing w/ me.

 

[echosrevenge]

I have read, but not posted in, both of those threads. I do fodder in the winter, when the ground is snow-covered and even my snow-eating Faverolles can't find much pasturage. We free-range the rest of the year, and are building our land up to a permaculutured self-feeding food forest for people, ruminants, and poultry. We're experienced fermenters, but aren't fermenting our feed at the moment for lack of an appropriate bucket (I refuse to pay $8 for a plastic bucket). We are currently free ranging our 6 ducks and 20-odd juvenile and adult chickens, with another 30 or so in the brooder. (probably would have been good to lead with all that...)
I know the baked grains won't sprout, but that's a freaking great idea using the old bread for red wigglers! We live off-grid in central Maine (zone 4/5a) so soldier flies, mealworms, roaches are all pretty well out as we can't maintain the temperatures they need even inside the house during the winter. Red wigglers, though, can handle being out in the hoophouses.

Them VAST majority of the not-retailable and day-old bread is distributed to local food pantries and soup kitchens. We'll not be treading on that at all, and only taking things that are currently being thrown in the trash. I will be sharing it informally among the local network of young, impoverished farmers (of which we are two) but not, I think, as a formal bakery-affiliated charity.

 

[Kikiriki]

I have not done silage, and actually do not plan on trying it, but I did want to provide a link that describes an alternative to buckets, starting on page 8 of the PDF. I saw the bag method first in a paper addressing animal feed in a country on the African continent that has the very distinct wet and dry seasons. The small bag method worked for them, allowing them to have more nutritious feed for their animals in the dry season. They repurposed bags from other things.

The following has good info on the bag method:

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADQ897.pdf

 

[RaZ]

The leaves of the mulberry tree can provide summer shade and fresh food for summer, or dried fodder in winter. Chicken, horses, pigs, ruminants, cattle... Weeping mulberry is appropriate for small yards, but get the fruiting variety rather than ornamental so you get the berries!

Mulberry is a great tree, the berries are delicious.
If you get them, you will need a male and a female in order to get the fruit. But look for the native mulberry, Morus rubra L. (red mulberry). It is native in the eastern half of the US. Avoid the white mulberry, it is an invasive species.

 

[Erika123]

One source I encountered said not to feed fruit to laying hens (due to taste of the eggs??? I believe it was in the same list as garlic, onions and chives). Any experience?

 

[ocap]

I have tasted onion in milk