Is Barley Fodder Actually Harmful, Does It affect Egg output???

[MontainBourbons]

Currently, I am feeding my 20 Bourbon Red Turkeys a mix of Barley fodder and all natural feed. With 18 hens I am currently only getting 2 eggs a day, last year I was getting about 8-10 eggs a day with 15 hens. I have read bad things about barley but my chickens are also on the fodder and laying perfectly. Is the fodder causing this???

 

[Morrigan]

I feed a small amount of barley fodder (I do a mix with wheat, barley and sunflower seeds) to my chickens and have noticed no ill effects. I don't know about turkeys however. How much are you feeding them? I'd say my chickens are getting less than a tablespoon -- measured pre-sprout -- each per day.

 

[JaeG]

Here's an article about barley: http://articles.extension.org/pages/68431/feeding-barley-to-poultry

 

[MontainBourbons]

They get about 5 tablespoons of pre-sprouted barley a day. In addition to normal feed. Based on the article above I assume that mixing in feed helps a lot, also since my birds are older they should be able to digest the fodder fairly well. Thanks for the info guys.
It might just be an odd year for the hens to lay. I'll probably feed them less fodder also from now on.

 

[Morrigan]

I believe that soaking and sprouting also helps makes barley more digestible -- at least its true for humans, so I think it would be the case for poultry as well.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sprouting the barley is going to decrease the anti-nutrients and make it more digestible. Are your turkeys getting 5 TBSP EACH per day? How much of their total diet does the barley consist of?

My birds are getting barley sprouts on a daily basis. (with occasional sunflower and millet sprouts) For 30 birds, they are getting about 6 cups of sprouts per day. I'm not letting it go to the fodder stage.

I'm assuming that your turkeys are a year older! that could be affecting their laying. This is an off year for my chicken flock also, partially based on the fact that I did not start their supplemental light as soon, and I'm also laying a lot of the blame to the miserably cold weather we've been having.

 

[lazy gardener]

You should be able to tell if they are getting too much based on their poo. If their poo gets too wet, back off on the fodder.

 

[MontainBourbons]

Well, turkey poo is always runny whether you are feeding them normal feed or not. My 23 Turkeys eat about 8 cups of seeds worth of fodder grown to about 4-5 inches. The other half of their nutrition comes from the premade stuff.
My hens are a mix of 1st through 3rd-year turkeys.
10 first year turkeys
7 second
4 third
Also, the weather in Idaho is an off year over here too. Except we are about 10 degrees warmer, than usual. We only have about 2.5 feet of snow also compared to the usual 5 or 6.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Morrigan]

You should be able to tell if they are getting too much based on their poo. If their poo gets too wet, back off on the fodder.

That's interesting. I feel better about my fodder now, as the bird poo looks solid.