Pelletising Grass ??

[Down Under]

Hi, after reading that pasture ryegrass is high in nutritional value for poultry and fast growing enough to tolerate them I decided to seed an area of Perennial Pasture Ryegrass (PPR) to give it a try. While my patch is not mature enough to run birds on yet, it is mature enough to mow and feed the clippings to my birds and WOW the clippings are like crack to the birds to the point of them ignoring everything else there is to eat and making a bee line straight to the clippings even when the clippings are a day old.

As ryegrass is a cool season grass I am expecting to see it's growth rate decline as the weather warms up but I have seen small scale palletising equipment for sale online which got me thinking if it is worthwhile palletising excess PPR for the warmer months.

So what I am wondering is has anyone here tried to pelletise grass and if so is it worth it and are there any pitfalls to watch out for ?

 

[cavemanrich]

Not sure how much your investment in the equipment would cost.
Also, that grass is not a complete nutrition needed by chickens.
I don't have experience with the grass you are speaking about,,, but do have some with Pelleted alfalfa.
Product was intended as rabbit food. I figured chickens could eat some as well. My chickens were not thrilled with it. I had it as a free-choice item,,, and it was not really moving that fast.

So consider your cost/investment,,, and will there be much savings in it to make worthwhile??
Of course keep doing what you are doing currently. Mow, and offer the clippings.
By your user name I gather you are Down under. As you head into summer,, when will the grass become dormant for you??

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Down Under]

Thanks for your feedback.

if poultry keepers were concerned about saving $$ they would be buying their chicken meat and eggs from the supermarket wouldn't they? I think it is more about how to give your birds the best life that is within your budget with this hobby. But the small setups range from $300 to $1200 here depending on quality and how many functions that they can perform. I would obviously want something of reasonable quality and that could do more than just pelletise grass.

Although they could probably survive off ryegrass if they really had too there is no way that I would expect them too, so the grass pellets would be an offering in addition to their regular feed. You are correct mate I'm an Aussie and it gets little warm down here between December and February so I am guessing that unless February is wet the ryegrass wouldn't be making a comeback until March/April which would be well into moult when the birds need access to high quality feed and grass.

I have seeded some Australian native grasses as well and I am considering kikuyu as a warm season grass but the nutritional values are lower than the ryegrass.

Did you have any issues with pelletising the alfalfa, like moisture content or milling grade giving your pellet machine issues?

 

[cavemanrich]

Did you have any issues with pelletising the alfalfa, like moisture content or milling grade giving your pellet machine issues?

I purchased my alfalfa pellets already processed. I don't have any machinery equipment, of source of fresh alfalfa.
Here is what I quick found for alfalfa pellets.
Mine was from a different supplier, and included rabbits as customers. This one targets horses.
Pellets still same.
For me.
It is autumn, and winter arriving in the coming months. In my winter time, we encounter snow, so no green grass whatsoever. (free-ranging)
I will get a bag of this alfalfa, and offer the chickens some greens.
This will last me until my Springtime arrives.

 

[Debbie292d]

I purchased my alfalfa pellets already processed. I don't have any machinery equipment, of source of fresh alfalfa.
Here is what I quick found for alfalfa pellets.
Mine was from a different supplier, and included rabbits as customers. This one targets horses.
Pellets still same.
For me.
It is autumn, and winter arriving in the coming months. In my winter time, we encounter snow, so no green grass whatsoever. (free-ranging)
I will get a bag of this alfalfa, and offer the chickens some greens.
This will last me until my Springtime arrives.
View attachment 3948452

I have never thought of doing this! It's a great idea! Mine do better on crumbles but surely they could handle this or I could smash some up for them. I'll try find a smaller bag and give it a try.

I grow hard red winter wheat in trays mostly in the winter so they get a tray once or twice a week, and for the breeding pen now who gets no grass. If they'd like this stuff, what a great time saver and less hassle it would be!

 

[saysfaa]

What is the advantage of pelletizing over hay or silage?

 

[Down Under]

I purchased my alfalfa pellets already processed. I don't have any machinery equipment, of source of fresh alfalfa.
Here is what I quick found for alfalfa pellets.
Mine was from a different supplier, and included rabbits as customers. This one targets horses.
Pellets still same.
For me.
It is autumn, and winter arriving in the coming months. In my winter time, we encounter snow, so no green grass whatsoever. (free-ranging)
I will get a bag of this alfalfa, and offer the chickens some greens.
This will last me until my Springtime arrives.
View attachment 3948452

Sorry I misunderstood. Yeah we can get that here too but they call them lucerne pellets and they are mainly sold as cattle and horse feed, like the bag in your picture. Locally they have steamed lucerne chaff on the shelf which the flock seem to like so I didn't think that it was worth ordering in the pellets.

Yeah I wouldn't think the grass would grow much with snow on it and free ranging in those conditions must be hard since I don't think that they make snow shoes for chickens do they?

Here is a video of what I was looking at doing, but I may have to do more in depth research into it:

 

[Down Under]

What is the advantage of pelletizing over hay or silage?

Mainly storage advantages. It takes up less space and is less likely to spoil.

Sorry for the edit: there is also research suggesting that the steam from the pelletising process unlocks some nutrients and improves the quality of the feed, resulting in reduced consumption.

 

[Penpal]

You don't say how many birds you have. I wonder if you might try growing the rye as fodder, as an indoor plant for them to nibble on.

 

[Down Under]

You don't say how many birds you have. I wonder if you might try growing the rye as fodder, as an indoor plant for them to nibble on.

Sorry Penpal I'm not sure what you mean, as I am sort of using it as fodder at the moment and I don't have room to grow it as an indoor plant due to it being a field grass.