dashman1319
Chirping
Hey all,
I just finished a batch of homebrew, after which I find myself with about 10 pounds of spent grains. Instead of just tossing them in the compost, I spooned a bit out for the chickens (still hot) and they went crazy for it. Essentially, the grains you'd find in a homebrew are just different varieties of malted barley plus some adjuncts like cracked oats, rice hulls, corn, or white rice. You know - chicken food. The only difference is that they've been held at a certain heat for a period of time to allow enzymes to catalyze the breakdown of the starches in the grains into simpler sugars, much (but not all) of which is extracted for the beer.
So I was wondering - any conceivable objection to throwing these grains out as warm treats? They certainly wouldn't take the place of regular feed as much of their nutritional benefit has been extracted anyway.
Thanks!
I just finished a batch of homebrew, after which I find myself with about 10 pounds of spent grains. Instead of just tossing them in the compost, I spooned a bit out for the chickens (still hot) and they went crazy for it. Essentially, the grains you'd find in a homebrew are just different varieties of malted barley plus some adjuncts like cracked oats, rice hulls, corn, or white rice. You know - chicken food. The only difference is that they've been held at a certain heat for a period of time to allow enzymes to catalyze the breakdown of the starches in the grains into simpler sugars, much (but not all) of which is extracted for the beer.
So I was wondering - any conceivable objection to throwing these grains out as warm treats? They certainly wouldn't take the place of regular feed as much of their nutritional benefit has been extracted anyway.
Thanks!