Spent Grain from Beer Making - Safe to Feed Chickens??

[evaluna]

A friend who home-brews beer has asked me if my chickens will eat the spent grain. He saves some of this grain to make bread, but most ends up in the trash.

(I did some quick research on what this spent grain is. 'Malt' is germinated cereal grain - barley is the grain most commonly used in beer making. The barley is dried then stored then steeped in water to germinate to a predetermined state, with the process being halted by hot air, then kiln-baking. During beer-making, the malted barley is soaked in hot water to extract the malt sugars, then discarded, thus producing spent grains.)

Thanks for any help!!

 

[QueenMisha]

It won't hurt them - just make sure to feed it while it's still very fresh, as it tends to go bad quickly, and don't feed too much - I wouldn't let it exceed 20% of their feed for the day. Not all chickens will eat it - within my flock only about half seem to like it.

 

[evaluna]

Thanks for responding QueenMisha...i will make sure it is not moldy or soured and was thinking of it as a 'snack' or supplement to their normal feed.

 

[TwinsFam]

I homebrew and my chickens love my spent grains. We tend to put it into small plastic containers and throw them in the chest freezer. It keeps the grain fresh and you can portion it out over many days. It also takes them longer to eat the frozen blocks of grain so it gives them something to do and keeps them cool on our sweltering California summer days.