Free...I'm switching to whole grain for the winter....could you?

[Beekissed]

Tell me what is in your mix?

I mixed some today that contained wheat, oats, cracked corn, oyster shell, BOSS.

What else do you put in yours? I couldn't get any fish meal...all they had was soy.

 

[freemotion]

I don't mix it, really, I scatter it one grain at a time right now (corn in the afternoon and sprouted oats right now in the morning.) I have a serious vermin problem when I leave feed in a hanging feeder, so I have to be out there twice a day during daylight hours to feed the poultry.

My general rule, though, is at least three grains if not sprouting, and no more than half corn. The grains I use are what I can get, which has been corn, oats, and until recently, barley. I'd use wheat if I could get it. I may be able to get rye locally.

I feed the oyster shell free choice in a little bin on the wall, along with granite grit in the winter. We can have complete snow cover for several weeks, so I need a source of good grit. I just buy some now, I tried gathering it, and it wasn't worth the trouble. A bag lasts me for YEARS, since they prefer to find their own when they can.

I sprout the small grains to deal with the protein issue. If you can get field peas down your way, you could use those in your mix, as Harvey Ussery talks about it on his site....raw and whole.

The Boss helps with some nutrient issues with using whole grains that are not sprouted or fermented, so that is good.

Take three weeks to switch them over, less if they have been getting a significant part of their diet already from scratch grains or whole grains.

I feed the corn whole, not cracked, as they can handle that amazingly well once they figure out that they can swallow it.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, I forgot, if you mix it in a hanging feeder, they will dump the grain in their attempt to get their favorite grain first. That is another reason why I stopped, and probably why the vermin flourished....a never-ending supply of grain in the bedding, even when I tried taking the feeder out at night.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks! I feed once a day in a trough style feeder wrapped in wire. I just mixed the grains in a large metal trash can I keep in my coop...heavy on the wheat, equal parts on oats, corn and BOSS.

I usually just feed the OS free choice and still will but I thought I should sprinkle it lightly in the mix to encourage consumption. If they don't want it, it will just be left in the trough.

I just rip open a bag of OS and leave it in the coop...no feeder for this.

What with mine free ranging, I think I can transition fairly easily...I normally go towards more whole grains in the winter anyway but I'm doing an experiment. I'd like to stop feeding mash for awhile and see how the chooks do. I'd like to move away from the mash if I can but still keep good egg production.

The chickens went crazy for it this evening...it has been a long time since I've seen them that enthusiastic for feed!

It's certainly cheaper and lasts longer than the mash.

 

[ORChick]

Free, that's really interesting. Is that all you are feeding them? I have found a source for organic layer pellets, no soy, but haven't ordered any - I still have quite a bit of the last bag I bought (5 chickens, free ranging during the day, don't eat a lot of the pellets). But maybe I won't go that route, if I can get away with whole grains. Have you elaborated on this somewhere else?

 

[freemotion]

Gotta run now, back later. I've talked about it before, but I don't know where.....

 

[BarredBuff]

I'd like to quit buying feed for my chickens. I'd rather just feed them some corn and let them forage. That maybe a spring/summer thing when plenty of critters are out for them to get.

 

[Beekissed]

The whole grain my flock seem to love more than any other? Wheat! They will leave corn and oats in the feeder sometimes...but the wheat and BOSS is always scarfed first.

 

[TanksHill]

Bee are you using using whole oats or rolled? I switched to a mix and was free ranging. I had to keep the girls penned for a week or so while building the fence. They egg laying totally stopped. So I went back to commercial supplemented with the grains.

I was going to ask free about the fermenting with whey. I remember her saying something about it.

I did sprout some of the wheat. The hens loved it.

Thanks for the thread, very informative.

g

 

[freemotion]

I will ferment or sprout the small grains to remove the anti-nutrient problems and the phytates found in all grains. Also, when the sprout is just emerging, the protein level skyrockets. Certain nutrients are increased both with sprouting and with fermenting.

So you can do this a number of ways. I have two buckets (from a donut shop, had some kind of filling in them and have nice handles, they are about 4 gallons in size) that I drilled small holes (smaller than an oat!) in all over the bottom and a few holes in one side, just 2-3" up from the bottom. My first buckets had holes all around the sides, but it was tricky to drain them without making a mess. This new method helps me control where the draining water goes.

I have one regular bucket for the initial soaking. I fill it 3" from the top with whatever grains I have and fill it with water, going about 2" higher than the grains, which will swell. I let it sit for 24 hours, then dump it into one of the drilled pails over my sump in the cellar. You could do this in a sink or tub as it isn't too messy, and keep the bucket in a corner on a sheet pan or something to catch drips. I rinse the grains well and let them drain, then fill up the solid bucket again and start another batch soaking.

If I get behind for some reason, I speed up the process with a glug of whey or ACV. Whey will make the grains smell like sweet yogurt (which they will without the whey, but it will happen more quickly with the whey) and ACV will make the grains smell somewhat beery, with different bacteria at work.

I rinse the grains once a day, twice if mold is an issue. You can get a batch of grain with invisible mold spores in it, so this is another reason to use whey or ACV to speed things up so the mold has less time to take hold before the grain is fed.

I have a system so that I know which of my two draining buckets is next in line to feed from, by keeping my scoop right in the bucket.

Experiment with how much grain to have going...you want to have it all fed by the time little rootlets are really showing up and tangling the grains together. If this happens, it is still feedable as long as it smells ok and is not slimy or moldy.

There are different nutrients available at different stages, and different good bacteria at different stages and with whey vs ACV vs no booster, so I offer a little variety by changing things up once in a while for no particular reason, other than there is nutritional safety in variety.

I feed it right from the bucket, scooping it into the goat's feed pans and flinging it on the ground for the poultry. If I will not be home before dark and there is no one available to feed the hens, I will dump a bunch in their bedding and hope for the best, checking in on them when I do get home. It is easy to feel their crops in the dark and make sure they are full. If not, or if I was detained and got home late without making sure they had food, I can always turn on the coop lights for a while so they can come down and eat. Then I have to give them low light again so they will get back on the roosts, so I avoid this at all costs.

I also provide them with something fresh whenever possible in the dead of winter, although if anything green is showing through the snow, they prefer that. I make lawn hay and feed it when there is nothing green for them to be found. This year I am happy to discover that my new hay bags for my goats catch the little bits of leafy hay and I have been dumping that into a sack and saving it for the hens, too. If they don't eat it, it will make good bedding/compost.

Did I cover everything?