Does spent grain make good chicken feed?

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Beerbeque

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I'm almost as new to all grain brewing as I am to raising chickens. My three hens are developing quite a big appetite and I'm wondering if spent brewing grain makes good chicken feed, or is it already too spent as to be very nutritious. Do any of you guys have any knowledge or experience with this?
 
It is fantastic chicken feed.

Also makes good bread and dog biscuits and I'm sure there are tons of other things I haven't tried yet.

I know of many breweries that give/sell their spent grain to farmers for feed
 
Yep. The mash process leaves most of the feed value intact. And gives the grain a sweet flavor that they go nuts over.
 
Our chickens crowd the fence on brew day. I wouldn't feed 'em the hops, but the barley produces double-yolkers.
 
Our chickens and ducks love the spent grain, I wish the goats liked it. I have never seen it give double yolks in the last eight years though. FWIW
 
Goats don't like barley?? Goats eat anything! Even usually stuff that ain't food!

I have just dumped my first two batches onto the composte pile, but my dogs dont' seem to want to eat it. I guess my efficiency is just too good!
 
It's good "people feed", too.

I always get a few bites of the spent grain in my MLT. I like the taste, it's hot, and it is kind of an efficiency test. If the grain is sweet, I did a crappy job of sparging.
 
Brewing removes most of the carbohydrates, but leaves the protein behind. Good for chickens, even better for animals that can digest cellulose.
 
Ok - I have a good friend who raises chickens and would probably love to have my spent grains. How do I go about handling the hot grains after the mash? Gut instinct says to just spread em out on a tarp or something to dry - am I on the right track?
 
Ok - I have a good friend who raises chickens and would probably love to have my spent grains. How do I go about handling the hot grains after the mash? Gut instinct says to just spread em out on a tarp or something to dry - am I on the right track?

You can spray the grains with some cold water and let them run off to cool them
down.

If you don't feed them within a few hours you will regret the smell. Drying them will solve that issue.
 
I gave my friends some of the spent grain for them to take to the farm. The chickens wouldn't touch it, the horses didn't like it, but the cows loved it. The animals are picky eaters, just like the owners.
 
I vote yes

I just wish the hell they would stand back a bit, at least one gets a back full every time.

Agiantdoubleyolker.jpg


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Make sure there is no hops just grains.

Wrong.

OSU is working with local chicken farmers on substituting hops for antibiotics. So far the results have been excellent.
 
Wrong.

OSU is working with local chicken farmers on substituting hops for antibiotics. So far the results have been excellent.

I think he was talking about making the dog treats and making sure your dog doesn't eat the hops. Im not sure if that is true either but I have read not to give dogs hops.
 
Ok - I have a good friend who raises chickens and would probably love to have my spent grains. How do I go about handling the hot grains after the mash? Gut instinct says to just spread em out on a tarp or something to dry - am I on the right track?


I just add a bit of cold water to the MLT, and set it aside until I get the boil going. Then I carry it up to the coop and dump it straight on the ground. Chickens love it.......they go nuts. I free range them......but when they see the MLT coming......they all fight to get into the coop where they know it'll get dumped more often then not.

If I'm doing a lot of batches over a weekend........I'll dump it in the yard in front of the coop and spread it with a rake.

Only reason to dry it is if you want to store it and use it as a feed supplement over time. I just give it to mine all at once.....and they will gorge on it. I currently have about 30 adults, and 20 juvies......they eat a 10lb grain bill of spent grains in about 3 hours.......then they just lay around and squirt out eggs for the next 3 or 4 days........won't even touch their scratch, wheat, oats, or flax seed. I always get the best egg production following a grain binge like that........easily 1 per hen per 22-24 hrs.

We use no layer mash/antibiotics or any non grain supplement. They are free range and all grain fed plus fresh veggies and alphalfa and timothy hay for production of high Omega content etc. My brew grains are like their big treat.
 
I put what they can't eat in one day in zip lock bags in the fridge and they stay fresh long enough to make use of all the grain.
 
I just let the grains cool, while I brew, then dump them for the chickens. They go nuts and make a big mess of the grains.

I did get a double yolker last week. I have to see if it is the day after I fed them the grain. . .

B
 
I think you need to use it quickly. Day old mash leftovers smell like a combination of wet-dog, feet, and a hint of beer.

The oven is probably the only way to dry it fast enough to not deal with the odor.
 
I think you need to use it quickly. Day old mash leftovers smell like a combination of wet-dog, feet, and a hint of beer.

The oven is probably the only way to dry it fast enough to not deal with the odor.

It does go bad quickly- but it can be frozen. I've never dried it in the oven, just either given to the dog/deer/whatever while still wet, or froze it right away.
 
I dump it in their run as soon as I'm done with it...they figure out its hot pretty quick and take care not to jump on the hottest part of the pile and start working in from the outside. They eat it up faster than anything.
 
I think you need to use it quickly. Day old mash leftovers smell like a combination of wet-dog, feet, and a hint of beer.

The oven is probably the only way to dry it fast enough to not deal with the odor.

It really does keep well just refrigerated as soon as it cools or you can freeze as suggested. I would say at least a week refrigerated.
 
I've made some contacts with chicken farmers here in Brooklyn (yes, we do have them) exactly for this purpose. I got tired of seeing all that perfectly good biomass going to the landfill. I have several different contacts now and on any given brew day I can be pretty much assured that one of them will be available to come pick up my spent grains. From what they have all told me, the chickens go crazy over this stuff.
 
My chickens love it. If I have a bunch that I don't want to give them all at once I freeze it into couple pound blocks in the freezer. When it comes time to use, I throw the frozen "grain-sicle" into the coop and they go to town. The goats and horse seem to enjoy it too. As an aside, I have noticed that if I make a beer with 100% Pilsner the chickens won't touch it. I guess they are just picky.
 
I need to revive this thread because I have a friend who is keeping chickens now.

Am I correct in assuming wheat and rice hulls in the grains aren't going to be a problem?
 
Unless they have Celiac they should be fine. ;) They eat rocks to help "chew" there food anyway so a few rice hulls shouldn't upset the digestive track.

Good tip above regarding freezing extras. You don't want to give them more than they can eat in a day or it will spoil and you get sick chickens.
 
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