Preparing Spent Grains for Chickens

[Old Medic]

The chickens know when I am brewing and demand their cut as soon as I start mashing in is all I know! If I have them free ranging while I'm mashing in they come and hang out by me and the kettle.

Thats how ours were... I would have to put them up before brewing... and they would raise hell till I was done. It was hilarious to watch them jumping and attacking the door to get out when I walked out the garage with that red cooler full of the steaming goodness.. I once set the cooler on the back of the ATV and they jumped all over it... So I played a demon, and took off out the driveway... they chased me all the way out to the road, and back... 4/10 a mile...
But I just poured them out and they were gone.

 

[JaggersBrewingCo]

Thats how ours were... I would have to put them up before brewing... and they would raise hell till I was done. It was hilarious to watch them jumping and attacking the door to get out when I walked out the garage with that red cooler full of the steaming goodness.. I once set the cooler on the back of the ATV and they jumped all over it... So I played a demon, and took off out the driveway... they chased me all the way out to the road, and back... 4/10 a mile...
But I just poured them out and they were gone.

They do not like games when you are playing with their grains... Heaven help me if I ever stop brewing, I'm sure there will be a coup.

 

[JayZeus]

In regards to compost, are the grains considered Carbon or Nitrogen? (Brown or Green?)

 

[day_trippr]

I would think green...

 

[JaggersBrewingCo]

In regards to compost, are the grains considered Carbon or Nitrogen? (Brown or Green?)

Do you have a secure place to store it or get your compost going? From my experience adding grains to the mix increases the amount of pest and rodent activity in the area. If I add any grains to my compost it goes in the sealed bucket that is on the stand and you rotate kind of turner. That thing fills up fast so if I add any it just a small amount.

For us the chickens have become the best way to get rid of spent grains. They enjoy it a lot and we are able to sub out some of the feed they get. With nine chickens a five gallon batch of grains gets eaten very quickly. Ten gallons is eaten a little slower but most of it is gone that day. In both cases it'll get some bugs coming which the chickens can keep up with. When we had five chickens they didn't seem to knock out a full five gallon batch of grains at one time, it's like they preferred to let it ferment for a few days then eat it.

We saw some people added to the garden directly. We tried that but pest and rodents wound just dig that up and ruin the plant and etc. Both dogs suffer grain allergies so we can't turn them into dog snacks. We have dried the wet grain out and made flour, or left it whole and sub it into thing like bread, pizza crust, meat loaf, I once made a tea with the spent grains. Bu there was only so much that we use in the kitchen.