Raising Chickens on Spent Grain?

[Chris7687]

Hey guys,
So I am acquiring some chickens from a friend who raised them for me and have been doing some research on what I need to prepare before obtaining them. The main topic I was looking into was feed for them. I want my chickens to be well nourished and produce nutritious eggs for me. I know chickens eat and love spent grain, but is this enough for them? Will they get enough proteins and minerals from the daily spent grain meals and the occasional bugs they eat around the yard? Or is there a feed I should look into getting to round out their diet? Not sure how many home chicken "farmers" we have on the thread, but figured there has to be one or two to chime in!

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Spent grain has had a good portion of the nutrition removed during the mash. It's still good for chickens, as there is still some nutrition left, just not as much as unmashed grain. I'd use it as a supplement to regular feed; especially if you keep them caged.
Regards, GF.

 

[ChuckO]

Spent grain is not a complete diet for chickens. They need other sources of carbohydrates as well. The twelve hens that we had last year would free range the yard and surrounding woods as well as share 2-3 cups of scratch feed each day. The spent grains from a 20 lb. grain bill would be finished in a couple of hours by the hens and our 5 miniature goats. For chickens alone, you would need probably 1/2 lb. per day per hen if no other supplementation.

Due to coyotes in the area we are now down to one hen at present, so a 50lb. bag of scratch feed should last until mid winter.

 

[wilconrad]

It is quite common for beef farmers to use spent grains from commercial breweries as a component of their feed rations (called "brewers grain" in the ag industry). Not sure this helps you much, but if you look up the nutritional values for this component in beef rations, you could probably triangulate an appropriate chicken feed ration.

 

[WissahickonBrew]

This question is probably best raised on Home Chicken Talk. (Sorry, I had to...)

I raised chickens for several years as a young person and tell you they will eat anything and everything. Absolutely they will peck through your spent grains, but I suspect the grains will have lost some nutritional value by way of lost carbs which you mashed out to make your beer. I would offer to go ahead and toss your spent grains in the pen for them to have a treat, IN ADDITION to your staple cracked corn, laying mash (from your feed store) and of course they love table scraps! Good luck!

Hey guys,
So I am acquiring some chickens from a friend who raised them for me and have been doing some research on what I need to prepare before obtaining them. The main topic I was looking into was feed for them. I want my chickens to be well nourished and produce nutritious eggs for me. I know chickens eat and love spent grain, but is this enough for them? Will they get enough proteins and minerals from the daily spent grain meals and the occasional bugs they eat around the yard? Or is there a feed I should look into getting to round out their diet? Not sure how many home chicken "farmers" we have on the thread, but figured there has to be one or two to chime in!

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Chris7687]

Thanks for the advice guys. Only getting two hens, so hopefully my weekly 30 pound grain bills will help supplement a lot of the feed. They will be free-range in my yard of about 300 square yards, that is until the dogs are let outside! Interested and excited in starting this new adventure.

 

[phineasjfr]

Thanks for the advice guys. Only getting two hens, so hopefully my weekly 30 pound grain bills will help supplement a lot of the feed. They will be free-range in my yard of about 300 square yards, that is until the dogs are let outside! Interested and excited in starting this new adventure.

Hi Chris - not sure if you're still active on this site, but I'm a journalist writing about a project in Philadelphia to feed sell spent grain from local microbreweries to urban chicken owners. Would you be able to speak to me about your experience with feeding chickens spent grain?

Would love to hear from you!