[mintytwoshoes]

Hi,
Does anyone know whether barley grains that have been dried off the field can be fed to chickens as they are or chould they be cooked in some way.  Have been given a sack by a well meaning friend who thought my chickens would love it. 

[Daisys Mum]

I have fed them to mine without any problems, I usually feed bruised barley through the winter as we get it in for the horse. They are not solely fed on it as they still get their layers pellets in the morning.

[sokel]

Ours quite often get a scoop full of crushed barley scattered for them ,they never leave any

[Ina]

I know of various flocks of poultry that have all had them without problems.

[Castle Farm]

They will take rolled/crushed barley OK, but may take a bit of time to get them on to whole barley because of the husk, unless you start them on it at an early age.

Try soaking it first over night.

[Steph Hen]

I feed mine whole wheat and barley, I milled it into small bits when they were chicks, but feed it straight now. I see that there's never any undigested bits in their poo, and the birds thrive, so I think its fine... but I did as Castle Farm said; they were fed this from young age. Offer a little and see how they get on.

[mintytwoshoes]

Thanks everyone - really helpful as usual!!!
This forum is such a gift.  Have a good day!!

[Clansman]

They do love them sprouted too.

stick them in some water for a few days till they start to grow

[shygirl]

i think barley can have sharp husks which can catch their throats, we usually put it through our mill, unless it was windy (or it would have blown away).
sprouting sounds a good idea. does it it need daylight? and how long do you soak it for/ in how much water?
 

[AndynJ]

I started sprouting a few weeks ago, they love them we have now actually moved on because I have learn't that once they have grown to 5" they have approx. 18% protein perfect for our birds so we soak them over night, then lay an inch thick in a tray and wet them we pop them on a heated mat with clotch over, we have set a timer up so the sprinkler comes on every 2 hours for 1 minute it takes about 7 to 8 days for them to grow 5" we just put the tray out for the chooks it produces approx. 5 times the amount of food they would of had from the barley alone.
I buy barley at £5.00 for 200litre container full (large wheelie bin) this lasts about 6 weeks as dry food so it will now last 30 weeks well it will last a lot longer we have just sold 20 odd birds

[Clansman]

I have learn't that once they have grown to 5" they have approx. 18% protein perfect for our birds

I'm not quite as sophisticated as that but thats a good method to do it. 

Just be aware that 18% protein in sprouted barley is not the same as the 18% protein in a commercial ration.

The other 82% has a very different composition.

But yes they do like it, its better than just feeding dried grains and apart from the little time involved its FREE!!   

[shygirl]

how do people measure the protein level?
i know with measuring energy the food is burnt etc, so measuring protein? is everyone guessing or do they all know something i dont?

I started sprouting a few weeks ago, they love them we have now actually moved on because I have learn't that once they have grown to 5" they have approx. 18% protein perfect for our birds so we soak them over night, then lay an inch thick in a tray and wet them we pop them on a heated mat with clotch over, we have set a timer up so the sprinkler comes on every 2 hours for 1 minute

sounds so sophisticated 
how do you power the heat mats etc? im wary of using much electric now after my shocking electric bills with the incubators. i could have bought a new car with the money i spent     

[Hevxxx99]

No idea about this, but possibly an old fashioned hotbed could be created with droppings and straw?

Think I might give it a go...