Sprouting For Poultry
By Jon Porter
Are you familiar with the “Slow Food Movement” and the related current trend towards a healthier diet? You might want to check out http://www.slowfood.com to get more information on this subject. They have a goal to counteract the deleterious affects of fast food and fast life on us and our planet. In keeping with the “Slow Food Movement” and its wonderful eco-gastronomic intent, I have been investigating how to improve my families health by raising healthier poultry to enhance the quality and nutrition of our diet.
In addition to providing live greens for my flock including dandelion, comfrey, plantain, grass, and lambs quarter, I am sprouting for them a combination of whole wheat, whole oats and whole barley in buckets. Grain sprouts are powerful live foods with high nutrition. The chickens and turkeys love it! These birds are very happy and content, which I attribute in large part to their diet. Only about 1/4 of their diet is processed chicken feed.
I use whole wheat, whole oats, and whole barley because these seeds currently are not genetically modified. There are many who are concerned about the large amount of gluten present in wheat, but sprouting eliminates most of the gluten. I purchase the whole wheat and whole oats from the CO-OP in Sandpoint and whole barley from General Feed And Grain in Bonners Ferry.
The Sprouting Process
Materials and Preparation:
I use two 5 gallon buckets with lids and handles such that one will fit inside of the other. I was able to get nice buckets for a small price at the Yokes bakery - nice folks there. I will call the two buckets - bucket A and bucket B.
Procure a 2“ to 3“ high cleanable spacer such as a Glad food storage container. The buckets will be used one inside the other with the spacer in between. The spacer is utilized merely to keep the buckets from sticking together. I have had buckets that fit so tightly together that I could not pull them apart. It is important to use a spacer that is cleanable in order to keep the process free of molds and other potentially harmful growths.
You will also need 3% hydrogen peroxide and fresh sprouting seed.
Drill small drain holes into the bottom of bucket A. I use a 3/32“ drill bit, but any size smaller than the size of the sprouting seed will do. I don’t want the seeds to fall through the holes when we add water for sprouting. I drill about 30 holes for fast draining.
Sprouting:
My feed bills are reduced about 50% because of the sprouting and it only
takes me about 5 to 7 minutes per day to do the deed. Happy sprouting.
By Jon Porter
Are you familiar with the “Slow Food Movement” and the related current trend towards a healthier diet? You might want to check out http://www.slowfood.com to get more information on this subject. They have a goal to counteract the deleterious affects of fast food and fast life on us and our planet. In keeping with the “Slow Food Movement” and its wonderful eco-gastronomic intent, I have been investigating how to improve my families health by raising healthier poultry to enhance the quality and nutrition of our diet.
In addition to providing live greens for my flock including dandelion, comfrey, plantain, grass, and lambs quarter, I am sprouting for them a combination of whole wheat, whole oats and whole barley in buckets. Grain sprouts are powerful live foods with high nutrition. The chickens and turkeys love it! These birds are very happy and content, which I attribute in large part to their diet. Only about 1/4 of their diet is processed chicken feed.
I use whole wheat, whole oats, and whole barley because these seeds currently are not genetically modified. There are many who are concerned about the large amount of gluten present in wheat, but sprouting eliminates most of the gluten. I purchase the whole wheat and whole oats from the CO-OP in Sandpoint and whole barley from General Feed And Grain in Bonners Ferry.
The Sprouting Process
Materials and Preparation:
I use two 5 gallon buckets with lids and handles such that one will fit inside of the other. I was able to get nice buckets for a small price at the Yokes bakery - nice folks there. I will call the two buckets - bucket A and bucket B.
Procure a 2“ to 3“ high cleanable spacer such as a Glad food storage container. The buckets will be used one inside the other with the spacer in between. The spacer is utilized merely to keep the buckets from sticking together. I have had buckets that fit so tightly together that I could not pull them apart. It is important to use a spacer that is cleanable in order to keep the process free of molds and other potentially harmful growths.
You will also need 3% hydrogen peroxide and fresh sprouting seed.
Drill small drain holes into the bottom of bucket A. I use a 3/32“ drill bit, but any size smaller than the size of the sprouting seed will do. I don’t want the seeds to fall through the holes when we add water for sprouting. I drill about 30 holes for fast draining.
Sprouting:
- Place bucket A (the one with the holes drilled in the bottom) into bucket B with the spacer in between the two buckets.
- Fill bucket A (the inside bucket) 1/3 full of sprouting seed. I mix equal parts of whole wheat, whole oats, and whole barley.
- Then fill the bucket 2/3 full with water. I don’t want to use hot water or freezing water. Anywhere in between is fine.
- Add 1/4 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide helps to deter the growth of any potentially harmful molds or bacteria that might be present in the buckets or have come with the seeds.
- Place a lid on the top of the open bucket (bucket A) leave the buckets in a room temperature environment (60 to 70 degrees will do just fine) for 12 hours.
- Drain the water from bucket A by lifting it out of bucket B. Well, now the usefulness of holes in the inner bucket should be clear. Rinse the seeds and drain again.
- Place bucket A with the seeds back into bucket B making sure that your spacer is in between the buckets. Rinse and drain the seeds every 12 hours for two to three days. If the seed you use is fresh and viable, you will have wonderful sprouted grain to feed to your flock. I harvest the seeds when the sprouts are at least the length of the seeds. I may sprout other seeds that take longer to develop.
- Be sure to clean the buckets and the spacer between each use.
My feed bills are reduced about 50% because of the sprouting and it only
takes me about 5 to 7 minutes per day to do the deed. Happy sprouting.