Whole seed Game Bird mix for sprouting?

Has anyone used whole seed Game bird mix for sprouting to feed their chickens and other sprout eating critters?? My feed store sells it in 70 lb bags for under $20.00. It has corn, millet, black sunflower, peanuts,oats, wheat, and I think what ever they sweep up off the grainary floor. So far I have had great luck with the sprouting, and every bit is devoured! The hens won't even go "open pasture and garden feed" if they have sprouts left in their run!
Just thought I would mention it anyway. Jessie

Good idea. How do you sprout them ?

just like you would do for alfalfa or mung bean sprouting in your kitchen - except on a big scale.

Of course you can get commercial sprouting kits for a lot of $$. I use what I have, trash cans, buckets "my favorite thrift store finds-rubermade storage tubs with no lids!"
I use rectangular rubermade storage tubs about 10 inches deep and the size of a bed pillow, some with drain slits cut into the bottom.

Put your seeds in a tub or bucket ( I put 2 heaping grain/feed scoops in a tub, so about 3 or 4 lbs probably)
Add 4 x as much water to soak, ( I will split this between 2 tubs or buckets as I don't want to lift 60 lbs of sloshing water and seed)
Soak for 6 to 12 hrs. ( I soak overnight)
Pour the soaked seed in containers with some drain holes in them, don't cover!!
They should not be sitting in standing water after the first soak!!They should begin to sprout in the next 24 hrs.
( the coolder the temp the slower they will sprout. I generally put my draining tubs in my spare bathroom shower stall in the winter- summer I put them in the barn, Low light!!.)
Rinse the sprouts daily,Make sure they drain well. ( This is why I like the rectangular tubs, it keeps the sead spread out about 2 " deep and it wont mold!!!
. Ater 3 to 5 days you have some big sprouts! you can feed this or even pour the sprouts into growing flats with soil and grow some "grassy" stuff in another 3 or 4 days, then you just pull it up like a sod roll and toss it out to feed.
I weighed the last 5 day sprouting. started with 3 lbs dry, ended up with 11 lbs sprouts-
I hear you can add all sorts of suppliments to this- I don't - it's not my only chicken feed, I have pasture and compost they feed off of too- worms and grubs... They hardly eat lay mash anymore, and the eggs are hard shelled and dark yolked.

you can also sprout seeds in a cloth bag. I have never done that on a large scale but I have on a small scale and I suspect you can do it on a large scale with an old pillow case. with a cloth bag you have to rinse more often and hang it over something it can drip into but the seeds get better air circulation and are less likely to mold.

I sort of do the same thing. I have several lengths of old vinyl gutter screwed to a picket fence. They are on an incline so that the low end of the top one is above the high end of the one beneath it and so one. I put a small amount of shredded straw in the bottom of the gutter. I put whole oats, buckwheat and winter rye on top of the straw and soak it. The extra water runs thru the top run of gutter then trickles down to the next one, etc. The sprouts form a thick mat intertwined with the straw and I just lift and cut a matted section and give it to the chickens. when one section is empty I relpant and continue using the next section. It make the feed last longer and is higher in nutrition than just the seeds.

Karl

These are some great ideas! I have been using wild bird seed for years, and just last summer scattered some around the outside perimeter of the fenced chicken area. The milo (sorghum) in it did well, also grew a few little sunflowers, and they could reach their heads through as it grew. Some of the milo went to seed and will probably grow next year. But sprouting sounds like a great way to get them through the winter. I have a few quarts of winter wheat berries that got some moths in it, and I can try to sprout them along with the bird seed. This will be perfect for my young pullets that I am anxious to get off of the commercial grower feed. They have moved outdoors to a chicken tractor, which is currently stationary with the light still needed at night, but they get weed seedy hay every day.

That sounds like a great mix! We have just started sprouting for all our animals. The chickens really enjoy it. So far it's mostly wheat, b/c the bag of oats we got just isn't sprouting. We want to get barley and other things, too, eventually. The chickens love the greens when we let it go for a week. Oh, and you don't have to put it in any soil at all; the seeds form a mat just fine on their own, so that's one less thing to mess with, if you want to grow them longer. We've tasted it ourselves, and it seems to be sweetest around day 5 and then gets less so. Right now our trays are in our entry way, and it's not really warm enough, so it isn't growing as fast as it was just a couple weeks ago.

I have been sprouting for my ducks and chickens for about 6 months. My mixture is (free but uncleaned) oats from a friend and my own buckwheat, corn, sunflower seeds, and beans. My goal is to raise my own feed for about a dozen birds. I use about 3 cups/day dry seed, soaked overnight and then sprouted in plastic trays. I rinse once a day and feed on the 5th day. The chickens adore these - especially in the winter. The ducks will eat them if they feel like it. I also feed cooked squash and potatoes for energy. They all seem healthy!

HI all, I wanted to also say... I just tried putting the little outdoor white x mas lights under my sprouting seads tubs at night! WHOAHHHHH! the warmth they make really has helped the sprouting. its all in a jumble in the spare bathroom shower/tub. I took them out of course for the rinsing and draining. I did this because till May the spare shower is more like a refrigerator,(BURRRRR) Thanks for all your responses and ideas- also I think Wild bird seed would be too expensive for me, I am using Wild GAME bird seed which is 20.00 for 70 lbs. anyway I love all the ideas! Jessie

Jessica Stokes wrote:Has anyone used whole seed Game bird mix for sprouting to feed their chickens and other sprout eating critters?? My feed store sells it in 70 lb bags for under $20.00. It has corn, millet, black sunflower, peanuts,oats, wheat, and I think what ever they sweep up off the grainary floor. So far I have had great luck with the sprouting, and every bit is devoured! The hens won't even go "open pasture and garden feed" if they have sprouts left in their run!
Just thought I would mention it anyway. Jessie

Great info, i hope my quail will eat like this, maby i could buy this cheaper stuff if so b/c I think sprouting gets rid of the GMO seeds like all soy or corn. If yall are eating your live stock be sure to feed food thats not genetically modified, Monsanto and the FDA dont think its a big deal but its outlawed all across Europe etc b/c of some hard to argue side effects.

Grant Fulcher wrote:Great info, i hope my quail will eat like this, maby i could buy this cheaper stuff if so b/c I think sprouting gets rid of the GMO seeds like all soy or corn. If yall are eating your live stock be sure to feed food thats not genetically modified, Monsanto and the FDA dont think its a big deal but its outlawed all across Europe etc b/c of some hard to argue side effects.

I'm not sure I completely understand what you're saying. Corn and soy are almost all GMO, like you said, but sprouting it isn't going to change their GMO-ness. They have been genetically altered, which means it's a permanent thing. Sprouting is going to be more nutritious than dry seed, but it will still be a genetically modified plant regardless.

I'd like to second Mrs. Jacobs' comment. The GMO nature changes the proteins in the seed. Once the protein is altered, it can't be changed back. Monsanto insists that they're GMO seeds only be used for one season, partially to ensure that nothing unpredictable happens in the 2nd generation. (And I would hypothesize that they also partially do that for their profit margin.)

The scratch at http://www.scratchandpeck.com/products/poultry sprouts well.