Feeding Your Barnyard Friends - Part 5 of 6

   As a consumer you know that whole grains are more nutritious than ground. That’s because oxidation occurs after grinding and therefore reduces the nutritional content as the ground grain sits on the shelf. And so it is with whole animal feed grains or even with garden seeds. If kept properly a seed or whole grain can be viable for years. Therefore, whole animal feed grains can be nutritionally sound for couple of years if it is kept in a cool dry place. The exception to this is flax seed. Because flax has a high oil content. We recommend a 10-month shelf life for the whole flax seed. Keep in mind that heat and humidity is the enemy of whole grains and destroys their nutritious goodness. As for cracked or rolled grains plan to keep them in a cool dry place and plan to use them within 6 months.

   Many of our clients have expressed a desire to add whole grains to their flocks’ diet. Please do not add it to their feed mix because you know it is good for them because too much too soon is not good for them. The best advice we can give when changing the diet of adult birds is to add the whole grain to the diets gradually to promote gizzard development. The gizzard helps grind feed. In older poultry use whole grain for 5% of the diet for the first two weeks to adapt the gizzard, then, over a couple of more weeks, gradually increase the percentage to whatever level you have decided to feed.

   Also, remember two other important factors in feeding your poultry. The first is that when birds are not on pasture, they need grit at all times in order to digest the whole grain. Second, water is paramount to your poultry as they cannot digest any feed without it. The bottom line is that you must make clean, fresh water available continually – don’t let them run out.

   Tomorrow we will briefly investigate soy.