feeding brewers grain

[matt wny]

i recently found a cheap sorce of brewers grain from a local micro brewery.i have been feeding some to my pigs and beef cows. my question does anyone have long term experience feeding this stuff to pigs,beef,poultry or even draft horses and what are the pros and cons, any mineral supplements i should be feeding with it?

[Tim Harrigan]

Matt: The Animal Science Dept at MSU published a few guidelines a while back for dairy cattle. Might help you get started.

http://www.msue.msu.edu/objects/content_revision/download.cfm/revision_id.363396/workspace_id.212414/Distiller’s%20Grains%20to%20Dairy%20Cattle.pdf/

[near horse]

Brewer’s grain has a lot of protein left after the brewing process (they just want the starch and sugar) so is usually fed as a protein feed to bump up the protein in a ration. Also, if I remember right, most of the protein is considered “bypass” which means that it is not available to the microbes in the rumen (of cattle, sheep etc) but is digested in the true stomach (abomasum). Not really an issue with horses and friends.

I’m not so sure about feeding recommendations for horses – probably alright in small amounts in your grain mix (if you use one) but the protein requirements of horses (not growing or nursing) aren’t that high – in fact some alfalfa hays have enough protein (14-25%) that it can be hard on their kidneys ….

And, as you already know, change feeds slowly overtime to allow time for adjustment – the last thing you need is colic!!

[matt wny]

thanks for the link tim. i am going to try to get a feed analisis done on a sample this week.

[Author]

Posts