sprouted grains

[near horse]

I have a few thoughts regarding sprouting or soaking grains:

1) rinsing most likely removes the “free starch” loose in the grain bag. Sort of like washing rice before you cook it.

It is more palatable, easier to chew, and easier to digest in this more succulent form. Dry barley is very dense and hard, it takes a lot of moisture and digestive fluids to break it down in this form. Cooking/soaking gives digestion a head start, and it is chewed better to begin with, giving more surface area for digestive enzymes to do their job.

More palatable, maybe; easier to chew, sure; easier to digest, questionable; Certainly, barley is a hard grain and it’s small (smaller than corn) so unless you provide some assistance in breaking open the grain (roll, crimp, crack,…), large animals like horses are not going to get the full energy benefit associated with the grain.

Horses and ather animals have plenty of poisture and digestive fluids to handle the feed. Enzymes just need access to the inner part of the kernel.

Remember that cooking is very different than soaking. Cooking or applying heat to the grain causes changes in the starch granules and can actually cause them to swell and open the kernel – thta’s good because it does open the internal portions of the grain to digestive enzymes. Soaking without heat does not do the same thing.

Overall – there are two competing processes in the digestion of food. First is the rate of digestion (how fast something is broken down – can be increased by reducing particle size of feedstuff – EX. grinding or chopping hay ). Second is called rate of passage (how fast food passes through the gut). The balancing act is that reducing particle size will increase rate of digestion, AND increase food intake BUT will also increase passage rate. Whew.:eek:

[the vitamines in the oil helped with the absorbtion of proteins left undigested higher in the gut. This meant that the horse can profit from the feed without feeding larger amounts proteins (associated with overheating).
Further that essential fatty acids available in veg oil, increase energy, performance, stamina, cell development and repair, etc; etcQUOTE]

I don’t understand how vitamins can aid in protein absorption. Proteins are broken down to their respective amino acids in the stomach. Not much if any protein digestion in the lower tract. The other benefits from the oil would be mostly in terms of increased energy.

;
However, their work went in to the details re: the germinated barley, suggesting that the nutritional quality of the feed changed when the seeds germinated (optimally 0.5cm) with the result that it is necessary to feed only half the amount for more than twice the benefit. What do you think?

If it seems to good to be true, it’s probably not true. Hard to get something for nothing. That said, if they were comparing germinated whole barley vs plain unprocessed whole barley, then yes perhaps the “efficiency” of digestion was increased (look at your horse’s, cow’s poop. If there’s grain coming out the back end then it’s not being digested – no benefit). Whole dry barley will show up in horse/cow poop.:(

[dominiquer60]

Good points Geoff,

If cooking cracks the grain isn’t sprouting similar in the sense that the grain cracks its self in order to sprout? That seed coat has to crack in order for the root to elongate and the cotyledons to start to unfold, right? It seems to me like soaking grain to sprout it is the method of cracking the seed coat that is the most passive and requires the least amount of energy (no heat or machines, but does require time) to get it to crack. I know that my friend that feeds cooked barley and flax to her performance horses does not find barley in their manure, sometimes flax though. The guy feeding sprouted barley to cattle and goats doesn’t seem to have a problem either. So it appears to be another way to skin a cat.

Erika

[near horse]

Hi Erika,

True, sprouting barley (or any other grain for that matter) cracks the hull and certainly is cheaper than cooking. With sprouting some of the “energy” (starch/sugar) has been used to make “new plant growth” – in the beer industry this is halted when a tiny “radicle” starts to show emergence fromthe kernel – pretty small but visible w/ the naked eye. The sprout we (or chickens from a previous post) eat for greenery have used up more of that energy to make the renery and while still nutritious does not have the same nutrient profile as the original grain.

That said, feeding sprouted grain is a good way to utilize this feed.

[blue80]

Our rudimentary sprouting operation. We like it so far, and hope to expand it someday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mGUFAUfR0k

[blue80]

Nice article from 2003, if anything with a negative tone towards the feasibility of livestock fodder.

But a lot of nice info and history of sprouting grains.

http://www.qcl.farmonline.com.au/files/48/20/01/000012048/Hydroponicfodder.pdf

This 55 page article would defend a position of “no advantage” over conventional feeding but does not take into account many factors, especially that many of us are anything but conventional….
Including:
Continually Higher price points for organic, grass finished meat products,
Arguably higher nutrition of finished product, as (“superfood” status has been endowed on wheatgrass and barleygrass juice)
Fixed production costs for the producer, actually organic meat can be produced at lower cost.
Allowance of higher stocking rates in especially cold/hot/wet/expensive climates,
Healthier animals, longer lasting breeding stock; Pay special attention on page 47 regarding obvious better condition of fodder fed livestock-The outside of an animal reflects whats going on inside.
More consistent finished product,
Growing local economies, including grain farmer, grazier, and meat processor
Ability for farmer to save seed again and regain control of the seed supply,
Increased organic matter on ones soil due to higher animal densities.
Malt beer possibilities
etc. etc.

Just a neat option that takes some venom and hopelessness out of the GMO, pesticide, chemical fertilizer factors of “farming” today. Our options have increased!
Kevin
http://www.fortcauseway.com

[Andy Carson]

It deserves mentioning that barley is not usually fed to poultry in high levels due to it causing sticky droppings from the presence of beta-glycans. Sprouting the grain activates beta gluconase enzymes, which reduce beta-glycans in the sprouted grain dramatically. The result is that one can feed sprouted barley to poultry without having to worry about the sticky droppings issue. Of course, you could just feed a different grain and not have to worry about it, but the point is that there are examples of how sprouted grains can be nutritionally different in important ways. I doubt I will ever go to the trouble, but i like that it’s in my “bag of tricks” if I ever need it.

[Kevin Cunningham]

We have been sprouting barley and oats for both our poultry and goats for several years now. I wonder what the advantages of sprouting the grain all the way to green shoot stage? We use a simple four day bucket set up that allows us to germinate the grain but not grow grass. Are there any resources out there that could give any information. Right now our system is pretty low tech no lights or pumps, or anything. I am wondering if the benefits out way the expense.

Here is a picture of our bucket setup:

And the bucket itself is a smaller 4 gal bucket with holes set inside a five gal bucket to catch the runoff (pigs love to drink this by the way)

The grain a few days into it. These are oats that we grow here on the farm and it allows us to feed the grain without investing in some sort of roller mill or the like.

The animals seem to do great on this level of sprouted grain. I would consider making a more sophisticated setup up if there was a good reason to. So does anybody know why is it better at the green sprout stage?

[dominiquer60]

Thanks Kevin.

I am considering doing this when I get my flock of layers (dominiques someday). For now we have been soaking spelt for the horses for 24 hours (weather permitting). I know that 4 days is better but we are not disciplined enough for that yet, but the 24 hours is a step in the right direction because we see less spelt in the manure. I hope to have some indoor space to do 4 days in the future.

This article was written by someone trying to sell something, but I know the power of green feed so there is some truth to it. http://www.progressivedairy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3082:yummy-sprouts-for-dairy-cows&catid=48:new-technology&Itemid=74

[blue80]

As far as I can tell, since we have a superinsulated building with low cost of heating, it is worth us to green the feed if we have the time to do it ourselves. For our young family, it becomes an easy chore to do, with opportunity for casual chatter and fun with the garden hose, amongst other “busy” and physically demanding or dangerous chores.

Actually, we 3 day sprout about 15% of it and feed to layers and the dry lot rams, the rest is sprouted to 6 day grass. Our layers have done the best on a sprouted mash of several different grains. They did very poorly and egg quality went way down when on straight oats for a month….

My reasoning for bringing it to grass height is:
1/pastured/grass finished/organic marketing advantage with premium price point opportunities
2/animals love it
3/google wheatgrass juice, barley grass juice. The nutritionists are growing it to green grass for a reason….There is something in the amino acids of the fresh grass that allows the animals to utilize their other fiber better.
4/We become shoe ins for those with Celiac disease, and can earn their trust and business by setting no grain protocols.
5/because nobody else is doing it! As part of our agritourism , it is fun to show visitors a vertically integrated farm that could grow their own seed, save the best, sprout the rest, to finished organic product while increasing soil quality, without needing huge tracts of land and tractors. It is actually more profitable to buy in barley and hay and concentrate on sprouting, animal husbandry and marketing, than it is to take the risk of growing grain and baling hay.

but set me straight if this is folly!

[Anonymous]

It is funny I was just going to post about sprouting when I logged on today. I use the same set up as kevin, I feed pigs, chickens, and rabbits 3-5 day sprouts, I have been doing it for about a month and I dont have any real results other than my eggs are still very good in the middle of winter, and it looks like just the hulls are passing through the pigs. I mix the oat sprouts in with the normal ration by feel…. I am trying oat/corn sprouts as of today. My basic logic is just to add variety to their diets. I give my horse a little handfull of sprouts once in a while and he loves them. I dont rinse I just soak over night and then strain the water out and mix it with the pig mash then I start serving sprouts in 2 days.

I would like to learn a bit more about the nutritional value and the rations people are using?

Jared

[Kevin Cunningham]

I guess the best thing to do would be to have the feed tested. I come across a lot of material that says it is better but not how much better. I am bias and I know it is better but what I want to find are numbers. What is the energy, protein, mineral differences between the different types of grains and sprouts. I have never sent any of my grains away for testing but that might be what I have to do to get some real numbers. I started doing it because the grain would pass right through the goats, but when sprouted none came out. So I would at least assume that I am getting full use of what is in the grain at the very least. But apparently this stuff is some serious super food, but I just don’t know in which way.

[near horse]

With regard to wheat grass alone – I assume it’s just the growing vegetation minus the spent grain:

A typical one-ounce serving contains only seven calories, no fat and virtually no carbohydrates and protein. Wheatgrass contains no essential omega-3 fatty acids nor does it have much vitamin content with the exception of 7 percent of the daily value (DV) of vitamin C. A one-ounce shot also contains 10 percent DV of iron, but only a trace amount of any other well-known vitamins and minerals.

So why all the hoopla over wheatgrass? Chlorophyll — the green pigment that plays a critical role in photosynthesis, allowing plants to absorb energy from the sun — is touted by natural health advocates as an all-star health compound that increases the blood’s oxygen content.
It’s the chlorophyll, wheatgrass advocates claim, that helps rid the body of toxins, strengthens immunity and improves the micro-flora ecology of the digestive tract.

IMO – the benefits seen in feeding sprouted grains over unsprouted are related to more full use/digestion of the stored energy in the grain. As has been mentioned, whole grains often can and do pass through the gut intact and undigested and that is why most grains are “processed” in some fashion (dry rolled, steam rolled or flaked etc) to expose the starch (stored energy) to digestion/fermentation. But even then, some starch might not get digested completely. Sprouting (just like one does when making beer) triggers the grain into “thinking” it’s time to grow and thus convert the stored starch into simple sugars (that we then ferment with yeast into beer) which are easily digested/utilized and more readily available than the starch was.

[Jonathan Shively]

Saw Blue80’s video’s on another forum and was going to bring them over here. I am intrigued by this idea and have read a lot on hydroponics and aquaponics as I was directly involved in it for a few years at my school farm. Now the combination, aquaponics has come up and here is a great source of information, http://portablefarm.com/farm/
Interesting and viable, just have to get out of my comfort zone and get busy I guess.

[Kevin Cunningham]

I might cause a squabble here but I have to state that I do not like aquaponics. I am getting a lot of people coming to me to talk about it as it seems to be the latest rage, but I am not a fan. In my mind it seems energy intensive and extremely tillage dependent. The elephant in the room is that these systems are based on commercial fish feed, all of which are soy based. To me this just doesn’t make sense. I guess there are some situations where it might make sense because of limited space, but resource intensive systems don’t make sense when it is relatively easy to grow vegetables, in the ground, almost anywhere. And I just cannot justify growing more soy to feed fish. Just like for cows, pigs, chickens or just about anybody else, soy isn’t a natural feed. I have never seen fish grazing on wild soy plants! Anyhow that is my little aquaponic rant, but that is part of the reason I am hesitant to start growing the fodder in a more intensive system. Our low tech set up does at least allow for complete utilization of the grain feed, but all it seems to be lacking is the chloropyhl component. This isn’t such an issue for us because all of our animals have access to green growing grass and they are pretty efficient at harvesting it themselves. In my opinion the grain is a supplement for the pasturage except the for the chickens who need more grain and supplement with the grass. Unless it can be proven that sprouting the grain to the green stage has that much more benefit it seem to me that the best thing to do is to keep it low tech and resource limited. I am open minded about the use of such systems in areas that are arid, cold, or of limited space, but I still feel we should be using our resources wisely.

[dominiquer60]

I am with you Kevin in regards to both the low tech sprouting and the aquaponics. I imagine somewhere on this earth there is a good justification for such an intense system, but I really prefer to eat vegetables grown in soil, I feel that the nutrients are more complete and the system more harmonious with my lifestyle.

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