# Feeding to the chickens



## Stanimals2 (Oct 26, 2013)

Do any of you home brewers feed the left over grain mash from the wort or the yeast cake left in the primary to your brew to your chickens ? I read that the grains can cause hypothermia in dogs and cats so I assume it would do the same to poultry.

Thanks,


----------



## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

Flush it! It replaces the active yeasts in a septic tank.Ale that is.

Wade


----------



## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

Feedipedia is a great source of info on alternative feeds. It says poultry do fine on spent brewer's grains up to about 30% of total feed. 

Feedipedia Brewer's grains

There is something weird about that site. Will not work right for me in Foxfire but does fine in Explorer.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Darker dash grains (stouts, porters, etc) go to one of my friends chickens but no the yeast cake. 

We dry and grind to flour lighter grains (ales, IPAs, Blondes, etc.). I use my solar oven without the reflectors to dry it but am considering building a solar dehydrator as the oven is too small for all grain batches.

Here's a good link to turning it into flour. http://brooklynbrewshop.com/themash/recipe-spent-grain-flour/


WWW


----------



## Buckeye_brian (Jan 14, 2014)

My chickens love the steeped grain...


----------



## Micknleb (Jun 1, 2014)

We always give the steeped grains to the chickens. They LOVE them. I think it's the hops that can cause hypothermia in cats and dogs, not the grains. We have never done anything other than compost the yeast cake. Would be interested in seeing some other uses for it, though.


----------



## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

Flush it! It keeps the septic tank active!

Wade


----------



## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

As to the yeast sediment after fermentation, we always put it into the septic. Except one time when I convinced DH to dump it into my compost pile instead.


As for the spent grains, those go to the chickens once they've cooled off.


----------



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

The old moonshiners around here all fed their left over mash to their hogs, cattle and chickens after using what they needed to sour their next batches of wash from what I heard from my grandfather.

I routinely add my wine leavings to my worm bins after flashing the alcohol off of them by lettings the leavings simmer in an old crock pot and cooling before mixing into the bins.


----------



## Guest (Mar 31, 2015)

Chickens being true omnivores have no problem with spent brewer grains. You would be shocked at what chickens can and do eat when allowed and do great. I have fed spent grains and they loved it.


----------



## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

I feed the spent grains to my chickens and it seems to give egg production a boost, but cant confirm this. I also keep some of it for soups and stews. I made a soup with some once and shared it with an older woman, I warned her that if it makes chickens lay more eggs, it might kick start her cycles again so beware!


----------



## davimi (Jul 12, 2011)

My chickens gather around their fence and watch me brew...they know whats coming their way :grin:


----------



## SoCalChickChick (Apr 20, 2015)

LOL davimi... Ours do to when my wife and I brew. We always give our spent grains to the chicks. 

As for hops - *NEVER* give them to dogs or other livestock. There's tons of info out there about it. Here's a quick read on Northern Brewer about it: http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2012/01/a-warning-about-dogs-and-hops/ 

Here's a technical article regarding the toxicity in dogs: https://www.vetlearn.com/_preview?_...echnician/toxicology-brief-hops-make-dogs-hot


----------



## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

I experimented with using hops in home cooking as a seasoning. Tried it on meat and in sweets. Apart from it being really strong stuff and hard to use, both times I got an instant headache. I surmised that it might be okay in the small doses in beer but it cant be good for you generally.


----------



## 1shotwade (Jul 9, 2013)

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=nutritional value of hop

Wade


----------

