I wanted to ask everyone what their thoughts were on feeding spent brewers grain. We are fortunate to have an artisan brewer as our neighbor who is happy to offload a seemingly endless fresh supply. In June I started regularly feeding them various spent grains depending on what our neighbor was brewing. They just LOVE it. We give it as a supplement to fresh pasture in the spring/summer/fall and hay in the winter, we also provide free choice Sweetlix, kelp, Selenium/Vit E and baking soda. I did a quick search on the forum and did not see the subject mentioned anywhere. But my understanding is that it is an excellent source of protein and other nutrients but I am not exactly sure what. Does anyone feed it to their does? What about bucks? Any opinions or thoughts?
Thanks,
Judy
Replies
You're right. Pholia does feed spent brewer's grains to their goats, but I'm not sure they feed them to any of their dry animals. I don't think they do. Goats that are not in milk, do not need the same levels of proteins that does in milk do, and they can cause issues with obesity, and calculi in bucks and wethers.
I just went to Pholia Farm website and did a search can came up with some addition info (see http://pholiafarm.com/herd-management/feeding/ ):
We were fortunate enough to finally develop a source for local web brewers grain (WBG). WBG is a byproduct of brewing beer. It is a highly nutritious feed for ruminents. As it is a “waste product” it can often be obtained for little to no cost if you are able to pick it up from the brewery. The problem is that even the smallest micro-brewery often has thousands of pounds each week. So they usually want on large producer to take it all. We were finally able to work with a wonderful local brewmaster who was willing to let us form a co-op of small producers. Now, each week, three of us show up at the same time to have the 1000 pound tubs loaded into our trucks, we then take it to our farms where other small producers can come fill their bins. Poultry and pork raisers as well as gardeners (it makes marvelous compost as well) are just some of the happy users of this “free” grain source. We hope this model will work for other brewers and farmers.
Here are some things we have learned when feeding WBG:
To prevent mold growth- drain the grain as well as possible, pack tightly, and cover well. We use a piece of black plastic and press it down on the top of the grain and then cover that as well. The more you can limit oxygen, the less likely it will mold.
Do not feed WBG that is off in color or aroma. We scoop the top layer off before every feeding and smell the grain below it. It should smell like cooked cereal grains.
Consider adding dolomite lime for calcium if you don’t think the rest of your ration will bring the ratio up to 2:1 calcium to phosphorus. WBG content varies, but it is not high in calcium.
Remember, WBG is high in protein- up to 23%- but low in energy (fats). So if you have animals that need more energy feeding, you will have to accommodate this need.
It still does not specify dry or milking does, or have much more nutritional info. So I'll follow up with her.
Huh....well now you've made me think! I first got the idea to feed spent brewers grain a year and a half ago from Gianaclis Caldwall. We visited her at her ND off grid dairy Pholia Farm in Rogue River OR, we stayed overnight and I shadowed her as she did her rounds with her ND goats the next day. I took pages of notes....I just checked my notes on spent brewers grain. I remember that she had it delivered by the truck load weekly, and I remember her saying it was high in protein. But that is all I remember. I thought she gave it to all her goats but maybe not. Since then I have not heard of anyone else feeding it to their goats. We did not get a chance to try it until we moved east this summer and found that our neighbor was a brewer. I'll follow up with Gianaclis to clarify and drop her an email.
I don't know anyone who feeds it to goats, but I know plenty of people who feed it to chickens and pigs. Like any grain, I'd be concerned about feeding it to dry does because of them getting overweight and bucks because of the risk of urinary calculi.
I wonder if there's any way to find out the nutritional analysis of it? We have many breweries here and can easily get it, but how would I know if it is nutritionally complete after it has been "spent" in the process?
I would be cautious feeding it to any goats not in milk, but if you have chickens, mine LOVE spent brewer's grain!!