Content
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Useful Properties -
How to feed
Poultry farmers know that the quality of chicken meat and eggs directly depends on a complete balanced diet for chickens. A well-designed diet should contain a complete set of essential nutrients, trace elements and vitamins. In winter, it is more difficult to provide adequate nutrition for chickens than in spring, summer and autumn, since there is no natural green forbs. Sprouting wheat greatly simplifies the task.
Useful Properties
The undoubted benefits of germinated wheat are evidenced by the fact that this unique product is added to the daily diet by many of our contemporaries – numerous fans of proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. This is an effective prophylactic against winter beriberi and various infectious diseases.
When germinating in wheat grains, nutritional value accumulates and digestibility increases sharply. Dry grain contains indigestible forms of nutrients, which, when fed to chickens, are far from completely absorbed – only 60-70%.
In the process of germination, the chemical composition of the product changes, and the processes of decomposition of complex organic compounds into easily digestible simple forms are activated in the grains.
Sprouted wheat contains essential amino acids, vitamins, microelements, ascorbic acid. When chickens are fed sprouted grains of wheat, egg production improves, chickens begin to lay really large tasty eggs. In addition, immunity increases, metabolism accelerates, the musculoskeletal system strengthens, digestion normalizes, obesity problems go away.
The high nutritional value of germinated wheat does not mean that chickens can only be fed wheat alone. With exceptional energy value, it is a dietary product. As part of the grain diet, germinated wheat does not exceed 30% in the total amount of feed. The diet should be varied and fully replenish the nutritional resources in the body of laying hens.
How to germinate
Every novice poultry farmer will be able to germinate wheat at home. To do this, you do not need to tediously master special agricultural literature and have extensive practical experience. All you need is dry wheat grain, clean water and a suitable soaking container. It is best to use enamel, ceramic or glassware to eliminate the risk of product interaction with metal.
Having at hand step-by-step instructions, you should try to repeat the simple procedure as accurately as possible.
Grain selection
The properties of germinating sprouts depend on the quality of dry grain. Experienced poultry farmers advise not to save on birds and choose full-weight grain of golden or light brown color without impurities and debris. From good complementary foods, chickens will increase productivity, eggs will become larger, and the costs will more than pay off. But with a large number of poultry in farms, fodder grain is also used in order to save the budget. It will also make a good nutritious feed, albeit inferior in quality to varietal wheat. When buying wheat, you need to check for foreign odors and traces of mold. At the slightest suspicion of dubious quality, such grain should be rejected without hesitation, even if it is offered at a bargain price. Do not be tempted to buy, so as not to risk the health of corydalis – the harm can be significant.
Zamachivanie
Before soaking, the container is thoroughly washed and rinsed with a solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. Wheat is poured into a container and poured 2-3 times with water for washing. Various impurities, husks, small debris float up and merge with dirty water. Then clean wheat is poured with warm water with a temperature of + 40–45 degrees. The water level should be 1,5–2 cm above the grains. When storing dry wheat in the cold, water for soaking should be taken hot.in order to awaken the germs of sprouts dormant in the grains with heat shock, but in the end, the final temperature must still be adjusted to + 40-45 degrees, stirring the grain in the container and gradually adding cold water to the desired temperature. The container with soaked grain is covered with a lid to prevent evaporation of moisture, and placed in a dark, warm place for about 15–17 hours.
During the exposure, no additional actions need to be performed.
Spreading out the grains
This is the most crucial step. It is necessary to prepare in advance a warm place without drafts, where the wheat is laid out after soaking. At home, this can be a wide shallow pan, a baking sheet or oilcloth spread on a flat surface.
After aging, excess water is drained from the container, and the grain is taken out and laid out in a thin layer (up to 5 cm). If the layer of wheat is thick, rotting of the grains may begin, then all complementary foods will have to be thrown away. Financial costs, time and labor will be wasted.
Spread wheat is covered with a damp natural cloth (you can use a piece of old linen or cotton sheets). During germination, it is necessary to periodically moisten the “spread”.
After about two days, strong juicy sprouts about 3 mm in size will appear on the grains. The most nutritious top dressing is ready for use by corydalis.
You need to cook sprouted wheat for 2-3 feedings, as this is a product with a minimum shelf life. During storage, putrefactive processes will quickly begin in it, a specific smell will appear, and mold will develop. If, due to an oversight, this nevertheless happened, it is necessary to dispose of the damaged product without regret.
Wheat can be sprouted both as a separate food and as a grain mixture with other cereals (oats, barley). Coarse vegetable fibers of feed mixtures cleanse the intestines of birds from toxins and toxins. When selecting the composition of the grain mixture, the properties of cereals that are planned to be germinated together with wheat are necessarily taken into account. For example, barley can be used in limited quantities strictly according to sound recommendations, as it can reduce egg production, and sometimes chickens stop laying altogether. When chickens molt, barley should be completely eliminated from the diet.
How to feed
There are different opinions about when it is better to give chickens germinated wheat. Some poultry farmers prefer to give top dressing during the daytime, when the birds are in active movement and willingly eat grain from the feeders.
Others advise spreading the feed directly onto the deep bedding in the coop in the evening as the bird prepares for the night’s rest. Chickens look for grains in the litter and stir up the top layer, as a result of which the litter does not rot and does not get wet.
While waiting for a certain hour, when the chickens go to bed, they while away the time looking for grains and refresh themselves for the night.
The choice of feeding method also depends on the breed of chickens. For egg-laying breeds, excess weight is not needed, so it would be more correct for them to give nutritious top dressing during the day so that they do not gain excess weight. For meat breeds, fatness is considered the main indicator, so they can be safely fed at night.
Overfeeding chickens with germinated wheat in excess of the recommended norms is harmful. The danger is that sprouted grains contain a high concentration of iron. An excess of this trace element has a depressing effect on the body of small-weight individuals of the feathered population. For one feeding for 10 corydalis, you need to grab a full handful of wheat with sprouts with your hands – this is enough. It is possible to feed chickens with this top dressing in reasonable quantities all year round, but it is especially important to do this in autumn and winter, when the tasks of comprehensive replenishment of the nutritional resources of the chicken population come to the fore.
In all cases, proper complementary foods will bring tangible benefits. It should be noted that the young chicks bred in incubators from laying hens treated with germinated wheat are distinguished by good health and endurance compared to other chickens.
Good nutrition is a determining condition for the high productivity of laying hens and the rapid weight gain of meat breeds of chickens. With the right use of the most valuable properties of sprouted wheat, you can significantly improve the results of poultry farming.
For information on how to germinate wheat for chickens, see the following video.
