I’m always looking to save money on feed for my chickens so I thought I would experiment in my vegetable garden and grow sorghum as a FREE and EASY grain to grow for my flock to eat. Here’s what I found…
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Please watch: “5 Fruit Tree & Veggie Patch Questions”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50HgG0yBX80
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Do the chickens like millet and amaranth?
It's high in protein for layers. It's in all chicken scratch grains.
Hello !!, greetings from up here :-). I have read a few things about sorghum. One aspect is that it contains a hormone that if eaten by hens, they are more likely to lay fertilised eggs that will hatch as female chicks. Rooster may not eat it because of the same hormone…hmmmmm. The one that I have noticed is that there is a very fine field dust on it (something like electrically static dust that draws very fine fibrous matter to form like a tiny spiders web; not the best description) that even gives me a head ache and nasal congestion if I separate the seeds from the seed head…just wondering if that is one reason they dont like it…perhaps you should remove the seeds from the seed head before you offer tchem the sorghum seed. Might be an idea to mist the seed head with some water before you start to remove the seeds. Thanks.
Did you dry it?
Gotta hang the seed heads out and get the dried. The birds will like it better.
If you dry it first it will be more palatable for poultry
Sorghum is my chickens' favorite whole grain. I soak it for a day at least, ferment or sprouted, they dont like fodder just the day or 2 day old sprouts
Do your ducks like sorghum?
I was reading about a lower tannin sorghum that chickens like better.
Wowzers Mark…. This is a step back in time
It looks like you would have more success if you scaled the kernels off of the head.
If they aren't eating raw grains, you can actually "Prepare" the feed.
There's alot of chicken feeds that people take to fermenting here in the USA. Corn and some wheat come to mind.
That's effectively just soaking the grain for 24 hours before feeding it to the chickens.
People report that the Chickens seem more interested in fermented grains than raw grain, but i can't confirm or deny.
You could try "Parching" the sorghum, but that's more expensive and time consuming. You effectively "pop" the sorghum grain like corn.
I cant believe you dont harvest the sorghum stalk and make syrup!!!???
This intro was a trip
Pearl millet is also a good bird seed
Eat it yourself. Its wonderful.
I know this is an old video but have you tried fermenting the grain, am wondering if they'd like it more? Doing some research on free chicken food and this video came up. Thanks Paul.
If you ferment it, would it help?
I was planning to use sorghum for my future plans of growing poultry feed but then turns out just like corn, they also don't like sorghum. I guess chickens aren't into grains after all unless they are dead hungry. Thanks for the heads up. I've been your subscriber for almost 2 years now? since I started farming back in 2019. I love your enthusiasm. Chicken feed has been a big problem for any poultry grower.
I was all excited to you call them Chooks. 🙁
Guuuyeeei…
maybe they will eat it when it sprouts. My chooks dont like the wheat in the mixed feed, I find myself wondering what it might have been sprayed with.
6 years!wow!… I've learned you know how to grow everything. Except hair! Just kidding mate, keep it going!
You are such an amazing Gardner with so much info for us all. Have you found something else to feed them, as what if we loose our food suppliers due to world events? Thank you so much.
Can you use this sorghum for popping like pop corn?
My chicks really enjoy golden amaranth seed and kaniwa seed. They digest the seeds best when soaked for 24hrs, based on their poo.
Use none gmo and your good. Take in mind using compost in your rows. Any gardening takes time. It can be done easily and well. Nice vid but please mention none gmo seed.
I feed my chickens a mix that has sorghum in it. Mine would eat all the other grains but sorghum. I started to let mine set in water for a couple days then feed them and they ate the sorghum. I even went back to feeling the dry and the ate everything but the sorghum again. Stay safe and good luck.