Barley sprouted fodder is a 'live' feed and the secret is in the root where there are enzymes that increase the digestibility of other feedstuffs that have been used in total ration. In dairy ewes and ruminants generally, up to 30% concentrated feed can be replaced with the same results in productivity. The biggest problem in ruminant rations are the starches that often lead on lower pH in rumen and acidosis in bigger doses. It's better for these animals to feed them sugars rather than starch. Replacing corn or wheat in a dairy cow or goat's diets with dextrose and dried sweet whey ( >70% lactose) to a 2% level will increase the total milk yield and the % fat of the milk! Barley is 30% digestable and by sprouting (6-7 days) the digestibility increase to 80-90%. In a trial in a pig farm, replacing 2 kg of concentrated feed with 2 kg of barley sprouted fodder (15% DM) for farrow sows increased the body weight of piglets by 12% in 28 days. So, the sows gave more milk! What is your opinion about sprouted grain fodder?
We can use barley cultivar feed for ruminant animals, as well as rabbits.
But do not overlook that used to feed a single animal does not cover all the nutritional needs of animals, particularly dairy animals
Generally speaking, if you target monogastric animals, sprouted barley should be fine and indeed should increase animal productivity thanks to higher availability of soluble sugars, vitamines, proteins. In brief you no longer deal with a reserve organ but with a living plant, grass forage! On the other hand if you target ruminants be extreemly careful not the induce acidosis. The higher proportion of fermentesible sugars, which are quickly converted into volatile fatty acids, can cause drastic pH drops consequently blocking the microbial activity within the rumen (VFA intoxication). VFA in excess are excellent food preservatives (sauerkraut, silage) and no futher digestion will occur not mentionning the toxic effect on the naimal itself. Nevertheless if introduce in judicious proportion in the basal diet, sprouted barley shall be considered as an excellent concentrate.
Is there a good reference source for how to go about growing the barley sprouts at an amount to feed small stables of 5-20 horses?
Labros, this sounds interesting, at what scale can this sprouts be produced? does one need a controlled environment?
Is this the stuff that they have on show at the Livestock Event in July NEC Birmingham? There it is grown on trays and removed as mats like turf, to feed to stock. The whole thing apart from reseeding and harvesting is automatic, rotating so each tray gets the electric light.
Apart from the higher costs on a DM basis, most of the energy in the digestion process in ruminants will shift from glucose as absorbed in the small intestine(seed) to volatile fatty acids produced in the rumen(green fodder)--the efficiency of ME utilization for the latter is lower than if the energy is absorbed as glucose.
Some of the benefits of sprouted barley in livestock diets are: increased nutritional value in the feed, high digestibility,Vitamins & mineral saturation, increases in Omega 3, amino acids, natural hormones.
What about toxins that may be produced due to moulding since the water content is so high about 80%.? Especially in large operation. In small operation it will be fine where handling is not a problem.
what about cost and water quality?
Yes with sorghum there is a high risk of toxins but I don't know about barley.
However, one of my friends in Saudi Arabia told me he maintained his dairy cows and horses on barley sprouts grown in a converted room and not in a green house.
I have always had doubts in terms of a mass/energy balance. I mean, how much of the stored energy/biomass in lost associated with the celular activity that occurs when the seed is germinating?
If you think of it in terms of thermodynamics, the only possibility for the sprouted barley to have more energy/biomass than in the original seed is for the process to be permited to occur for sufficient time that photosynthesis quicks along and actually makes a carbon addition to the initial biomass. Come to think of it, probably during the germination phase utilized to generate sprouted barley no significant photosynthesis will occur, but instead, some of the original energy from the seed will be transformed into CO2 as a result of cellular respiration. The question is: Can this reduce the overall productivity obtained with sprouted barley? Probably yes, but this would make a nice experiment.
Fodder or animal feed is any feedstock used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. This is particularly provide in food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves in pasture and grazing land. It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and also sprouted grains and legumes. Yes hydroponically grown sprouted fodder provide, quick turn over, and cost effective system.
We haven just completed a small study to compare nutritional value of Barley/maize with Sorghum/maize and Millet/maize sprouts and there are no differences. We have not fed these to animals though
According to our works, converting seeds(barley or maize) to green fodder by haydroponic system dos not advantage but decrease the output (negative nutrition balance) and increase the cost of nutrients comparing to the initial grains. Therefore utilization of water and other inputs to obtain lower outputs is not reasonable. From the feeding point of view, green fodder could not improve the ruminant performance in comparison to the other feeds and forages, when use balance diets and correct feeding management.
To sprout barley consistently and economically, you need a climate-controlled space, lighting of sufficient brightness (lumens), a soaking vat, a rack and tray system and a watering system.
Regards
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