Where to find gluten free fodder seed?

[PirateGirl]

I also was going to say you can sprout millet, sunflower seeds, and whole peas. The seed I used to buy (as well as many recipes) had oat groats as well, but I forget if those will sprout too.

 

[lazy gardener]

Kiki, you are so very right, and I am so very wrong. Sorghum is loosely related to what we commonly call millet, and is categorized as a type of millet! Thank you for correcting me. Last section covers Sorghum.

Millet species[edit]

Pearl millet

Thinai (foxtail) millet

Varagu (kodo) millet
The different species of millets are not necessarily closely related. All are members of the family Poaceae (the grasses) but can belong to different tribes or even subfamilies.

The most commonly cultivated millets are in bold and marked with an *.[4]

Eragrostideae tribe in the subfamily Chloridoideae:

• *Eleusine coracana: Finger millet
• Eragrostis tef: Teff - often not considered to be a millet.[3]

Paniceae tribe in the subfamily Panicoideae:

• Genus Panicum:
  • *Panicum miliaceum: Proso millet (common millet, broomcorn millet, hog millet or white millet)
  • *Panicum sumatrense : Little millet (also known as Samalu in Telugu and "Samai" in Tamil Nadu)
• *Pennisetum glaucum: Pearl millet
• *Setaria italica: Foxtail millet, Italian millet, panic[6]
• Genus Digitaria - of minor importance as crops.[3]
  • Digitaria exilis: known as white fonio, fonio millet, and hungry rice or acha rice.
  • Digitaria iburua: Black fonio
  • Digitaria compacta: Raishan, cultivated in the Khasi Hills of northeast India
  • Digitaria sanguinalis: Polish millet
• Genus Echinochloa: Collectively, the members of this genus are called barnyard grassesor barnyard millets. Other common names to identify these seeds include Jhangora, Samo seeds or Morio / Mario / Moraiaya seeds.
  • Echinochloa esculenta: Japanese barnyard millet
  • Echinochloa frumentacea: Indian barnyard millet, also known as Sawa millet, Kodisama in Andhra Pradesh and Kuthirai vaali in Tamil Nadu and Bhagar or Varai in Maharashtra),
  • Echinochloa stagnina: Burgu millet
  • Echinochloa crus-galli: Common barnyard grass (or Cockspur grass).
• Paspalum scrobiculatum: Kodo millet (also known as Varigalu in Andhra Pradesh and Varagu in Tamil Nadu)
• Brachiaria deflexa: Guinea millet
• Urochloa ramosa: Browntop millet (also known as Korle in Karnataka)[7]

Andropogoneae tribe also in the subfamily Panicoideae:

• *Sorghum bicolor: Sorghum - usually considered a separate cereal, but sometimes known as Great millet
• Coix lacryma-jobi: Job's tears, also known as adlay millet.[3]

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Oat groats. What you want is oat groats from a clean source. They sprout well, grow into a really nutrient rich feed and they are cheap because oats are grown so frequently. The trick is finding a clean source, which is hard to suggest. A lot of oats will be contaminated with or processed on equipment that processes other grains, but oats themselves are inherently gluten free.

Quinoa is expensive but will sprout. Peas and beans make for good sprouts, like mung beans or black eyed peas/cowpeas. Amaranth. Old timey flint corn.
The problem is, as I'm sure you're aware, most gluten free grains are expensive compared to glutenous ones and are frequently processed on the same equipment as glutenous grains. I can suggest brands for people-food friendly grains but they're expensive. Most animal feed isn't kept to those standards.

You might also consider things like finely chopped alfalfa as a food source. I feed my meat chickens wet alfalfa horse cubes in their fermented feed. They mold easily, though.

 

[PirateGirl]

Oat groats. What you want is oat groats from a clean source. They sprout well, grow into a really nutrient rich feed and they are cheap because oats are grown so frequently. The trick is finding a clean source, which is hard to suggest. A lot of oats will be contaminated with or processed on equipment that processes other grains, but oats themselves are inherently gluten free.

Quinoa is expensive but will sprout. Peas and beans make for good sprouts, like mung beans or black eyed peas/cowpeas. Amaranth. Old timey flint corn.
The problem is, as I'm sure you're aware, most gluten free grains are expensive compared to glutenous ones and are frequently processed on the same equipment as glutenous grains. I can suggest brands for people-food friendly grains but they're expensive. Most animal feed isn't kept to those standards.

You might also consider things like finely chopped alfalfa as a food source. I feed my meat chickens wet alfalfa horse cubes in their fermented feed. They mold easily, though.

That's what I was looking for on the oats, it has to be oat groats, still with hulls I believe, not steamed, crimped or rolled oats.

azure standard is a good source for grains online

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Yup. Anything other than whole oat groats won't sprout and grow. It's always had some important part of it removed or processed so it won't.

 

[townchicks]

How about chia? Safflower? I'm just throwing these out there, I have no idea if they have gluten or not.

 

[classicsredone]

Check out this website for gluetin free chicken food recipes. This may work for you.
https://curtissannmatlock.com/2012/08/09/gluten-free-chicken-feed-ii/

Thank you. I'm working on a recipe that based on what I can get locally, especially in the bulk department of Winco Grocery Stores. I'm currently working on the amino acid profile while maintaining the protein level, and a high omega 3 content without it being so much that the meat and eggs have an off flavor.

Right now it looks like this, but I have a long way to go. The current mix is being used as a sort of replacement for scratch. We need to make sure any holes in our fence are taken care of, that we get the bottom of the shed blocked off from chicks AND predators, and that we clip their wings before we let them roam around the backyard. To keep the birds active, I have been broadcasting the mix in the enclosure. Between the sprouts, fermented feed, and what for now is a supplement, the chickens are eating half as much of the commercial feed. They are six weeks and will start grower feed tomorrow.

Here is the recipe as it stands:
Black Oil Sunflower Seed (BOSS) - 1 part
Buckwheat - 1 part
Lentils, raw - 1 part
Millet, raw - 1 part
Mung beans, sprouted or soaked and dried - 1 part
Niger Thistle Seeds - 1 part
Nutritional Yeast Flakes - 1 part
Brown Flaxseed - 1 part
Peas, split, raw - green & yellow - 3 parts
Quinoa, raw - 1 part
Chia seeds, raw - 1 part
Pumpkin/Squash seed kernels, raw - 1 part

This provides 19% protein, 52% carbs, 29% fats. The amino acid score is 77 out of 100, so it is getting there. The Nutrient Density rating in the nutrition calculator (or humans) is 4.2 out of 5. There is a good ratio of Omega 3: Omega 6 at about 1:1. If you were to make 1 part = 100 grams, this recipe would have 241 grams of fiber; 179 grams of fat including 41,426 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids, and 273 grams of protein. It is a great source of many vitamins and minerals, especially B vitamins, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, selenium, and so much more. I generally use some greens to balance out the nutrition, especially in winter, and sprout what I can. I start my chickens on cheap birdseed that has been sprouted, and the move to BOSS and other seeds. I also like to use herbs and fermented foods to help improve immunity, reduce the stink from their poo, prevent mites, encourage laying, amongst other reasons. It may take some time, but figuring out a healthy feed that is safe for me to mix and use is important. I don't want to have to worry about showering immediately after holding a chicken, simply because it requires so little gluten to do damage. (It can do damage to the gut without you even knowing...this can cause horrible issues that take a long time to fix, and it also makes you much more likely to have bowel cancer at some point. It only takes a smidge over 20ppm to do that damage. That is the content of one "gluten-free" soda. Parenthesis because the government allows food to be labeled gluten-free if under 20ppm.)