If you could only feed one grain...

[blue lotus]

If you could only feed one grain to all your herds (goats, pigs, poultry, etc.) for the rest of their lives, what would it be? And why?

That is, if you even feed grains at all. I realize that some people are against them. Thanks!

 

[currycomb]

one grain would be oats i guess with alfalfa hay. calcium/phosphrous ratio maintained, oats are alot of fiber, oats help chicken with egg production, so i vote for oats.(but i come from a horse background, hard to change those ideas)

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I would go with barley. Given as a grass for fodder it is INCREDIBLE high in vitamins, minerals and has a good balance of preotein etc. As a grain it's nice. Not to mention it's REALLY cheap!

 

[freemotion]

Barley. You can sprout it and get the protein to shoot up, which makes it very versatile.

 

[kstaven]

Agree with freemotion here. Barley.

 

[Goatherd]

Barley would be my first choice, but since I don't have easy access to it, I use whole wheat. For me, the shape of the grain has a lot to do with my choice. Oats, while very nutritious, are shunned by most of my poultry and eaten as a last resort due to the shape of the grain. Right now I pay $3 per bushel for wheat from a local farmer.
My goats love it and I do sprout it for them as well as the birds.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

I can get oats for $3 an overflowing bushel so that is my grain of choice.

 

[blue lotus]

Wow, I would LOVE to get oats at $3 a bushel!! We have been doing oats, but I have been thinking of sprouting some barley.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

Are you anywhere near State College PA? I can talk to my oats person about giving out their contact information when I go. Will be late August.

 

[blue lotus]

Nowhere even close, unfortunately I'm in New Mexico