It is a requirement of organic regulations for organic birds to have access to a range. Under some circumstances such as drought, snow or veterinary lockdown green forage is not available. A mixture of sprouted seeds can be used as a green feed with nutritional benefits. Vetches are a pulse crop commonly grown as a forage. They have a similar protein quality to beans but also contain antinutritional factors and toxins which limit inclusion in rations when untreated.
Solution
An on-farm sprouter was developed to produce a con-sistent crop using equipment available on farm. Wheat and vetch seeds were then sprouted, and samples tested for feed value including amino acid profiles. Trypsin inhib-itor activity (TIA) was also assessed in the vetches to as-sess change in antinutritional factors. Sprouted seeds were then fed to layers to assess interest.
Description
There is little data available for feed value of sprouts as animal feed. The addition of sprouted seeds to the ration could improve utilisation of available feedstuffs. Sprouting triggers the breakdown of antinutritional factors in pulses increasing protein in the diet and provides the benefits of a green feed.
• Initial phases of the sprouter produced uneven germination and a mouldy product. Following adaptations, the final sprouter incorporated spray nozzles, UV lights and a fan to control humidity (Figure 1) which resulted in consistent germination and product.
• Samples of wheat and vetch from days 1, 3 and 5 were sent to an independent laboratory where they were tested for nutritional value, amino acid contents and TIA (vetch only).
The results for wheat (Figure 2) and for vetches (Figure 3) demonstrate that there is no loss of nutritional value due to sprouting although starch is converted into sugars during the process. Feed value starts to drop at day 5.
Crude protein and amino acid profiles do not change with sprouting (Figures 4 and 5).
There was a small reduction in TIA activity from 1.4 to 1.3 mg/gram on day 5 which is consistent with the slow germination of the vetch seeds compared to wheat.
• Intake of sprouts was good even while the flock had access to their silvopasture range. There was a prefer-ence for vetch sprouts.
• A sequential sowing system could be used to manage the germination times of different species to create a mixed feed of sprouted seeds.
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Disqus
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Activate