Interesting information found online at Backyard Farming:
http://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/ “Wheat grass has been traced back as far as ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians held wheat grass as sacred due to the positive affect on health and vitality. Legend claims that the goddess Isis brought wheat and barley grains to the people of Egypt from Lebanon.
Charles Schnabel in 1930 was experimenting with food mixtures in an attempt to increase chicken health and egg production for winter months. He was unsuccessful in his attempts until he noticed the hens searching and consuming cereal grasses when they were available. He was amazed to find out when he had included wheat grass and oat grass in the chicken feed their health boosted significantly as well as egg production went up 150% per chicken.”
More information from Fresh Eggs Daily:
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2014/02/growing-sprouted-fodder-for-your.html “Sprouting amplifies the nutrients in the grains nearly six fold and increases their digestibility, so you get more bang for your buck so to speak. Feeding fodder to supplement your chickens’ layer feed results in reduced feed costs, better tasting eggs with more vibrant yolks, better laying productivity and improved health.”
Growing wheat grass in the house without soil is a cheap, easy way to supplement your hens’ diet and the chicken keepers’diet too! Wheatgrass is a natural source of vitamins and minerals (a few of which are antioxidants) including:Vitamins A, E, C, K and B6; Calcium, Selenium, Magnesium and Iron. It provides valuable nutrients and lush grass for our hens because grass wont grow in their shaded pen. The secret is to buy good seed! Many use organic wheat seed/berries but we just bought a bag of seed from our local farm store which produced the grass in these pictures in just a week. We first soaked a cup of wheat seeds over night then spread them in a tray with drainage holes. The seeds were kept covered with a damp cloth and well rinsed under a running faucet twice daily until they sprouted. After the green grass became visible, we discontinued using the cover cloth but continued the twice daily rinsing/complete draining.
Day Two
Day Three
The hens loved their first taste of wheat grass and completely devoured it in an hour.
Apollo, our bare eyed cockatoo, enjoyed his treat too.
