Ever Heard of Barley?

There may be a few of you reading this that may insert a 'no' before the title of this post, to the effect of "No, I've never heard of barley."
Good news! Here's an explanation of one of the most versatile grains that I have come across, especially as a feed ingredient for chickens.

Barley is not as easily digestible as wheat, primarily because of barley's higher amount of fatty acids, as well as fiber. In relation to corn, both wheat and barley are considered "inferior" ingredients because of the difference in the amount of TDN (total digestible nutrients).
For my chickens, I feed whole barley (unprocessed), and according to Big D Feed, the barley that they sell to me has, on average, 2.1% fat, 13.5% crude protein, and a total of 84% TDN.

The combination of high protein and higher fat, while containing less starch, makes barley a good stand-alone ingredient, especially as a transition grain.

What do I mean by "transition grain?"
In one of December's newsletter's, I talked about about the different kinds of diets that are beneficial for chickens based on the season and weather. During the fall of 2019, my chickens' diet was very high in protein (roughly 35%). I made their fall feeding regimen high in protein to compensate for the period of molting (a period where chickens lose and regrow new feathers; also signifying a new laying cycle). It takes a lot of protein to form feathers, and by providing a high protein diet, the molting period was sped up without sacrificing a significant portion of egg production.
During the winter, a high starch diet is good because it keeps the birds warm (through "internal combustion"), and provides enough energy to balance egg production. By formulating diets around those parameters, I only lost about 1-1.5 dzn/day in production during the winter, whereas if I were to have kept the feed constant, I most likely would have lost somewhere around 3 dzn/day in production. Doing this also helped the chickens ease into spring without burying me in piles of eggs. Typically, chickens slow down, or stop laying in winter, and then come spring time, they have a spring boost (sunlight, longer days), which causes them to lay eggs like crazy. In my case, I could have been buried under 65 dozen a week had I kept their ration constant.
Now to answer the question. A transition grain, such as barley, serves to transition from high starch to low starch diets. Barley is lower in starch than wheat and corn, is higher in crude protein by about 4%, and is higher in fiber. Hopefully you can see that it is a good transition ingredient, having an intermediate range of protein, fat, starch, and fiber. It's an especially good choice because of it's price bracket ($0.14/lb). For the month of May, I will be feeding about 10 lbs of barley to 20 lbs of their base ration; this also helps lower the feed bill down by about $1 per day (in the ballpark of $1-2).

Any Concerns with Barley and Chickens? 
One concern that some specialists have about feeding barley to chickens is that barley contains a compound called beta-glucans, which scientists say causes the chickens' digestive tract to become viscous. Beta-glucans can inhibit some nutrient absorption, which is more detrimental in growing chicks. In the few years that I have been feeding barley to my chickens, I have not noticed a significant amount of change in egg production.
You can read more about beta-glucans in an extension article here.

If you live in the Boise area of Idaho, you can get whole or cracked barley from Big D Ranch, in Meridian, Idaho. The barley that they sell is all grown in Idaho, as well as all the other grain they sell. Their price per 50# bag is $6.50, or $220/ton (whole barley). They also sell a variety of livestock feed mixes, and several different kinds of wheat, peas, corn, sorghum, oats, soy, and alfalfa pellets.


If you have any questions about barley, or feed in general, feel free to ask!