“An increase in proteolytic activity during sprouting is desirable for nutritional improvement of cereals because it leads to hydrolysis of prolamins and the liberated amino acids such as glutamic and proline are converted to limiting amino acids such as lysine.” So now you know. By day 5 the protein will have gone up from 12% in the raw seed to 14%, and fibre from 5% to 10% (of dry matter). The food also warms up and can be more palatable to the birds for that reason on a cold day.
We are having our own little play with this using the feed wheat I now buy for the rabbits instead of the expensive "Bunny Munch" muesli. Each day I set a half 'bucket' of wheat to soak overnight in a yogurt tub. The next day this batch is drained of excess water and returned to its 'bucket'. They then sit for the next 4 days with me occasionally shaking them a bit to see how they are getting on and you can see the 4-days sample in the bottom picture has plenty of fine white roots sprouting from the grains. Tomorrow this first batch will reach its Day 5 so we will try it out on the hens and geese to see if they believe this 'more palatable' theory.
Meanwhile, we get a phone call from Felix, our bearded backwoodsman who was fixing and servicing the chainsaw. He phoned while I was out walking the dogs, so Liz took the call. We had not known his name and I have been unable to place his accent (Dutch? German?) but he introduced himself as Felix to Liz and she thought he might be German too. We nipped down to collect the saw and got talking to the guy. He turns out to be Swiss but from the German-speaking side 'up in the Alps'. Charging me only €22 for the job he'd cleaned air filters, changed spark plug, cleaned the carburettor and changed both the chain oil and the 2-stroke mix and the machine is now running and idling sweetly again. Nice one, Felix.
Talking some more, I wondered would he be able to do anything with my 1960's Briggs and Stratton powered rotovator. He knew the type and the engine well, and is more than happy. Unfortunately the rotovator died back last summer and has, since then, been languishing with the formerly 'helpful' plant hire firm, Domac. Worse, they actually farmed out the repair to a little workshop guy in Ballinasloe, an hours drive away and no amount of chasing and harrying has made them produce the machine, fixed (or otherwise). Worse still, our local branch of Domac has closed "for the winter', their yard cleared of mini-diggers, shredders and other gear. The official version is that they will re-open in April, but other contacts in the trade are not so sure. My mission is to renew my harrying and get the machine back, fixed or not, even if I have to drive to Ballinasloe to collect it, and to pass it to our new friend, Felix the Bearded Backwoodsman. Watch this space.
