Although I no longer have rabbits, I still sprout smaller quantities of wheat as a winter supplement for our Pilgrim goose, Elsie and occasionally for the chickens as well.
We recently bought a sack of wheat that looked rather dirty and only about 10% of it germinated -- and the sprouts were weak and small. I called the feed store. The woman there tried to give me the run-around: "Who grows wheat at this time of year?" I explained, very briefly the process and advantages. "We don't sell wheat for that," she said. "We've been buying wheat from you for years," I told her, "and it has always sprouted just fine. There's something wrong with this wheat."
We went a couple more rounds and then she gave in and said we could have a replacement bag free of charge. I thanked her nicely and Brian picked up the wheat the next week.
This wheat looked only a little better and the germination rate is about 20%. I guess we will be getting our wheat elsewhere in the future.
We had been feeding the wheat dry to Elsie and the chickens prior to trying to sprout it and have noted no ill-effects. I suspect it is just very old. This is a new problem for me and I'd really appreciate hearing from more knowledgeable members.
We recently bought a sack of wheat that looked rather dirty and only about 10% of it germinated -- and the sprouts were weak and small. I called the feed store. The woman there tried to give me the run-around: "Who grows wheat at this time of year?" I explained, very briefly the process and advantages. "We don't sell wheat for that," she said. "We've been buying wheat from you for years," I told her, "and it has always sprouted just fine. There's something wrong with this wheat."
We went a couple more rounds and then she gave in and said we could have a replacement bag free of charge. I thanked her nicely and Brian picked up the wheat the next week.
This wheat looked only a little better and the germination rate is about 20%. I guess we will be getting our wheat elsewhere in the future.
We had been feeding the wheat dry to Elsie and the chickens prior to trying to sprout it and have noted no ill-effects. I suspect it is just very old. This is a new problem for me and I'd really appreciate hearing from more knowledgeable members.