Growing fodder for chickens

Organics North said:

Wow... Lots of pages!!!! Happy to see the interest in growing fodder...

Being a year round market farmer, our birds get lots of fodder... In addition to the sprouted wheat and oats, I have grown them out in flats for young birds in winter as a treat.... I suggest growing Kale as a fodder.... We did a batch of meat birds that were fed a substantial amount of kale, and fat was yellow, just bursting with Omega 3's... (Even folks like myself that can not eat industrial meats, found the kale fed birds to be tasty.)

The laying hens also benefit from the greens, giving you dark healthy yolk color...

Lettuce is also a good fodder crop to grow, let the patch get nice and buggy then let the chickens go in it.. Here is a source for cheaper fodder seeds for lettuce and also wild garden kale

http://www.wildgardenseed.com/index.php?cPath=69&osCsid=98f3d7980a63f9a9ebfce9aaf3ae231b

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Your avatar photo ... most gorgeous eggs!

ok this thread has become quite large. I am going to try this this weekend. I will be trying to simple storage container way. I just dont know how long to soak the seeds, and do i rinse and drain or leave in water? Then once in the containers how often do i water and how much? I know to poke holes so that they drain so I am assuming not to water too much. but how often?

Hi, yes, I am going to let the wheat sprouts grow longer to 3 to 4 inches.
I just have to keep my hands off the tray. The temptation is great to give it to the girls. But I won't.

• At this point in growing do I put hydroponic water on the sprouts for nutrition,?
• Or will they grow tall without nutrition?

Thanks.

jramirez said:

ok this thread has become quite large. I am going to try this this weekend. I will be trying to simple storage container way. I just dont know how long to soak the seeds, and do i rinse and drain or leave in water? Then once in the containers how often do i water and how much? I know to poke holes so that they drain so I am assuming not to water too much. but how often?

Click to expand...

what seeds are you going to use ?

jramirez said:

ok this thread has become quite large. I am going to try this this weekend. I will be trying to simple storage container way. I just dont know how long to soak the seeds, and do i rinse and drain or leave in water? Then once in the containers how often do i water and how much? I know to poke holes so that they drain so I am assuming not to water too much. but how often?

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Soak your seeds for 24 hours. If you use oats, they like warmer water. Then pour into your sprouting dish and allow to drain. Rinse them really well once a day and allow to drain. Depending on how dry your location is, rinse really well at least once a day. I use the sprayer on my kitchen faucet and I spray them really well.

mg15 said:

Hi, yes, I am going to let the wheat sprouts grow longer to 3 to 4 inches.
I just have to keep my hands off the tray. The temptation is great to give it to the girls. But I won't.

• At this point in growing do I put hydroponic water on the sprouts for nutrition,?
• Or will they grow tall without nutrition?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

They will grow without any sort of fertilizer. Just rinse well, drain and leave then where some kind of light can be on them. They'll green up and after a couple more days of doing this, you'll have taller fodder for your girls!

jramirez said:

ok this thread has become quite large. I am going to try this this weekend. I will be trying to simple storage container way. I just dont know how long to soak the seeds, and do i rinse and drain or leave in water? Then once in the containers how often do i water and how much? I know to poke holes so that they drain so I am assuming not to water too much. but how often?

Click to expand...

Put the seeds in a bowl/bucket with enough water to make non-seed stuff float to the top. Skim this stuff off. Rinse and drain the seeds until the water looks clean. Some seeds are cleaner than others, but a few rinses is a good idea.

With seeds in bucket/bowl/jar, add enough water to cover them. Maybe add a little unscented household bleach or other food-grade agent to deter mold.

Soak for 8 to 24 hours. You can drain and rinse and refill during this period if you like ... that's what the people who sprout for humans do, though it isn't so important for the animals. I like to keep the soaking container dark but well ventilated.

After the soak, drain well. Rinse. Drain well. You'll probably see the water go from starchy/cloudy to clear. This is good. Leave the seeds to sprout in any container. Shield them from light. At this point, the seeds can go into their growing container if they aren't already in it ... the container should be perforated to allow for good drainage. Or you can let them sprout a bit in the bucket/bowl/jar. Rinse them enough so they don't dry out. Don't damage the sprouts with vigorous handling.

When the seeds start to send out shoots and roots, they should be in their perforated growing container. A great way to keep them moist is to set the growing container in a container of water so just the seeds get wet. Maybe let them sit for a few moments, then drain. When they start to form nice roots, only the roots need to get wet during watering. This supposedly discourages mold from growing in the seed bed and/or up the shoots. I find things go better if the bottoms of the containers don't sit flat on a surface ... you don't want water to get trapped there and cause problems like slime or mold or fermentation. Alternatively, rinse the seeds from above in a spot where they can drain well. Like your kitchen sink using the spray nozzle.

Water them as often as they seem to need it. Some people manage to give them a good soaking once a day with good results. Other people do a light mist, but more often. In my opinion, a good flood-and-drain is probably a good way to get rid or any excess starches or developing mold. I do this twice per day at the maximum -- I've got other things to do, too.

Let them have light when you want to see the "grass" getting green. Sitting them by a window will do, even in winter. I gather that a regular lightbulb also works.

Maybe reviewing the nutrient content of your seeds vs. those seeds sprouted vs. your seeds grown to the "fodder" stage to determine at what stage you want to give them to your birds. At a certain point they go from being "grains" to being "greens," and that makes a difference in your flock's nutrition.

Note that some types of seeds are very starchy, like oats and flax, so it is more difficult to sprout them to the fodder stage without getting mold or fermentation. Many people here are using barley or wheat. I'm using rye. Some people use a mixture of different things, sometimes adding the tiny seeds to the top once the root mat has started to form ...

mg15 said:

Hi, yes, I am going to let the wheat sprouts grow longer to 3 to 4 inches.
I just have to keep my hands off the tray. The temptation is great to give it to the girls. But I won't.

• At this point in growing do I put hydroponic water on the sprouts for nutrition,?
• Or will they grow tall without nutrition?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Nope just water, no need to try to feed them any hydro nutes

mg15 said:

Hi, yes, I am going to let the wheat sprouts grow longer to 3 to 4 inches.
I just have to keep my hands off the tray. The temptation is great to give it to the girls. But I won't.

• At this point in growing do I put hydroponic water on the sprouts for nutrition,?
• Or will they grow tall without nutrition?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

IMO, the water is more to keep the seeds from drying out. When the roots start matting, they dry out less than when you have just sprouts. I have to rinse my sprouts 2 to 3 times a day. The mats, I can get away with rinsing just once a day. Earlier in the season, when it was warmer, I even had to pull my mat out of the tray and put it on a flat lid so it would not stay too wet!

@ LeslieDJoyce thanks so much for your response. I am eager but very afraid to try this. I seem to kill plants easily I havent looked around to see what seeds i can find. What seem to be the easiest?

Thank you !
mg