feeding sprouts, grass alternative?

[Phottoman]

I have what may be the ultimate noobie question. I live in the northern desert area of Arizona, there is NO GRASS here except in the city (Kingman area), but there ARE parks and the like there. I was wondering if any one ever asked the grounds keepers for grass clippings and if these would be "safe" for our girls?

I have eight three month 'girls' outside in a movable tractor, and ten more that are about to be moved outside (five weeks old and getting too big for the brooder cage inside). Would grass clippings be OK for these birds, or would I be faced with chemicals used in park grasses?

I really like the ideas expressed here, but unfortunatly I have very little time for growing grass, And if that wouldn't work, where would I start looking for sod?

I just joined BYC a week ago and i enjoy "getting my fix" daily of all the ideas expressed here, thank you.

 

[Nicole01]

I continuously sprout for us and our chickens, especially in the winter. I bought 20lbs of alfalfa seeds to sprout, 2TBSP at a time and my supply of seeds are lasting a very long time. Right now I'm feeding my broody hen sprouts daily since she doesn't get up to eat grass.

I use a 4 tier sprouter, mason jars and milk nut bags.

 

[TexasLea]

Phottoman,

I would be leary of taking the park grass. You would have no idea what is on it. Growing sprouts like wheat grass and the like really takes very little time on a daily basis. Here's a youtube video that is a step by step guide to sprouting wheatgrass in a tray. It's about 5 minutes long, The time it takes to watch it is about all the more time you have to spend working on your sprouts each day.

If you'd really rather buy sod, you can check your local yellow pages under Grass for anyone selling it in your area.

 

[gale65]

I continuously sprout for us and our chickens, especially in the winter. I bought 20lbs of alfalfa seeds to sprout, 2TBSP at a time and my supply of seeds are lasting a very long time. Right now I'm feeding my broody hen sprouts daily since she doesn't get up to eat grass.
I use a 4 tier sprouter, mason jars and milk nut bags.

What is a milk nut bag? Just curious.

 

[Nicole01]

It's like a soft plastic cheesecloth, but in a shape of a small bag. It works great for sprouting beans or putting over the jars to drain. I bought a bunch off of eBay. I love using it!

 

[gale65]

Thanks. I just now did a quick google search and it's the type of bag people use to make milk from almonds and such. No wonder I've never heard of it-my dd is allergic to nuts so I doubt I even go to any websites or stores that would have something like that.

 

[Nicole01]

I've heard about the bags when I started sprouting. It was over the sprouting sites I came across this wonderful bag! It's 1000x's better then using cheesecloth. Plus, I can sprout sunflower seeds for my hens without molding. Sunflower is the most difficult to sprout in my opinion.

Here's some alfalfa sprouting that we use in our salads or for our hens.

It tastes so good! We prefer alfalfa over most bean sprouts. But the chickens are not as picky as we are.

 

[Ashdoes]

Phottoman,

 I would be leary of taking the park grass. You would have no idea what is on it. Growing sprouts like wheat grass and the like really takes very little time on a daily basis. Here's a youtube video that is a step by step guide to sprouting wheatgrass in a tray. It's about 5 minutes long, The time it takes to watch it is about all the more time you have to spend working on your sprouts each day.

If you'd really rather buy sod, you can check your local yellow pages under Grass for anyone selling it in your area.

That video was brilliant. Very well done, and he explained every step very well. Here's one question though...I want to do large trays with hardware cloth over the top, and just let the wheat grass grow, but in the video he said you could cut, grow and cut one more time. So does the wheat stop growing? Or can I grow it lime normal grass?
~Ashley

 

[TexasLea]

From what I've been told, wheat grass does indeed stop growing. Honestly, I've never cut it, I just set the flat in the run. I wonder on your idea though of the tray with the hardware cloth over the top if a regular square of sod would work? The box would have to be deep enough for the grass roots to grow down and take hold good, but it would certainly keep growing up through the holes.

 

[Ashdoes]

From what I've been told, wheat grass does indeed stop growing. Honestly, I've never cut it, I just set the flat in the run. I wonder on your idea though of the tray with the hardware cloth over the top if a regular square of sod would work? The box would have to be deep enough for the grass roots to grow down and take hold good, but it would certainly keep growing up through the holes.

That's what I and thought about doing, using sod, but then I keep reading how much healthier the wheat grass is.