Growing fodder for chickens

[pawtraitart]

In the interest of spreading my poultry feed budget, I'm growing fodder for my flock during the winter months. So far, for every one pound of seed, I'm getting 6 1/2 pounds of green fodder. They eat the seeds, the roots, and the green shoots. I prefer to use barley, but I haven't been able to get bulk barley this year so I'm growing wheat with a handful of black oil sunflower seeds per flat. Anybody else grow fodder for their birds?

 

[pawtraitart]

I soak my seed in a bucket that has holes which is set inside a bucket without holes. (Actually, it's a pair of empty plastic ice cream containers.) You want your water level twice that of the seed. Rinse your seed well before leaving to soak. The water should be clear. The next day, give the seed a very good rinse and then spread onto the tray. Below is a picture of a set of trays seeded with wheat which is a few days old and just beginning to sprout some green. Wheat grows pretty well and is less likely to mold than barley, (and can be grown at higher temperatures) but barley grows a thicker leaf than wheat so that's what I like when it's available. I gather up my trays in the morning and give them a good rinse in the sink (the tray with holes is nested inside a tray without holes....) and then set back on the shelf. If in doubt, it's better to water too little than too much. You do NOT want water to sit in the trays. Pour out the extra water after rinsing! The seeds themselves hold enough water to grow and usually only need a rinse once or twice a day. You want the seeds moist inside but not overly wet on the outside for very long or you encourage mold. I have my trays next to a window for light. In the middle of winter when it gets dark really early, I have a fluorescent light that turns on with a timer.

 

[melwynnd]

Thank you so much for posting this. I have been wanting to do this for awhile and keep putting it off but you inspired me. I have my seed trays now and have tracked down some bulk seeds. (I live in the city so the options are kind of limited). I haven't found wheat but I think I am going to do barley with flax and boss mixed it. I also have oats available - do you think that would be any good or not?

Thank you again.

I tried oats in my Fodder system and had a HORRIBLE experience. Poor sprouting, dirty water, and lots of slime. Funny, because it sprouted right up when I threw it in the worm bin..... I found feed wheat and it's been a dream. I have mine all automated with recycled water (I'm a lazy homesteader). I started my fodder system to feed the critters I want to have on my urban homestead (some rabbits, a few chickens, and a couple of mini goats). It's turned into sort of a little business since a lot of my friends wanted one..



Here's the finished Fodder (6 days):

 

[Moosetails]

If you live in the city and are having a hard time finding wheat, barley, or corn, try a home brew store. They will sell it in bulk and can answer questions about "malting" the grain. Back yard chickens and home brewing, these are two of my favorite hobbies.

 

[QuartzRidgeRanch]

We have finally got our fodder system up and running. It is working great but we still have some things we need to add like a heater for winter, a a/c unit for summer and an auto-water system. We originally were looking at the Fodder Trailers but we could not justify the price on something we could build ourselves.

If you want to check ours out visit our blog at Quartz Ridge Ranch

 

[MigraineMan]

I pretty much did exactly what mobius did. We used an aluminuminum pie pan with a moist paper towel for the first three days. Initially we did the "the-cat-is-misbehaving-again" spray bottle, but that was ineffective, so we changed to the soak-and-drain twice a day. The pie pan sat on the kitchen table where it got indirect sunlight in the afternoon.
Day 1:

T: +48h

T: +84h (3.5d)

T: +108h (4.5d)

T: +120h (5d)

T: +144h (6d)

 

[melwynnd]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the absence, spent the last week getting ready for a Sustainability festival nearby. My living room was full of Fodder!!

For those of you considering a greenhouse, I would recommend a small, well insulated shed with a window instead. Fodder doesn't need much light. What it DOES need is constant temperatures. It's not going to do much at all at 40 degrees. Even if it heats up to 70 during the day, dropping back down to 40 is going to slow the growth to a crawl. A greenhouse heats up during the day, but it's really hard to keep warm at night.

As for comparative price, that depends on the price of your seed. I buy my wheat for $9.60 per pound. I get about 6 pounds of Fodder per pound of wheat. This so it runs just over $.03 a pound or $64 a ton. Not too bad for such high quality feed.

Sherry

I finally got some decent picture of the 12 tray system. There's on of both systems together on my website Gallery at www.half-pinthomestead.com

 

[katschicks11]

I would like to know more? with pics.

 

[Spangled]

Anybody else grow fodder for their birds?

Yes, because it's about the only way I can think of to get the hens some fresh greens in the dead of winter when snow is covering all the grass. It's almost always wheat grass that I grow. Once I found out the benefits of wheat grass, I started trimming a little off some for me each day. It's great in a green drink.

However, I do it the old-timey, rednecky, low-techy way by just stacking three Costco spinach containers on the kitchen table next to the window.

 

[pawtraitart]

It takes 6 to 8 days from start to finish. I usually get my seed from a local mill or farmer friends. If you don't have a local mill, the wheat grain sold in buckets at Walmart will work, it just costs more. It still works out to be pretty cheap when you consider how much food you are producing per pound.