Growing fodder for chickens

[ChickensAreSweet]

I just buy plain feed wheat at the feed store. It cost 11.00 for 50 pounds here!!

I feed my chickens and ducks 2 pounds of fodder everyday but they act like they are starving still. Is this normal?

We are at $14 for white wheat and $18 for hard red wheat per 50 lb at the feed store.

 

[darkside1]

$15 for 50# of wheat at feed store here in NE Ohio. It was $14. Six weeks ago.

 

[wormrun]

Got Mold? Get a fan! Keep your humidity down in the room in which your are sprouting. If you have to choose between air circulation and light, pick air circulation! Also, where do you live??? Has it been a bit warm? I'm in California, it gets a little warm here. I have a cooler area in my laundry room, but the humidity is up in that room when the laundry is running. I've put a moratorium on using the dryer during the day! The men have agreed to hang their clothing outside, YEAH! The dryer adds a bunch of humidity in the little room and I don't have a venting fan to the outside. I open the door, run a small fan during the day, and if I forget it runs all night too. When my fodder bucket is full (where trays drain into), I empty it or take it out of the room, it just raises the humidity. I'll take a picture for you so you can see my dysfunctional room and setup (I just started about 6 weeks ago).

I'm not quite automated yet and you will see that. DO NOT buy the trays that you see in the photo (leach trays from hydroponic store) they are long and narrow, they are a waste of money due to narrow size and not flat inside.

I am trying to find flat trays that are 12"x41" in size (the hydroponic store is ordering them for me). Here's the list of rules I've discovered to keep mold out!

1. Run a fan for air circulation!!!
2. Use opaque, dark or black containers to sprout in, also cover them with a light weight towel for extra darkness if needed.
3. Rinse 2x a day.
4. DO NOT over crowd your seeds! This also provides a breeding ground for mold. I typically use 3 cups of dry grain for the 10 x 20" trays. Some people like 5 cups, but if you are getting mold, try reducing seeds in addition to the other suggestions.
5. Keep containers in darkness, and you don't want the heat of the fridge this time of year, the seeds will go on their own. Keep temperature between 65 and 75 and grain will be happiest.
6. As to the use of bleach, I too have tried it in the soak cycle. I use a 10% solution in a spray bottle. I give it a 5 squirts for 3 cups of seed to the rinse water. I do not want to use it at all! My mom told me about something using grapefruit seed oil, here's the recipe. I don't know if this will work, but it is way more earth and septic tank friendly. I'm going to try it.

This is the leach tray end, what a great idea, but the inside is a disaster!

This is the inside, look at the size of the ridge!!! I can only use 2" on either side!!! ARGH!


Leach trays below are 6" wide and I would like 12 at least!

I used tuna cans to provide enough lift for water, but I like the idea of using PVC which will reduce run-off time and give seeds opportunity to absorb.


These trays are stacked about 3 high in the ready to go phase (seeds are sprouted in Folgers can and placed in black trays to finish by day 2 or 3 after tails have formed). Not quite ready but almost. You can see the progression (the bottom one is the oats and their tails are just peaking out). Oat tray on bottom is youngest (really behind the others - YIKES). Each tray covers the other, applies a little weight and voila! This was also my first week of sprouting oats.


The one on top (see photo above) heads to the light tomorrow. I leave the light on about 12 hours but I wonder if I could do less? I don't have a window as this part of the house is underground.



So I also use Folgers plastic cans. They are my favorite but we don't drink enough coffee and I need more containers. Not much light through these bad boys! I add drain holes on top and on bottom. I used my solder gun. You can also melt with a candle and a wire, nail or wire clothes hanger. I take 3 cups of dry grain per batch, some people recommend 5 cups, but you have less grain you have less mold by not over crowding the seeds. The grains can stay in these for 3 days if not 4. I stick my hand in, mix things around under running water, rinsing 2x per day. The oats take a bit longer to get going; are @ 2-3 days behind the wheat or barley (barley is fastest).

Since I only have 2 Folger's cans I had to buy some trays yesterday. They are kitty litter trays, small for $2.00 at WalMart. Here's the thing, you can probably get these at the Dollar store, so look for them. My dollar store has NOTHING except clear plastic right now. These trays are made by Sterlite (sp?). They are lopsided, which I thought might help me. I melted holes on one side. I do cover them, although not much light gets through these.



Get the bleach bottle from dollar store that has the marks on it for the 10 parts water to 1 part bleach. This works great for planting containers as well. I clean my trays between each use and if the bottom of my tray gets a little slick, I give them a little squirt, rinse and place my growing tray batch on top.



Enjoy!

 

[wormrun]

$15 for 50# of wheat at feed store here in NE Ohio. It was $14. Six weeks ago.

WOW! I have not been quite so lucky here in California, but that is a great price. If anyone has any other places near Auburn/Sacramento area, let me know. I'm ordering from Azure Standard, which is not too bad!

 

[wormrun]

We are at $14 for white wheat and $18 for hard red wheat per 50 lb at the feed store.

Where are you located? I'm in Northern California.

 

[wormrun]

The feed store only has oats. I'm hoping they will get some closer to fall when the farms start to harvest.

Oats work, but they must be in their whole state, which is a tough one as they come in whole as hulless or with hulls - so much fun! Get the hulls on these bad boys because they won't sprout otherwise. Chances are the hulless varietal (not to be confused with hulled) are way too expensive for feed. The barley is the same, only the one with hulls will sprout. Oh, one more thing. Oats take 9 to 10 days to get to the same size as wheat and barley. It just appears to be slower to mature. Tasty though!

 

[wormrun]

I have been trying this with Barley and have had mold problems. Even soaked the seed in bleach water first, but still on the third day I see mold. Is it because of the Barley? I know mold loves to grow on grain , they use it when growing mushrooms. Any help?

Hi Marlene, I posted a blurb on mold. I did it today, it's long, with pix and all!!! I hope it helps you. By the way, I only soak my barley 30 minutes. It retains more nutritional value as a result. My sunflower seeds, barley, winter wheat and soft white, as well as Triticale all sprouted with excellent results and perhaps faster and taller than a 24 hour soak.

I only add bleach during the last 10 minutes of the cycle on the final soak just before the rinse.

When I rinse the grain am and pm, I move it around with my hand. Air circulation and cooler temperatures are you friend! These are winter grains.

Use less seeds, make them less thick in your tray also helps. Anyway look for my post, it will help you see my setup and may explain a few things. Let me know if you need more help too. - K

 

[OHhappychicks]

Hello All! I've been trying to read thru all of the terrific info here. I'm really, really interested in the automatic fodder system. (diy) I've been looking at a few of the setups, (up to pg 40) and I see how they are setup with the pvc and the trays, and this may be obvious to most , but I can't seem to see where the water starts at the top to drip thru to other trays. Is there a clear tube that goes into each tray or thru the pvc pipe? And if I'm understanding correctly, the seed trays have holes in them, and then set in to trays without holes. I don't see how the water drips down if this is the case, so I may not have it right. Would someone please explain it to me? I really would appreciate it! I'm a visual type person, so it is hard to understand just by reading. There may be someone who has posted the actual setup, step by step, but I haven't read that far. I think I understand the seed process pretty well. Just the watering system is confusing. Thanks!

 

[Marlene2012]

Thanks, I am going to give the black flats a try and flooding them , as you suggested. I got all excited about the fodder and ordered
600 pounds of Barley seed, so I better get it right . My goal is get my fodder system up and running with no mold before the end of summer ! Planning on feeding it this winter to my geese, seems like a perfect food for them. The fodder I have grown without mold, I have been feeding it to my goslings and they go crazy for it...

 

[Marlene2012]

Thank you, the pictures are great ! Love the Folgers cans, I have a stock pile of those With your help, I can see many areas where I have done so many things wrong. Definitely, my seeds are too deep, I have been putting 3/4 of an inch deep. Also I have been sprouting in the light in white trays, never covering them up. Thank you for taking the time to help. I am going to follow your pictures and keep my fingers crossed. I am in Iowa, the temps have been fairly low. So i knew it wasn't the temps or air circulation, but never thought about darkness to sprout the seed. Of course I was thinking the deeper the seed, the thicker the fodder LOL I have learned allot from your pictures and info. Tomorrow I will start another batch and see how things green up for me thanks a bunch !