Growing fodder for chickens

[tillyita]

Question is there a safe way to use the 24 Hr soak water to preserve carbs and vitamins in light of the mold issue? Hate to waste it

You can put it on your vege garden (if you have one) altough I get that its the wrong time of year for that in the northern hemisphere - hense why your sprouting in the first place. Compost heap, worm farm. You can even give it to your stock/animals as their drinking water so long as it has only been used once for soaking (not for multiple soakings as some people do) and you replace it daily (ie when you get the next batch). I know of some people whose waste water pipe goes straight into the stock trough. (I wouldn't advise using it for stock if you use bleach as a mould inhibitor.)

My waste water goes straight into the garden, but I don't have to worry about snow. If you've got indoor plants they would probably like it. Just don't put it on seeds that you are trying to get to grow as the natural growth infibitors that are on the seeds that you were soaking will now be in the water.

 

[cockoftherock]

Well I get the tea principle I meant to the chickens. I remember mom adding pptoto water or other veg broth to the soup stock and chickens need water but I think the high temp sterilzing it would destroy the vitimins?

 

[QuoVadis]

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

Im curious, can some explain the the math behind this part, or is it a typo? If it cost $9.60 for 1 pound of seed, which produces 6 pounds of fodder, wouldnt that mean 6lb cost $9.60, or $0.625 a lb? $0.03 a lb just seems way cheaper than makes sense to me, considering the cost of the seed listed.

 

[malcom]

Can you feed your chickens streight fooder ?

 

[melwynnd]

Hi,

The post about how much Fodder cost should have said $9.60 per 50 lb bag of wheat, not $9.60 per pound.

In reference to the soaking question above... You shouldn't soak your wheat in water for long than 6 hours as it overswells the grain and starves the sprout of oxygen, slowing the sprout time.

There's a video on that here: www.half-pinthomestead.com/Videos.

Have a great day!

 

[CATRYNA]

I spray H2O2 onto my trays, instead of bleach, and then rinse them. I have never had a mold problem. This might solve the problem for those who want to run the waste water directly into a stock trough.

 

[CATRYNA]

We feed our chickens fodder along with multiple types of seeds and grains, an organic mash, kitchen scraps and meal worms. If you meant feeding chickens only fodder, probably not a good idea. Chickens are omnivores; they need high quality protein in the form of meat, occasionally.

 

[Amiga]

Hi,

The post about how much Fodder cost should have said $9.60 per 50 lb bag of wheat, not $9.60 per pound.

In reference to the soaking question above... You shouldn't soak your wheat in water for long than 6 hours as it overswells the grain and starves the sprout of oxygen, slowing the sprout time.

There's a video on that here: www.half-pinthomestead.com/Videos.

Have a great day!

Thanks - my stomach turned when I read $9.60 a pound. I thought, wow, inflation is crazy!

Aha! Thanks for the recommendation on the soaking time. Sometimes I am guilty of more is better.

 

[chixmix]

Hi,

The post about how much Fodder cost should have said $9.60 per 50 lb bag of wheat, not $9.60 per pound.

In reference to the soaking question above... You shouldn't soak your wheat in water for long than 6 hours as it overswells the grain and starves the sprout of oxygen, slowing the sprout time.

There's a video on that here: www.half-pinthomestead.com/Videos.

Have a great day!

We all don't do it the same way. I do soak mine for 24 hours because I am not set up to be able to rinse more than 2, maybe 3, times per day. If I were to only soak for 6 hours, the seed would dry out. The way I do it, they do need to be saturated.

 

[cockoftherock]

We feed our chickens fodder along with multiple types of seeds and grains, an organic mash, kitchen scraps and meal worms. If you meant feeding chickens only fodder, probably not a good idea. Chickens are omnivores; they need high quality protein in the form of meat, occasionally. I am brand new to

Im BRAND new here an trying to get away from dependancy Im not closed minded as far as Organic no soy and all that nonsense but I ran across this fodder link thread whatever I love the idea. I dont care if I cant grow a chicken overnite if you get my point.So my question is why cant you feed them fodder assuming you have a good mixture of grains? Or are you saying with bugs for protein it would be sufficient. If sprounting frees up digestibility and adds nutrients what am I missing. Different grains have different carbs protein fats Some clarification I dont understand what additional grain serves? I hope Im at least as clear as mud lol. Its understood suppliment grit egg shell and even vitamin electrolytes to water but Id like to fodder yr round with treats of course am I on the right track?