Growing fodder for chickens

[CATRYNA]

Great ideas. I wonder if this is good for people too?

You mean the fodder? Ever heard of wheat grass juice.?

Yes, indeed.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

I harvested my first fodder biscuit (this is my third time starting from scratch). Just like last time, it looked really healthy, with white thick roots, and no fuzziness. And it smelled super fresh. Then I started pulling it apart and really inspecting it. Still there is mold hiding throughout.

I incorporated a lot of the suggestions here -- used a fan, used hydrogen peroxide, etc. And of course I've been keeping the equipment sterile, rinsing with fresh water twice a day, and controlling the climate (in fact, the avg. temp was cooler than the last attempt... about 60 or 65 f). Oh and I presoak for 12 hours in water with a dash of bleach (no longer than that because I watched Sherry's experiment where the shorter soaking times resulted in quicker growth... thanks for sharing that, Sherry!).

So I'm wondering if I'm just looking too closely. Could you also have mold and not know it because the fodder looks just fine from the outside? Ever pulled your fodder apart like this?

Here are the most common types of mold I'm getting, pink and black (the white stuff is not mold, it's just the gooey, starchy insides of the seed):

 

[kada6305]

I am going to go back and read through the post. But I just started fodder.

Here is my setup, please dont mind the deep seed they were all pushed over since i just finished watering and mixing them up.


I pour the water on the high end and have drain holes at the slanted ends so the water goes down in a zig zag motion getting all the seeds until collecting at the bottom. I add bout 1 cup of bleach for every gallon of water. I have a mold issue and this seems to help.

This is the first batch. I soaked for 12 hours. didn't add bleach to the soaking water though.




24 hours after being put in tray



48 hours after being put in tray



60 hours after being put into tray.


I woke up on morning of day 2 with mold so I scooped top layer off with mold, checked for others with mold, mixed it add for drain holes and then I added some peroxide since we were out of bleach. haven't had mold since.


Here is the second batch I did. Soaked for 24 hours and added capfull of bleach to the soak.




This is 24 hours after being put into tray, taken this morning.



Here is comaprison at 24 hours after being put into the trays. 12 hour soak and 24 hours soak

Hopfully I dont have anymore mold issues and we grow some good foddler for the chickens and ducks to enjoy!

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Quote:

Hopfully I dont have anymore mold issues and we grow some good foddler for the chickens and ducks to enjoy!

Yes, keep us updated if you can!

I really like your setup, way to go! I am going to scale mine back because tending to six/seven trays is a little too much for me. I might even cut down to two, that should still make for a nice supplement for my ducks twice weekly. If I can get the mold figured out (see post above yours if curious).

 

[kada6305]

Quote:

Yes, keep us updated if you can!

I really like your setup, way to go! I am going to scale mine back because tending to six/seven trays is a little too much for me. I might even cut down to two, that should still make for a nice supplement for my ducks twice weekly. If I can get the mold figured out (see post above yours if curious).

I will keep you updated I know I am making way too much for what I have lol 7 chickens, 4 ducks and 1 rabbit. I will scale down to started 1 tray every 3 days. I think 1 tray alone should be plenty for all animals for a day plus their FF

I saw your post! I added a fan and also a fluorescent light to help with air flow and keep it light. My mold started over night when it was dark and no air flow so hopefully keeping those on at night will stop it from happening.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

I will keep you updated I know I am making way too much for what I have lol 7 chickens, 4 ducks and 1 rabbit. I will scale down to started 1 tray every 3 days. I think 1 tray alone should be plenty for all animals for a day plus their FF

I saw your post! I added a fan and also a fluorescent light to help with air flow and keep it light. My mold started over night when it was dark and no air flow so hopefully keeping those on at night will stop it from happening.

Oh interesting! So you are growing in 24 hour light?

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Ohhh, I was thinking your trays were staggered, so you would get four days out of them. But you started them all at the same time this time around. I see. Heehee, it will be a feast! You can probably stretch the growing time to feed out for two or three days (of course if mold doesn't come back).

 

[kada6305]

Ohhh, I was thinking your trays were staggered, so you would get four days out of them. But you started them all at the same time this time around. I see. Heehee, it will be a feast! You can probably stretch the growing time to feed out for two or three days (of course if mold doesn't come back).

The two tray one the left were started 60 hours ago, the two on the right were started 24 hours ago, so a bit of a difference but still i'll only need 1 tray a day once I get it going LOL and yes I am growing in 24 hour light. Did you try adding a dehumidifier to your system for the mold? that will be my next step.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Humidity shouldn't be a problem, it's pretty dry here. Which is confusing.

 

[lko67]

How do I keep fodder from getting some mold