Growing fodder for chickens

[unkadan]

Started my fodder Thursday. Took winter rye seeds rinsed real well. Then left them soak 24 hours. Friday I drained off the water and left in the strainer set it over a bowl and covered with a towel for 24 hours. Saturday they had sprouts some 3/4 inch long. I rinsed them real well then took them out of the strainer and put in my fodder trough spread about 3/8 to a 1/2 inch deep. Guess now I wait rinse wait.
My fodder trough is plastic rain gutter 3 inches wide by 5 ft long with end caps attached. One end cap has a bunch of little holes drilled in it to drain the water when rinsed. The fodder trough will double as a feeder. Meaning when the fodder is finished I will take the whole thing out to the coop and hang it for the birds to eat out of.
Someday I have to get some pics to post. Words just don't do the things I build justice.

Sounds like a very doable system, how much grain did you use to for the trough? It would be interesting to know how much weight you get from one finished trough full as well

 

[pigeonguy]

Oh, no need. I can see that in living color! Good job and by the way, excellent work! It's looks FAB!

Pigeonguy, I love the idea of the guttering! Thanks, so much easier for me and my space than planting trays or plastic bins. I can hardly wait to get started. Luckily I have 10s of feet of this stuff, replaced my guttering several years ago, and it's been sitting around waiting for the fairys to put it on the pole barn. I'm repurposing several of the lengths.

OK I drew a picture of my fodder system (well kinda still in the works) As you can see the water is pumped up to the top gutter and then drains down into the next and then to the next and so on till it gets back to the barrel. The hardware cloth in the barrel holds the pump off the bottom so that the pump does not pump the starches and impurities that settle in the bottom of the barrel back up to the top gutter. Hopefully this will help prevent some of the mold issues.
The gutters are PVC with end caps. The down or drain end has small holes drilled ( all the way across and about an inch to inch and a half up then all the way to the bottom rows and rows of them) in the end cap to hold the seeds in but let the water drain. There is also a large hole in the top of the end cap in case the pump goes faster than can be drained out the bottom it can overflow and not spill out the sides. The pump will be set to run every 4 to 6 to 8 hours to rinse the seeds for 15 minutes. I think I will be using a pretty small pump but yet large enough to pump the 6 feet back up to the top.
This is all on a rack of undetermined size yet. (the rack is the easy part you'll figure it out a rod bent to some form of U shape the gutters can set in)
The idea is to have a single rack in the chicken coop that will hold 1 gutter. So Monday you take the top gutter out and put in the coop then you retrieve the gutter they ate out of Sunday bring it in and fill with the seeds you soaked over night and put back in the rack Tuesday take the next gutter down so on and so forth (takes 8 gutters for a 7 day system) With 8 gutters your fodder will be 7 days old when fed.
I drew the picture with paint so if it hoovers that's just the way it is.
Try it out and let me know if you use the design. If you have questions I'll do my best to answer them.
The 5 foot gutter will feed 30 chickens with the 4 inches of food trough recommended per bird if allowed to feed from both sides because it equals a 120 inches that way 60 on each side. It also produces 90 square inches of fodder if seed is put in at a half inch thick. My gutters are 3 inches wide at the bottom and 4 at the top. You also don't have to use a pump you can water manually.

 

[pigeonguy]

Sounds like a very doable system, how much grain did you use to for the trough? It would be interesting to know how much weight you get from one finished trough full as well

3 cups or winter ryeseed that made a layer a half inch thick I'll let you know finished product in about 5 more days.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Just wanted to update you all on my fodder system--it's almost completely up and running with the rotation offering my 17 chickens 1/2 tray daily.

There is one more empty tray on the bottom, but started harvesting today. They LOVED it! So far, my system is as follows:
I bought a 50lb bag of rye seed from the farm&garden (made sure it was for planting) for $16.
I calculated the size totes for each chicken to get a generous square inch of fodder daily and bought four from Walmart, along with the large one for drainage catching.
I had hubby drain many small holes in the bottom of the totes. All growing trays get a really good soaking twice daily and rotated every other day so the longest grass is on top. On rotation days, I wash out the bottom drainage catcher really well.
Using an ice-cream bucket and a piece of plastic-canvas, I wash 1 1/2 cups rye, skim off garbage, and rinse several times, then set to soak overnight (see bucket on left).
Come morning, I dump the soaked seeds in a strainer, rinse well and set strainer over ice-cream bucket with a plate weighting it down. They stay like that 36 hours, rinsing every 12 hours or so, to start sprouting.
After a day and a half, I dump the sprouted rye into the tote, rinse well, and set on the bottom of the stack.
That's my system! I might switch to giving them a full tray daily since they liked it so well right off the bat and it's winter with everything dead outside. And I'd like to pick up some wheat to add to the mix, but 50 lbs is alot to store (3 1/2 of those five gallon bakery buckets).
I've been dealing with fruit flies, but yesterday I put out a dish of apple cider vinegar with a couple drops of dish soap in it, and today I got out the vacuum and stirred them up and sucked them down. It's MUCH better now. I will set out a few more dishes of ACV/dishsoap to keep it under control.
I'm SO thankful for this thread! I've learned so much and I plan to keep following it to keep learning from you all.

Very nice and portable! I like your idea very much. What did you use to divide the trays?

 

[pigeonguy]

Just wanted to update you all on my fodder system--it's almost completely up and running with the rotation offering my 17 chickens 1/2 tray daily.

There is one more empty tray on the bottom, but started harvesting today. They LOVED it! So far, my system is as follows:
I bought a 50lb bag of rye seed from the farm&garden (made sure it was for planting) for $16.
I calculated the size totes for each chicken to get a generous square inch of fodder daily and bought four from Walmart, along with the large one for drainage catching.
I had hubby drain many small holes in the bottom of the totes. All growing trays get a really good soaking twice daily and rotated every other day so the longest grass is on top. On rotation days, I wash out the bottom drainage catcher really well.
Using an ice-cream bucket and a piece of plastic-canvas, I wash 1 1/2 cups rye, skim off garbage, and rinse several times, then set to soak overnight (see bucket on left).
Come morning, I dump the soaked seeds in a strainer, rinse well and set strainer over ice-cream bucket with a plate weighting it down. They stay like that 36 hours, rinsing every 12 hours or so, to start sprouting.
After a day and a half, I dump the sprouted rye into the tote, rinse well, and set on the bottom of the stack.
That's my system! I might switch to giving them a full tray daily since they liked it so well right off the bat and it's winter with everything dead outside. And I'd like to pick up some wheat to add to the mix, but 50 lbs is alot to store (3 1/2 of those five gallon bakery buckets).
I've been dealing with fruit flies, but yesterday I put out a dish of apple cider vinegar with a couple drops of dish soap in it, and today I got out the vacuum and stirred them up and sucked them down. It's MUCH better now. I will set out a few more dishes of ACV/dishsoap to keep it under control.
I'm SO thankful for this thread! I've learned so much and I plan to keep following it to keep learning from you all.

You said you got out the vacuum and stirred them up and sucked them down. Were they dead?

 

[notinoz2007]

i love the guttering idea also. where do you have this set up tho? yard, greenhouse, kitchen?
i live in az so it might be possible for me to grow fodder outside, but i had been planning on using small containers on my kitchen counter... until you suggested guttering! i've read about growing herbs and salad mix in guttering and plan to do that. i'm even thinking about installing guttering in my run about 8 inches from the ground so the chickens can eat their crumble, but not scratch it all over the floor and waste it. i just LOVE guttering!
hmmm, i only have 10 chickens so i wont need 5 feet. i bet i can get hubby to install it on a smaller scale in the kitchen and we can call it urban art, lol

 

[pigeonguy]

i love the guttering idea also. where do you have this set up tho? yard, greenhouse, kitchen?
i live in az so it might be possible for me to grow fodder outside, but i had been planning on using small containers on my kitchen counter... until you suggested guttering! i've read about growing herbs and salad mix in guttering and plan to do that. i'm even thinking about installing guttering in my run about 8 inches from the ground so the chickens can eat their crumble, but not scratch it all over the floor and waste it. i just LOVE guttering!
hmmm, i only have 10 chickens so i wont need 5 feet. i bet i can get hubby to install it on a smaller scale in the kitchen and we can call it urban art, lol

I like that Urban art. I am building mine in the basement. Still trying to get rid of the fruit flies though. Where do they keep coming from wife is about ready to hang me.

 

[pawtraitart]

Sorry, pawtraitart, for the delay in answering your question about my cooking method. I boil them. For about 24 hours, very low simmer. I have also used an old crockpot and left it on for 3 days. My processor is an old Cuisinart, heavy thing, so old the white has yellowed. I also have a new Ninja, but it isn't as powerful as the Cuisinart. I say this cause I believe it's the combo of the length of cooking plus the power of the processor that makes it possible to grind the bones. I'm playing around with the microwave, my hubby said the cost of the electricity to cook the leg/arm bones make the biscuits pretty expensive. Maybe the microwave might cut that down bit. Plan on playing with the turkey carcass this Turkey Day. I'll let you know how it goes.

I wonder if slow cooking them in a fire-pit would work. You know, like with a cast iron pot?

 

[Spangled]

Still trying to get rid of the fruit flies though. Where do they keep coming from wife is about ready to hang me.

Maybe you could tell her they aren't from the fodder system.

I don't have any fodder/sprouts right now and all the fruit is in the fridge, but if I drink any juice, the fruit flies (2-3) start buzzing my face and glass. It's driving me crazy!

This has been going on for a month or two and there's absolutely no reason for it.

So yeah, good luck with the fruit flies.

 

[pawtraitart]

I like that Urban art. I am building mine in the basement. Still trying to get rid of the fruit flies though. Where do they keep coming from wife is about ready to hang me.

I can so relate! My husband just shakes his head at some of my projects. I haven't had any fruit flies, though. We did have some last year when I had more house plants. They were breeding in the soil, I think.