How much does it feed them?

[brothfeder]

I'm sorry but searching through 388 pages of post iS not what I have time for today. I'd just like to know if you know how many lbs feed growing x trays greens replaces over a given time? Also my chickens live in a very large enclosure but are not 'free-range' can doing this help bring me closer to providing them a free-range diet?

Thanks in advance.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Can't answer your numbers question but I can tell you that fodder will not completely replace free ranging but it's better then nothing. I do remember reading on the fodder thread that someone stated he was able to turn 1lb of dry feed into 6lb of fodder.

The fodder will only supply greens and other plant based nutrients. When free ranging your girls will also get insect and animal proteins, these will not be available in fodder

A mealworm farm or vermiculture setup will help with the insect/animal proteins.

 

[CrazyTalk]

. I do remember reading on the fodder thread that someone stated he was able to turn 1lb of dry feed into 6lb of fodder.

The problem with this is that 6lbs is mostly water. Now, chickens definitely need water, but people need to realize that they're not replacing 6 pounds of food here.

 

[Percheron chick]

The problem with this is that 6lbs is mostly water. Now, chickens definitely need water, but people need to realize that they're not replacing 6 pounds of food here.

Thank you!!

One pound of seed is still only one pound of feed even when it's converted into fodder. It's not 6# of feed. Fodder is 85%+ non nutritive water.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Thank you!!

One pound of seed is still only one pound of feed even when it's converted into fodder. It's not 6# of feed. Fodder is 85%+ non nutritive water.

I would have to disagree "slightly" with this statement. While you won't get 6lb of feed out of 6lb of fodder, because of the water content, you can still get more material by weight than you started with as a small seed.

If you've ever grown corn, you know that even after removing the ears from the plant you still have a lot more weight to the plant when dried than what you put into the ground.

Unlike Fermented feeds which only converts the nutrients into more usable forms, fodder will actually increase the amount of material as it grows bigger by pulling Carbon out of the air and creating plant material out of it.

 

[CrazyTalk]

If you've ever grown corn, you know that even after removing the ears from the plant you still have a lot more weight to the plant when dried than what you put into the ground.

This is because corn pulls nitrates, phosphates, etc out of the ground, and carbon out of the air. People aren't growing sprouts to maturity - they're letting them germinate and feeding a couple days later, usually in trays of water or other inert media. If you keep growing just corn in the same spot and don't fertilize, you'll get smaller and smaller plants and poorer and poorer soil.


There's some nutritional profile changes when the seed germinates, but as far as ratios go, it's food value is a lot closer to 1:1 than 2:1, let alone 6:1. It's like fermented feed - there's some digestibility improvements, but it's not magic. There's not actually a whole lot of photosynthesis and respiration early on - the vast majority of nutrients in a couple day old sprout were in the seed.

 

[brothfeder]

The problem with this is that 6lbs is mostly water. Now, chickens definitely need water, but people need to realize that they're not replacing 6 pounds of food here.

Well, I think what they were saying that that the flock ate 1 pound of feed less over given period of time when fed 6 lbs of sprouts over the same time period. But you are all right in that one reason it takes so much greens to replace a pound of feed is because there is quite a bit of water in plant material.

I think we are all in agreement that greens supply only a piece of the chicken food period. All I gotta do is farm worms and tiny varmint in the basement!

 

[Chris09]

I would have to disagree "slightly" with this statement. While you won't get 6lb of feed out of 6lb of fodder, because of the water content, you can still get more material by weight than you started with as a small seed.

If you've ever grown corn, you know that even after removing the ears from the plant you still have a lot more weight to the plant when dried than what you put into the ground.

Unlike Fermented feeds which only converts the nutrients into more usable forms, fodder will actually increase the amount of material as it grows bigger by pulling Carbon out of the air and creating plant material out of it.

Quote: I would have to disagree "slightly" with this statement. While you won't get 6lb of feed out of 6lb of fodder, because of the water content, you can still get more material by weight than you started with as a small seed.
That material by weigh might be good for Herbivores but when it comes to chickens that extra material really doesn't mean much since chickens don't need a lot of fiber in there diet and don't process plant matter very well.

Quote: Unlike Fermented feeds which only converts the nutrients into more usable forms, fodder will actually increase the amount of material as it grows bigger by pulling Carbon out of the air and creating plant material out of it.
Plants don't pull Carbon (C) out of the air to create plant material..
Plants use Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) to make glucose, if the plant growing does not have excess to rich soil there will be very little nutrients with in the plant. In fact you would be better off feeding poultry young sprouts rather than a fodder because there are more digestible nutrition in the young sprouts than in the fodder..