Good article for beginners to fodder growing. Good details on cost/build with great in-process photos
My $10 Inexpensive DIY Fodder Tower with Dollar Tree Dish Bins
- Author gtaus
- Publish date
- Article read time 8 min read
gtaus
Thanks. Using scrap wood cuts the cost down to only the money you pay for the plastic bins. This $10 fodder tower with dish bins has served me well for 4 winters now.
gtaus
I have used this $10 fodder tower for 4 winters now. I think I got my money's worth out of it.
gtaus
I treat my barley fodder as a fresh green winter treat for my chickens that otherwise would not have access to any fresh grass all winter. The fodder tower system just makes everything easier.
gtaus
Thanks for the review. Hope you have good results with growing your fodder.
gtaus
Thanks for taking the time to review this article. If you want to try growing fodder at home, this is about the easiest system I know and it will not cost much to try out if you use scrap lumber like I did.
gtaus
I buy my grain from our local feed mill. I get it in 50# or 100# bags. The price of our local barley grain has gone up almost double since the pandemic hit. We got hit with low supply and low quality grain both at the same time. Last time I bought 50# bag of barley it was about $13.00, up from about $7.50 the year before. I use fodder as a supplement to the commercial feed, not a replacement, so I would not spend more on grain than it costs me to buy bags of feed. Again, I live in northern Minnesota and I don't have any fresh greens to give to the chickens for about 6 months out of the year unless I grow fodder for them.
gtaus
I think it's great that people can make this project with scrap wood and dollar tree bins. It's a very small investment in both time and money to get started in growing fodder at home. Once I had my initial soaking times adjusted for max germination rate, the rest of the process is pretty easy. You may have to experiment with different soaking times for different grains. I spent maybe 5 minutes per day watering the 10 bins twice a day with this system. Very little labor and I had great results.
gtaus
There is a good root mat on the barley fodder that I grow. So, the chickens rip off bits of the barley grass as they eat it down to the root mat - much like they would eat tall grass if left to free range. Then they eat the root mat of the fodder. Everything gets eaten. I have never seen any negative consequences of feeding them fodder with long grass attached to the root mat.
Some people prefer to cut the barley down to size and let it regrow again. That is an option. I don't want to do that because, in my case, I would increase the chance of growing mold. But it might work for others.
If you plant barley into the ground, then I suppose you could cut and harvest it as you wished. But I already have a riding mower with collection bins to catch my grass clippings, which I fed to the chickens in the summertime. So, I don't bother growing barley fodder in the summertime. My chickens get enough fresh greens from mowing the lawn.
Some people prefer to cut the barley down to size and let it regrow again. That is an option. I don't want to do that because, in my case, I would increase the chance of growing mold. But it might work for others.
If you plant barley into the ground, then I suppose you could cut and harvest it as you wished. But I already have a riding mower with collection bins to catch my grass clippings, which I fed to the chickens in the summertime. So, I don't bother growing barley fodder in the summertime. My chickens get enough fresh greens from mowing the lawn.
Innovative, well thought out and thorough! I'm not particularly handy and only have six banties, so won't be making a tower. But you've inspired me to try barley sprouts on a much smaller scale.
This is so clever and well-done, it makes me want a tour of your chicken set-up and the rest of your place to see what else you've come up with!
Kudos!
This is so clever and well-done, it makes me want a tour of your chicken set-up and the rest of your place to see what else you've come up with!
Kudos!
gtaus
When I moved my fodder tower from out in the garage into the house to grow barley fodder in the winter, I had to cut down my tower so it would fit into the bathroom shower. You could certainly make a shorter tower than my example, or even just line up some single bins with one end higher than the other so they drain out. My tower example just saves me more time because I only have to fill the top bin and the water flows down through all the other bins.
gtaus
Yes, the slant is very important for proper drainage in this system.
Very interesting 
gtaus
I got my barley from the local feed mill last year and these are the results I posted. I was very happy with the results, as you can tell.
However, this year, the barley seed I got from the same local feed mill had a very poor germination rate. I am lucky to get about a 20% germination rate from the seed I bought this year. I talked to the feed store about it, and they said they only guarantee "feed" quality barley, and it may or may not have a good germination rate depending on who they bought the barley from and how long that farmer had it sitting in his silo bin on the farm. They don't test the barley seeds for germination rate, because they only guarantee "feed" quality grain.
The local feed mill did give me the telephone number of a mill a few towns down the road that sells "seed" quality barley that is guaranteed to have >90% germination rate. Unfortunately, that company is not answering their phone and they don't have an answering machine to leave a message.
Good quality germinating seed is vital to growing fodder. If the seeds don't germinate, then you won't be growing fodder in the bins. However, nothing needs to go to waste as I can just mix the poor germinating barley seed into the chicken scratch. My latest purchase of barley seed is only getting about 20% germination, but my chickens at least get some greens during this Minnesota winter and the non-germinated seeds get eaten as well. Since my barley fodder this year has so many non-germinated seeds in it, I just cut back on the amount of chicken scratch I feed to them every morning.
I tried oats and wheat last year, but had the best success with barley seed, so that is what I used. Upon reflection, I now think maybe I just got an exceptionally good germinating batch of barley seed last year and maybe not as good germinating quality oat and wheat seed. So, it may vary from year to year as to which grain would be best for fodder and I no longer will state that barley is the best. I would suggest using any seed that gives you the best germination rate. Next year, I will probably buy a bag each of barley, oats and wheat. I'll grow fodder from whatever seed has the best germination rate and the other seeds will get mixed in to the chicken scratch.
However, this year, the barley seed I got from the same local feed mill had a very poor germination rate. I am lucky to get about a 20% germination rate from the seed I bought this year. I talked to the feed store about it, and they said they only guarantee "feed" quality barley, and it may or may not have a good germination rate depending on who they bought the barley from and how long that farmer had it sitting in his silo bin on the farm. They don't test the barley seeds for germination rate, because they only guarantee "feed" quality grain.
The local feed mill did give me the telephone number of a mill a few towns down the road that sells "seed" quality barley that is guaranteed to have >90% germination rate. Unfortunately, that company is not answering their phone and they don't have an answering machine to leave a message.
Good quality germinating seed is vital to growing fodder. If the seeds don't germinate, then you won't be growing fodder in the bins. However, nothing needs to go to waste as I can just mix the poor germinating barley seed into the chicken scratch. My latest purchase of barley seed is only getting about 20% germination, but my chickens at least get some greens during this Minnesota winter and the non-germinated seeds get eaten as well. Since my barley fodder this year has so many non-germinated seeds in it, I just cut back on the amount of chicken scratch I feed to them every morning.
I tried oats and wheat last year, but had the best success with barley seed, so that is what I used. Upon reflection, I now think maybe I just got an exceptionally good germinating batch of barley seed last year and maybe not as good germinating quality oat and wheat seed. So, it may vary from year to year as to which grain would be best for fodder and I no longer will state that barley is the best. I would suggest using any seed that gives you the best germination rate. Next year, I will probably buy a bag each of barley, oats and wheat. I'll grow fodder from whatever seed has the best germination rate and the other seeds will get mixed in to the chicken scratch.
