Don't tell the wife, I'm growing fodder in the 2nd bathroom!

[N F C]

UPDATE 10/11/2019: I think I am on Day 8/9 of caper. I have finished growing my first barley fodder bin and will be feeding it to the girls today. So I thought I would update you with some pictures and statics on my results.

Here is what the finished barley fodder looks like after about 8 days growth. The grass is about 8.5 inches tall, nice and dark green, and has an excellent root mat holding it all together. I would estimate the germination rate at 95%+.

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Here is a close up of the root mat. Notice how it is all held together. The unsprouted seeds in the mat will all be eaten by the chickens too.

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Here is a picture of unsprouted seeds left in the bin. Very little grain left. The girls will eat this too. So nothing goes to waste.

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Finally, I weighed the product. I started with 400 grams of dry grain and ended up with 2149 grams of fresh, green fodder. The is equivalent to converting 1 lb of dry grain to 5.37 lbs of fodder. Results of growing fodder in my bathroom consistent with growing fodder in the garage this summer.

I am very pleased with my results, and even more so that Dear Wife still has not found me out.

Finally, my oats and oats/barley bins are not doing as well. I don't think the oat seeds are germinating nearly as well as the barley seeds. Those bins look about 25% to 35% germination rate, and there is practically no root mat holding them together. Of course, the chickens will eat everything, but the oat fodder is just not the same quality as my barley fodder grown under the same conditions. I do not think I'm going to spend any more time or effort trying to grow oat fodder. It was worth a try, but I'm not happy with the progress of the oats and the oats/barley bins.

Pretty darned good results overall! Let us know when you update your fodder tower article.

 

[room onthebroom]

Hey if DW doesn't find out, maybe this could become an annual winter project! (But that might be wishing for a bit too much.)

IF I get through this winter, I will definitely be back again next year growing fodder in the bathroom. And if I get caught next year, I can honestly say that I've been doing this for years.....

No dear, the bathroom always smells like that at this time of year.

 

[N F C]

No dear, the bathroom always smells like that at this time of year.

That's right...it's a seasonal thing, like pumpkin spice

 

[gtaus]

Pretty darned good results overall! Let us know when you update your fodder tower article.

I just updated My $10 Inexpensive DIY Fodder Tower with Dollar Tree Dish Bins article. I simply added this towards the end of article:

[UPDATE 10/11/2019: I have been growing barley fodder in my spare bathroom for almost two weeks. I am happy to report that there is practically no smell with growing barley fodder in the house. This is because I do not use any collection bin for the water at the bottom of the tower, so, all the water flows through the bins and directly into the bathtub drain. When soaking barley for 12 hours in new bins in my bathroom, there was very little smell from the wet grain. I think this was because my house temp is at 66F, whereas the temp in the garage may have been as high as 80F during that experiment. After draining the 12 hour soak bin, I could not detect any smell at all. The germination and growth results were comparable to my experiment this past summer. I weighed the fodder bin grown in my bathroom. I started with 400 grams of dry grain and ended up with 2149 grams of fresh, green fodder. That is equivalent to converting 1 lb of dry grain to 5.37 lbs of fodder. I was very pleased with both the process and results of growing fodder indoors and will continue growing fodder through the winter.]

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

I think you should stick with your excellent observations of powltry in your Nacional Parque, rather than (apparently) suggest that he kill his wife for chiCken feed(?).

And if any one wants to accuse Elsevier/ScienceDirect, you have to do more than mud-sling charged words. Prove it!!

 

[Don 27]

Hmm keeping secrets from the wife this is interesting. I don't think I could get away with it. I personally don't think those small flies are bad . I raise them for my carnivorous plants. Meal worms are something I haven't mastered yet. I collect the wild one's for use and they always seem to die.

 

[gtaus]

I personally don't think those small flies are bad

I get more fruit flies from a bunch of bananas from the store. It was not an issue for me.

 

[Don 27]

I get more fruit flies from a bunch of bananas from the store. It was not an issue for me.

ok I wasn't sure if had plan on getting rid of the tower of there was flies. But as long as you keep up with watering the flies will have less chance of breeding.

 

[vashlyqt]

I've enjoyed the humorous replies but, alas, have not read all of them! Keeping the tub and surrounding area clean (without my having to mention it) would go along way in my book! Also the smell down! I love the idea, low cost and the birds would love it! A sincere "thanks for understanding my desire to do this. You're the best" would be hopefully appreciated.

 

[gtaus]

Keeping the tub and surrounding area clean (without my having to mention it) would go along way in my book! Also the smell down!

Yes, keeping everything clean is always a good idea. There was no smell issue with growing fodder in the house because the water drains through the bins and directly into the bathtub drain - so no standing water. In my garage this summer, I had a water collection bin on the bottom of the tower so water would not go all over my garage floor. It is my belief it was that water, sitting in the collection bin for 12 hours in 80F heat, that smelled. I updated my original article accordingly. Again, no smell issue in the house.