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

[gtaus]

I have to ask...has she found out yet?

No, she has not found out yet. But I did take the advice of one gentleman that suggested I put a bunch of tools and such in the bathroom to make it look like I am doing some work in there. So I got a handheld shower with a long cord, some Teflon tape, etc... and spread them out on the bathroom counter. So when she looks in there she sees a "work in progress" and does not want to go in there to clean.

I imagine sooner or later she will ask me if I will ever finish that job, at which time I'll just mention that I am waiting on a few other parts I need. So it might take a while longer. I hope that will buy me a number of weeks.

As long as she does not draw back the shower curtain, you would never know that I have a fodder factory growing in the bathtub. So far, the chickens are loving the fresh green barley fodder and the Dear Wife is none the wiser.

 

[Henn12]

No, she has not found out yet. But I did take the advice of one gentleman that suggested I put a bunch of tools and such in the bathroom to make it look like I am doing some work in there. So I got a handheld shower with a long cord, some Teflon tape, etc... and spread them out on the bathroom counter. So when she looks in there she sees a "work in progress" and does not want to go in there to clean.

I imagine sooner or later she will ask me if I will ever finish that job, at which time I'll just mention that I am waiting on a few other parts I need. So it might take a while longer. I hope that will buy me a number of weeks.

As long as she does not draw back the shower curtain, you would never know that I have a fodder factory growing in the bathtub. So far, the chickens are loving the fresh green barley fodder and the Dear Wife is none the wiser.

This is too funny!
I have been growing wheat fodder I’m my garage, I’m in south Texas. We have a cold snap so this last batch isn’t doing as well. But the chickens love it. Their run is completely sand (our wonderful natural soil here) so it’s the only greens they get unless I take them some scraps. I’m going start growing herbs for them too. This whole chicken thing is an addition!!!

 

[gtaus]

This is too funny!
I have been growing wheat fodder I’m my garage, I’m in south Texas. We have a cold snap so this last batch isn’t doing as well. But the chickens love it. Their run is completely sand (our wonderful natural soil here) so it’s the only greens they get unless I take them some scraps. I’m going start growing herbs for them too. This whole chicken thing is an addition!!!

I think the success of germination depends a lot on the temp of the environment. This summer, my barley seeds germinated and grew like a weed when the temp was 75F-80F in the garage. I tried growing some barley fodder in the garage when the temp was down to 50F, and I got poor results. In my second bathroom, the temp in the house is at about 68F and everything is growing great in there.

I tried growing oat fodder, both in the garage this summer and in my bathroom a few weeks ago. The results were disappointing and I would estimate maybe a 30% germination rate on the oats - compared to barley germination rate of about 97%.

I don't know if you have grass growing in south Texas this time of year, but I used my grass collection bag when mowing and gave my chickens grass clippings to eat after they ate all the grass down to the dirt in their chicken run. They ate lots of the grass and what did not get eaten I used as compost material in the run. Keep a nice green carpet in the chicken run until leaves started falling this fall. Now the entire chicken run is covered with about 12 inches of leaves.

I don't know what the chickens find to eat in those leaves, but as I type, we have a light snow falling and I can see my girls out in the run scratching through the leaves and eating something. I have been giving them half a dish bin of fresh fodder every day and they eat almost everything. This morning I took out the fodder pan from yesterday and there was a little bit of the root mat that was frozen in the dish bin, but I'll just throw that into the pallet compost bin I put in their run and it will either get eaten when thawed out or it will turn into compost over time.

 

[Henn12]

I think the success of germination depends a lot on the temp of the environment. This summer, my barley seeds germinated and grew like a weed when the temp was 75F-80F in the garage. I tried growing some barley fodder in the garage when the temp was down to 50F, and I got poor results. In my second bathroom, the temp in the house is at about 68F and everything is growing great in there.

I tried growing oat fodder, both in the garage this summer and in my bathroom a few weeks ago. The results were disappointing and I would estimate maybe a 30% germination rate on the oats - compared to barley germination rate of about 97%.

I don't know if you have grass growing in south Texas this time of year, but I used my grass collection bag when mowing and gave my chickens grass clippings to eat after they ate all the grass down to the dirt in their chicken run. They ate lots of the grass and what did not get eaten I used as compost material in the run. Keep a nice green carpet in the chicken run until leaves started falling this fall. Now the entire chicken run is covered with about 12 inches of leaves.

I don't know what the chickens find to eat in those leaves, but as I type, we have a light snow falling and I can see my girls out in the run scratching through the leaves and eating something. I have been giving them half a dish bin of fresh fodder every day and they eat almost everything. This morning I took out the fodder pan from yesterday and there was a little bit of the root mat that was frozen in the dish bin, but I'll just throw that into the pallet compost bin I put in their run and it will either get eaten when thawed out or it will turn into compost over time.

We don’t have a bagger for our grass clipping. Nor do we have a very lush yard. Little rain and sandy soil doesn’t help any. Thanks for the info!

 

[MROO]

I think the success of germination depends a lot on the temp of the environment. This summer, my barley seeds germinated and grew like a weed when the temp was 75F-80F in the garage. I tried growing some barley fodder in the garage when the temp was down to 50F, and I got poor results. In my second bathroom, the temp in the house is at about 68F and everything is growing great in there.

I tried growing oat fodder, both in the garage this summer and in my bathroom a few weeks ago. The results were disappointing and I would estimate maybe a 30% germination rate on the oats - compared to barley germination rate of about 97%.

I don't know if you have grass growing in south Texas this time of year, but I used my grass collection bag when mowing and gave my chickens grass clippings to eat after they ate all the grass down to the dirt in their chicken run. They ate lots of the grass and what did not get eaten I used as compost material in the run. Keep a nice green carpet in the chicken run until leaves started falling this fall. Now the entire chicken run is covered with about 12 inches of leaves.

I don't know what the chickens find to eat in those leaves, but as I type, we have a light snow falling and I can see my girls out in the run scratching through the leaves and eating something. I have been giving them half a dish bin of fresh fodder every day and they eat almost everything. This morning I took out the fodder pan from yesterday and there was a little bit of the root mat that was frozen in the dish bin, but I'll just throw that into the pallet compost bin I put in their run and it will either get eaten when thawed out or it will turn into compost over time.

Please, Please, PUH-LEEEESE! If you keep that snow up North where it belongs, we'll help you keep your fodder secret!

 

[gtaus]

We don’t have a bagger for our grass clipping. Nor do we have a very lush yard. Little rain and sandy soil doesn’t help any. Thanks for the info!

I guess I'm fortunate that we have green grass for about 5 months out of the year. If chickens would eat snow, I'd be saving lots of money on feed costs for most of the year.

I live on a lake. When I started my garden, nothing grew very well in my sandy soil. Over the years I have dumped piles of grass clippings and leaves on my garden, and now the soil is much better. I don't know what you have available to make compost, but your chickens are great workers and will turn most things into compost much faster than nature. Also, they like scratching through stuff looking for things to eat.

 

[gtaus]

Please, Please, PUH-LEEEESE! If you keep that snow up North where it belongs, we'll help you keep your fodder secret!

Well, it has been snowing on and off all day today. I'll do my best to keep the snow up north. But somehow I don't think I have much control over where the snow flies....

 

[harmonyp]

My attempt this summer at growing fodder was a fail unfortunately - very happy for you that you're successful. I think you should add a money bowl in there and each time you feed fodder you should "estimate" the money you've saved in purchased feed and put it in there to claim as your "honey nice dinner" fund! How could she be upset?

 

[gtaus]

My attempt this summer at growing fodder was a fail unfortunately - very happy for you that you're successful. I think you should add a money bowl in there and each time you feed fodder you should "estimate" the money you've saved in purchased feed and put it in there to claim as your "honey nice dinner" fund! How could she be upset?

I am sorry your fodder growing experiment this summer was not successful. What seeds did you use? I have had very good germination and growth from barley seeds, but not very good results with oats. I have not tried wheat seeds, but have read that they do not grow as well as barley. Also, the temperature makes a big difference in my experience. My seeds did well in 70F+ environment but when the temp dropped down into the 50F's, then germination rate in the garage was poor.

However, even poor germination and unsprouted seeds are eaten by my chickens, so nothing went to waste. I have not tried fermenting feed, but I imagine an unsprouted seed in a fodder bin would be similar to fermented seeds.

I know growing fodder saves money on feed costs, which is a great bonus, but I am mainly growing my fodder to give my chickens something green to eat during the winter months here in snowy Minnesota. I suppose I average about 1 pound of barley seed into about 5 pounds of barley fodder. That cuts down on the commercial layer feed costs, but I don't think fodder for laying hens provides all the nutrients they need for productive egg laying. So I always have commercial layer feed available 24/7.

I do like your idea of idea of a money bowl to visualize money saved from growing fodder to feed to the chickens. I keep all my egg laying numbers and chicken related expenses on a spreadsheet I found online. At the end of every month, I "sell" myself the eggs we have consumed and add it back as income. Currently, organic eggs sell for about $4.00 per dozen at the local stores, but the commercial white eggs are only $1.00 per dozen (as little as 68 cents per dozen on sale). So I "sell" myself my eggs at the $4.00 per dozen rate and my "income" exceeds my ongoing feed expenses. I don't think I could break even at the commercial rate of $1.00 per dozen. But I don't suppose many people with small backyard chicken flocks are in it for the money.

 

[harmonyp]

I am sorry your fodder growing experiment this summer was not successful. What seeds did you use? I have had very good germination and growth from barley seeds, but not very good results with oats. I have not tried wheat seeds, but have read that they do not grow as well as barley. Also, the temperature makes a big difference in my experience. My seeds did well in 70F+ environment but when the temp dropped down into the 50F's, then germination rate in the garage was poor.
..

I first tried oats, but wasn't surprised when they didn't take after reading that they are difficult. I then tried Barley. I think my issues were that I spread them too thick and inconsistently in the pan, and that my temps were too high (90's! and I did them outside).

Anyways - I had patchy at best results, and the chickens didn't like it at all. I too was hoping to give extra greenery as I can't keep anything growing in their pen, but alas. I am starting to try fermented feed a few days a week, which they absolutely love.