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

[gtaus]

Tell her it was a gift for her

Thanks. Well, I could certainly argue that the eggs are daily gifts I get from my girls.

 

[Pigpye]

Thanks. Well, I could certainly argue that the eggs are daily gifts I get from my girls.

Definitely, probably the best argument! it is the holiday season after all!

 

[BDutch]

Is youre fodder project still doing great in the bathroom Gtaus?

Update on the popcorn fodder. I forgot to water the popcorn last week. The popcorn partly recovered.

It is growing. But quit slow.

I think to keep the rest of the popcorn to plant it in spring (after 1,5 day in a bowl of water for easyer sprouting)

 

[gtaus]

Is youre fodder project still doing great in the bathroom Gtaus?

Update on the popcorn fodder. I forgot to water the popcorn last week. The popcorn partly recovered.

It is growing. But quit slow.

I think to keep the rest of the popcorn to plant it in spring (after 1,5 day in a bowl of water for easyer sprouting)

View attachment 1971664

My bathroom fodder project is still doing great. I am growing barley fodder and each bin is harvested at about 6 days. Here is a picture of a typical bin at about 6 days growing inside the house.

I would estimate the germination rate to be almost 95%. There are very few unsprouted seeds in the bottom of the bin.

Here is a picture from @WannaBeHillBilly who posted his fodder tower project. I think he is growing wheat fodder and he said it takes about 14 days until harvest.

But you can see how well his fodder is growing. If you check out his link, he has some other great pictures of his wheat fodder.

I have not tried growing popcorn fodder, mainly because popcorn is just too expensive for me. I can get 50 pounds of barley seed for $7.95, 50 pounds of oat seeds for $9.50, and wheat is about $12.00 per 50 pound bag. Popcorn is about $1.00 per pound at the supermarket, or $50.00 for a 50 pound bag equivalent. Popcorn is not sold in our local mill like the other seed grains.

As always, I encourage people to try growing fodder from various seeds and report back their results. I have had great results with barley fodder at 6-8 days and moderate results with oat seeds at 8-10 days. @WannaBeHillBilly is showing great results with wheat fodder at about 14 days harvest time. Makes me wonder if I should have let my oat fodder grow for a few more days and maybe I would have seen better results.

 

[RebelChief]

I'm wondering how about wild bird seed. Seems the stuff that gets thrown all over the ground by the birds grows like crazy.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

My bathroom fodder project is still doing great. I am growing barley fodder and each bin is harvested at about 6 days. Here is a picture of a typical bin at about 6 days growing inside the house.

View attachment 1971833
I would estimate the germination rate to be almost 95%. There are very few unsprouted seeds in the bottom of the bin.

Here is a picture from @WannaBeHillBilly who posted his fodder tower project. I think he is growing wheat fodder and he said it takes about 14 days until harvest.

View attachment 1971839

But you can see how well his fodder is growing. If you check out his link, he has some other great pictures of his wheat fodder.

I have not tried growing popcorn fodder, mainly because popcorn is just too expensive for me. I can get 50 pounds of barley seed for $7.95, 50 pounds of oat seeds for $9.50, and wheat is about $12.00 per 50 pound bag. Popcorn is about $1.00 per pound at the supermarket, or $50.00 for a 50 pound bag equivalent. Popcorn is not sold in our local mill like the other seed grains.

As always, I encourage people to try growing fodder from various seeds and report back their results. I have had great results with barley fodder at 6-8 days and moderate results with oat seeds at 8-10 days. @WannaBeHillBilly is showing great results with wheat fodder at about 14 days harvest time. Makes me wonder if I should have let my oat fodder grow for a few more days and maybe I would have seen better results.

It is a bit too cold in my garage for the Wheat to grow faster, between 40 and 50F, so two days before feeding the sprouts to the ducks i place the bin into an extra $-store bin without holes in the bottom (!) and take it to the guest bedroom, where the greens literally explode due to warmer temps and more light. Then it's feeding time for the Duckies. I tried Wheat first because with $10 for 50lbs it is the cheapest here. Next will be Oat ($15/50lbs) with which i had very little success last winter, and then i have Rye, Alfalfa and Sunflower seeds.
Anybody knows if black eyed-pea sprouts would be safe for ducks?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I'm wondering how about wild bird seed. Seems the stuff that gets thrown all over the ground by the birds grows like crazy.

Just give it a try and tell us about the results!

 

[gtaus]

I'm wondering how about wild bird seed. Seems the stuff that gets thrown all over the ground by the birds grows like crazy.

I saw some wild bird seed on sale during Black Friday. But it was about $15.00 for a 20 pound bag which is a lot more expensive than $8.00 for a 50 pound bag of barley. So I passed. But I do like the idea of all those different seeds and I was thinking maybe buying a bag of wild bird seed and mixing a little bit in with a bin of barley seeds for fodder. Ditto with black oil sunflower seeds, which are also expensive, but might add a little color and/or variety to my barley fodder.

If you try growing some wild bird seed fodder, let us know how it worked out for you.

 

[gtaus]

two days before feeding the sprouts to the ducks i place the bin into an extra $-store bin without holes in the bottom (!) and take it to the guest bedroom, where the greens literally explode due to warmer temps and more light.

I thought that was a good suggestion, so I have placed a bin of my barley fodder in our south facing dining room slide out window. I plan on leaving it there for a day, maybe two, to sit in the sun and dry out from the fodder tower. One thing I have discovered this winter is that a wet/damp fodder bin will freeze fast in our cold temps so I have been letting the bin dry out the last day before feeding to the chickens. Putting the last bin in the window makes even more sense to get some sunlight that last day or two as it dries out.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That is fortunately one sorrow i don't have here in WV. - And with ducks there might not even be enough time for the fodder to freeze before it ends up in a cozy warm duck stomach!