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

[gtaus]

Here goes nothing
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-fodder-system-diary.1341796/

OK, left you some comments on your new thread. Hope it helps.

 

[Arbutus Peregrine]

Threw together a fodder system today. I'm pretty proud of myself because I'm just getting into woodworking. I can easily follow a plan but just winging it is not my strong suit. I have a total of 10 bins that will be for growing. Thank you for the inspiration.

Looks great! It's on my to-do list, too!

 

[gtaus]

Looks great! It's on my to-do list, too!

Easy to build, easy to work, fantastic results for very little effort.

Here goes nothing
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-fodder-system-diary.1341796/

You might want to also read the thread started by @RebelChief. There are some lessons learned in that she made her tower with maybe too agressive slants. That causes the water to drain too fast/too hard which will push the seeds to the drain hole end. You want to try to get an even layer of seeds in the bins, not all bunched up at one end.

In my article, I mention that I used a 1 inch drop from the back to the front of the bin with holes. That works fine for me, but I think maybe even a 1/2 inch drop would have been better. You need a drop from the back to the front for the flood and drain system to work, but a less agressive angle on the drop will flood and drain the system with less force, and less disruption to the seeds below. Having said that, once the root mat is established, it does not matter much.

Also, all you really do is load the top bin with water 3/4 full and walk away, letting the flood and drain system work for you. I literally only spend ~20 seconds filling the top bin and my work is done until 12 hours later when I repeat. So you really don't care, or want, to make the draining system faster. Slower is probably better.

If you make a fodder tower, please post a picture and post your results. I'm always interested in learning more about different seeds people use to grow fodder and the results they get.​

 

[Arbutus Peregrine]

Easy to build, easy to work, fantastic results for very little effort.

You might want to also read the thread started by @RebelChief. There are some lessons learned in that she made her tower with maybe too agressive slants. That causes the water to drain too fast/too hard which will push the seeds to the drain hole end. You want to try to get an even layer of seeds in the bins, not all bunched up at one end.

In my article, I mention that I used a 1 inch drop from the back to the front of the bin with holes. That works fine for me, but I think maybe even a 1/2 inch drop would have been better. You need a drop from the back to the front for the flood and drain system to work, but a less agressive angle on the drop will flood and drain the system with less force, and less disruption to the seeds below. Having said that, once the root mat is established, it does not matter much.

Also, all you really do is load the top bin with water 3/4 full and walk away, letting the flood and drain system work for you. I literally only spend ~20 seconds filling the top bin and my work is done until 12 hours later when I repeat. So you really don't care, or want, to make the draining system faster. Slower is probably better.

If you make a fodder tower, please post a picture and post your results. I'm always interested in learning more about different seeds people use to grow fodder and the results they get.​

THanks so much!

 

[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)

View attachment 1971664

still growing..

After a month.
Conclusion:
Dont grow popcorn fodder in the bathroom.

But soaking popcorn and letting it grow 1-3 inches before planting may be a great way for growing corn. I will try this in spring for growing corn in my little veggie garden. Hope to harvest crops in autumn this way.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I start my Indian blue corn this way. I had a very limited amount of seed to start with so every seed was precious and needed to grow. A friend gifted it to me when I expressed an interest in growing flint corn and making my own tortillas. He gave me a small handful in a plastic sandwich bag taken from the mason jar in his fridge. The jar of flint corn had been there in his fridge for over 20 years. His family had grown that strain for over 100 years in Wyoming - they didn't sell it, they used it for animal feed and personal use.
He said that once I planted it in Wisconsin, it was my own variety and I needed to develop a strong genotype for growing in my area. IE. save the best ears from the best growing plants for use as next years seed corn and eat the rest. In Wyoming, it grew about 4' tall. In Wisconsin, with the optimum growing conditions for corn that year, it was over 7 feet tall.

 

[wyoDreamer]

@BDutch I bet the roots on that fodder are really long. When I start corn inside, the roots are 2x longer than the green part.

 

[gtaus]

After a month.
Conclusion:
Dont grow popcorn fodder in the bathroom.

Thanks for the update. Popcorn is way too expensive where I live anyway. Thanks for sharing the picture of the popcorn fodder. Does not look like a very high germination rate for the popcorn.

My barley fodder has about a 95% germination rate and is rich, green, and full in the bin. I just bought another 50 pound bag of barley for $7.25 today at my local mill. That should last me another 2 months. Then, I am considering getting a 100 pound bag of barley for $11.15 at my local mill. If spring comes early and I still have lots of barley seed leftover, I will either mix it in with my chicken scratch and/or sprout and plant some seeds under a feeding frame in the chicken run (since there is no more grass in the run).

 

[gtaus]

UPDATE: 30 APRIL 2020 My inside fodder growing in the second bathroom project was a great success this past winter. I was able to provide fresh greens to my chickens all winter long and I think they appreciated it. Living in northern Minnesota, it was the only greens they got to eat for the past 5 months. But now the grass is starting to grow again and I was able to mow up some grass clippings for the girls yesterday. So my fodder tower is being shut down until this coming fall.

I am switching over to mowing the grass and feeding the chickens clippings. Also, I just built a grazing frame yesterday so I will be getting that in place and seeded soon. Additionally, I have purchased more fencing so I hope to expand the chicken run on to some fresh grass. Looking forward to the warm weather, fresh grass, and a nice summer with the chickens. Thanks to all who participated in this thread.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

...but did you get caught?