Fodder Questions! Where to buy seeds?? Experiences?

[mirandaleecon]

I'm interested in starting a fodder system but I'm having trouble finding a good source for seeds. Seems like the closest place to me that sells them in bulk (50lbs) is a 5 hour drive and the shipping costs more than the seeds. I live in Panama City, FL if that makes any difference...
I would be willing to have them shipped, and I don't need 50lbs (at least not until I know I want to do this for sure) but I don't want to just buy a 1 lb bag or pay more for shipping than the seeds themselves...
I have been looking most at Barley, but would try anything else that would work. Would the wheat sold as feed sprout??
Any reliable sources (I don't mind scientific/research articles..) on the nutritional value of different types of fodder?
Anybody with experience using fodder? How much of the main diet does it comprise? What are your yields (lbs of seed/lbs of fodder)? Are you still feeding commercial feed? What else are you giving to supplement their diet? How many lbs of seed per bird?
Anybody feed it to their ducks or peacocks? Goats?

I know a lot of this has already been discussed but it seems like a lot of the resources (where to buy seeds mostly) are old and figured why not cover the other info in one spot...

Ultimately, my goal is to get away from commercial feed. I'm not there, and I won't stop feeding it until I know I have their nutritional requirements covered but I feel this would be a great addition to that effort.

 

[Nupe]

The local feed stores are the best I've found for getting the seeds. Just googling "feed stores in panama city, fl" I came up with these:

http://www.yellowpages.com/panama-city-fl/mip/gulf-coast-farm-garden-495609280?lid=495609280

http://www.yellowpages.com/nationwide/mip/barn-nannys-feed-supply-22353529?lid=22353529

http://www.yellowpages.com/lynn-haven-fl/mip/sandis-farm-lawn-garden-inc-13961689?lid=13961689


Feed wheat works just fine. There's a little garbage in it but for the price, it's acceptable. If you use barley, make sure it's certified seed rather than pearled or hulled. Barley has an outer hull that's indigestible and must be ground off. That process mostly kills the germ. My feed store didn't have everything I wanted for my fodder but was willing to order it for me. This is the end of a full year I've been working on my 50lb sack of Austrian field peas (winter ground cover) and 25lb sack of sunflower seed (BOSS wild bird seed) and they're still sprouting just fine.

I think the statistics were around 17% protein for barley fodder. But that was stats posted by a company that sells fodder systems and claims you can replace your livestock's diets completely. Personally, I don't believe it. Sure, you can probably get away with feeding this way for a time especially if you free range, but I can't see how chickens, in particular, can thrive without variety, and especially without an animal protein source.

I have 19 hens that I feed 3 cups of mixed dry grains which comes out to around 5 lbs of fodder per day. To supplement, they have 24/7 access to a 30% protein gamebird feed. I did have them on a 20% protein flock feed but I had an amorous rooster that did a number on the girls' feathers and since getting rid of the rooster, they hadn't improved. I'll probably switch back after they molt this fall. They also have oyster shell and grit free choice as well as veggie scraps and grass clippings when available.

I plan to start a mealworm farm in the future but I will probably never stop feeding a commercial feed. A massive amount of money and research went into optimizing chicken feed, and the more research I did, the more I realized I would never come ahead in cost or optimal nutrition for my girls than with a good quality commercial feed.