Growing fodder for chickens

[spiritrancho]

First the timer; I found a $15 grounded timer that will do what you want at a hydoponic supply store. Pet store have some that will do 15 min. on time for more money.
Next the mold; I have been growing wheat grass for people juice for years and lately fodder for rabbits and chickens. I find white root hairs that look sorta like mold but are not. That is mostly on wheat where I use misters. I use flood and drain on the barley

 

[NotAFarm]

First the timer; I found a $15 grounded timer that will do what you want at a hydoponic supply store. Pet store have some that will do 15 min. on time for more money.
Next the mold; I have been growing wheat grass for people juice for years and lately fodder for rabbits and chickens. I find white root hairs that look sorta like mold but are not. That is mostly on wheat where I use misters. I use flood and drain on the barley

Would you please list your source for the barley you are using? Thanks.

 

[NotAFarm]

I took a picture of the fodder (mine is kamut) this morning at 9:00 and again at 5:30 this evening.
Look at the difference 8 1/2 hours makes!! I have green........

 

[sonew123]

Isnt it awesome! I couldnt believe the difference with some sun

Yes folks please post where your getting barley! Lol

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Isnt it awesome! I couldnt believe the difference with some sun

Yes folks please post where your getting barley! Lol

I wish you lived closer to me. There is a 'local' (local being 2 hrs away...) feed mill that carries all sorts of feed. Last time I was there I got Whole oats, wheat, BOSS, and barely. They also had milo, and some other stuff. They have great prices. I think it was around $12-$13.00 something per 50 lb. bag of seed? Their Layer Pellets are $12.95 a bag....which is a whole lot better than $18.00 a bag!!

Of course now, all my seed is used up and I have nothing to try the fodder with. I got my 100 sprouting trays in the mail yesterday morning, I got three miniature green houses yesterday from TSC, and I'm ready to go....except I don't have any seed! Arrrgh!!

TSC didn't have any. They have rolled oats, and that was it. Darn it! I think I still have some BOSS, so I may try'n sprout a wee bit of that just to see.

I also picked up some ACV with the 'Mother' in it from Walmart yesterday. I cannot believe they actually had it and it was only $3.00something a bottle. I bought two bottles so I have a gallon to mess with on the FF! ; )

~ Aspen

 

[spiritrancho]

I purchase locally at the Rough Stock feed store in Kingman Az. 50 lb. recleaned barley for $16 or so. They also stock recleaned oats and wheat cheaper. I use all three in fermented feed for chickens and pigs. The mixture is what I sprout for the chickens but they only get a 2.5"x10" bisket a day of 1-2 inches high sprouts. I found that egg production fell off so now give a pound or so of egg maker per day for 18 chickens.

 

[highline]

Oh almost missed this question....we have a large tub with 2 small holes drilled in the one end, and it sit on top and slightly over the top gutter. When I pour water into it then it very slowly trickles into the first gutter, and doesnt move the seeds around. It did at first, because it was filling it up too fast. So we made the holes smaller and only made two. Now it works just fine.

Thanks for the question....if I could post my own pics, I would share a photo of it.

Thanks, I was really trying to figure that one out.

 

[highline]

I know I read somewhere a post about extending UF/ACV by mixing it with regular ACV and leaving it in a dark place to grow. I need the formula because I've been to 4 different area Walmart stores trying to get the Heinz brand UF/ACV. Every store the same thing, just an empty space with a $3.68 shelf sticker for I think a 32oz. bottle

So I had to make myself,,,, ok, my wife had to make me fork over $4.79 for a 16oz bottle of Braggs at another grocer.

At .30 an ounce I can't afford to rinse, add to animals water, ferment etc, unless I make some home made stuff. Here's thanking you in advance for help on this.

 

[NotAFarm]

I know I read somewhere a post about extending UF/ACV by mixing it with regular ACV and leaving it in a dark place to grow. I need the formula because I've been to 4 different area Walmart stores trying to get the Heinz brand UF/ACV.

I did this. Took about 1/4 of the quart bottle of Bragg's and added to a gallon jug (removed some from the jug to make room) of distilled acv. Did it again with a second gallon. Put the acv I pulled out into the Bragg's bottle and used it first. Left the gallons on the pantry floor until the quart bottle was gone. Both gallons had the cloudy swirls in it that lets you know the "mother" is present. I have 25 chickens. At the time, they were all together in one large coop and free-ranged so I had one waterer (use one TBSP each filling) to deal with plus the 2 TBSPs I used to start my fermented feed so it was a couple of weeks +/- and they were ready. You can then use acv from the gallon jug to make two more and so on and so on.... This is what I did YMMV (your mileage may vary).

 

[highline]

I wish you lived closer to me. There is a 'local' (local being 2 hrs away...) feed mill that carries all sorts of feed. Last time I was there I got Whole oats, wheat, BOSS, and barely. They also had milo, and some other stuff. They have great prices. I think it was around $12-$13.00 something per 50 lb. bag of seed? Their Layer Pellets are $12.95 a bag....which is a whole lot better than $18.00 a bag!!

Of course now, all my seed is used up and I have nothing to try the fodder with. I got my 100 sprouting trays in the mail yesterday morning, I got three miniature green houses yesterday from TSC, and I'm ready to go....except I don't have any seed! Arrrgh!!

TSC didn't have any. They have rolled oats, and that was it. Darn it! I think I still have some BOSS, so I may try'n sprout a wee bit of that just to see.

I also picked up some ACV with the 'Mother' in it from Walmart yesterday. I cannot believe they actually had it and it was only $3.00something a bottle. I bought two bottles so I have a gallon to mess with on the FF! ; )

~ Aspen

You might want to ask the feed mill if they offer a bulk price, if that is something you would be interested in.
We have a local feed mill that I just found out about and will started getting my grain in bulk this spring. I plan to start doing some fermenting this spring so I'm interested in bulk because of price and the fact that they are 50 miles from me. So I want to make the trip worth it.
I can get bulk grain there in 55 gallon barrels at what I feel is good prices; Corn, whole - $60.00, cracked - $62.00, cracked w/molasses $65.00, Wheat $62.00, Scratch mix $65.00. I haven't gotten a price for milo or oats yet but I assume they will be in the same range since I bought a 50# bag of whole oats for $10.50 and their price for milo and wheat is $9.50. I bought the oats only because the day I was there they didn't have any wheat bagged up.

They did give me a sample of milo and wheat to make sure it will sprout, and yes it does. I had to spend a little more time rinsing the wheat and oats for sprouting/fodder but figure when I ferment it won't matter that much. I was very happy with the milo, it was cleaner than the other. My chooks really like the scratch so I plan to try a tray or two of it for fodder this week and see what happens. I bought 3 bags of 16% layer pellets for $11.00 each