Growing fodder for chickens

[greenhorn]

I've never tried rice as I don't have a reasonable source. It would be interesting to know if it works.

Could be an alternative for doing fodder during the warmer months. Does rice grow fast enough to harvest in 7 days?

 

[jodyb]

This is fascinating. Thank you for your post and I am going to try it. I wonder if Southern States sells whole barley and wheat? Is there an organic source available?

 

[foothillsfiber]

I have never sprouted it like shown in the thread but there is nothing to get it sprouted. One good soaking and the stuff will sprout and grow.

 

[greenhorn]

This is fascinating. Thank you for your post and I am going to try it. I wonder if Southern States sells whole barley and wheat? Is there an organic source available?

You can find organic GMO's in bulk and organic heirlooms in small amounts. I have been researching and if you want to grow heirloom or ancient wheat, barley, rye etc. you will have to buy a small amount of seed and grow it out yourself. This will take a couple years of growing and seed collecting before you will have enough seed to plant an actual crop.

We plan to buy the available organic seed for growing fodder. Once we have enough of our own heirloom grain seed saved up we will start growing from our own seed. This thread has really helped evolve my views on feeding livestock and enlightened me about the current situation that our "seed bank" is in. This research also enlightened me about the state of food that is available for human consumption and it's not pretty. I think it's a great idea to grow our own wheat as everything available is GMO or unhealthy hybrids that cause various arthritis and other health issues.

If interested in growing ancient or heirloom grains here are some links you may find useful:

http://www.growseed.org/

http://www.ancientcerealgrains.org/

http://www.prseeds.ca

http://www.sustainableseedco.com

 

[growyourbrew]

If it helps those in the Denver area, I get my grains bulk at goldenorganics.net in Arvada. I believe they also ship but it's a $500 order min. All organic, you can get whole wheat and rye and barley for sprouting. It grows ok but I tried just growing in plastic containers and it didn't do well - either dried out out molded. They sprouted, by not well at all - I was tending to them by hand - a big pain in the butt!

So question, for the fodder system trays, you just use the black trys with the holes for drainage?

 

[pawtraitart]

I wonder how many people know about GMO's and the contamination of our food supply? It's really scary. A neighbor of mine is a farmer and we have agreed to not talk about GMO's. Her husband uses roundup ready sugar beet seed and he's been suckered into the Monsanto scam. It's not worth losing a friend over the conspiracy, but for my family, I do my best to avoid processed food which is LOADED with GMO's. That's one of the reasons why I want to gradually get away from store bought poultry feed. If I can provide correct nutrition without feeding them GMO corn (which is most feed corn these days), then I'm going to do it no matter how much extra work it requires. One step at a time!

growyourbrew - I use the black trays with the drainage holes. The trick for me has been to provide adequate moisture, but to not let the seed sit in water or get too warm. Unless you can control the environment, fodder is a cool weather project as temperatures above 65 degrees F really seem to get the mold growing. Another thing is to start with clean seed. Mold spores are everywhere so the risk is always there, but if your seed is coated with mold spores, you are making things more difficult for yourself. Also, the depth of the seed in your tray is important. The thicker the layer, the more often you will need to rinse and/or soak your seed. I put a layer around 4 seeds thick. That is 1 pound per tray. I don't have an automatic fodder system right now, so I'm handling each tray by hand once a day. What I have found to work for me is to take each tray set to the sink (two nested trays, one with holes, one without) and completely soak the seeds for 5 minutes. I'm getting a 95% germination rate using this method. The temperature in my house this time of year can be a bit chilly as we are in an old farm house. If it gets above 65 we are sweating!

- Clean seed and leave soaking in water for 12-24 hours
- Next day - Rinse seed really well. I typically leave the seed in the drained soak bucket for a day before putting in the tray. In my soaking bucket, the layer is about an inch or so of seed.
- Spread the seed onto a tray with drainage holes in it. Rinse the seed again, and then put aside. You can put an empty tray on top to hold in some moisture if you want to.
- Seeds start to sprout. They start out looking like little white nubs coming out of one end of the seed. Keep up with the watering routine and keep an eye out for mold. I don't have mold or drying out issues as long as temps aren't too high.
- Continue your watering schedule up to day 7 (I usually feed around day 6).

 

[Talbott Poultry]

I have been keeping up with this tread for about a week now.

This is something I want to try when I get a chance.
It however may be spring time before I do.

I think this is really interesting and would really work for my setup.
My birds only get to free range about once every other week right now and they really love the green stuff.
This could be a really good way to lower feed cost AND get them the green stuff they really want.

I will continue to monitor and hopefully get to start this project soon.

 

[pawtraitart]

I have been keeping up with this tread for about a week now.

This is something I want to try when I get a chance.
It however may be spring time before I do.

I think this is really interesting and would really work for my setup.
My birds only get to free range about once every other week right now and they really love the green stuff.
This could be a really good way to lower feed cost AND get them the green stuff they really want.

I will continue to monitor and hopefully get to start this project soon.

It's a fun project and the birds really enjoy the greens. Birds with limited free ranging can really benefit from the extra nutrition and entertainment.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

- Clean seed and leave soaking in water for 12-24 hours
- Next day - Rinse seed really well. I typically leave the seed in the drained soak bucket for a day before putting in the tray. In my soaking bucket, the layer is about an inch or so of seed. 
- Spread the seed onto a tray with drainage holes in it. Rinse the seed again, and then put aside. You can put an empty tray on top to hold in some moisture if you want to. 
- Seeds start to sprout. They start out looking like little white nubs coming out of one end of the seed. Keep up with the watering routine and keep an eye out for mold. I don't have mold or drying out issues as long as temps aren't too high. 
- Continue your watering schedule up to day 7 (I usually feed around day 6). 

Thanks for the details! Everyone who shares even one tip really helps me!

What you say about GMOs is just how I feel. I live with old-school farmers. Even though we don't grow GMO crops, there is a RoundUp addiction to work with.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Here we are now after another day:

I used the black trays---the one on top is the greenhouse flat I use to carry my four packs with all the holes (too big for wheat) so I lined it with foil and poked little holes all over in it, then set it in the one with no holes. I had a few of those solid ones from buying the jiffy peat pots with trays.

So far so good, no mold...I have been rinsing in the morning, draining it out, then misting during the day when I check on it. I cannot seem to quit staring at it, I am not a patient person so it is hard to wait!