Growing fodder for chickens

[Groovynatureguy]

I pre-presoak my BOSS for 24 hrs before adding it to my presoaking wheat for another 24 hrs.... So the BOSS soaks for 48 hours... It is all well sprouted in time for harvest

 

[abstractgallery]

could urine be used for watering the fodder once it is growing well? Would that reduce mold issue? A yucky but serious question.

 

[erinszoo]

Here's our fodder at 7 days. It's a mix of wheat, oats, corn, and field peas. The weight on the box is the weight of the box. We keep track of how much it weighs so we know how much we're feeding out. We start with three pounds of mix and end up with 12 - 14 pounds of fodder at 7 days.

 

[erinszoo]

could urine be used for watering the fodder once it is growing well? Would that reduce mold issue? A yucky but serious question.

Haven't tried that one ... lol. We do a 10 min soak with bleach added to the water. Drain, rinse, and then soak four hours. Then the trays are rinsed twice a day.

 

[ohju1ia]

I'm starting the whole fodder growing this week! My local feed store has whole oats for horses, 50lbs for $14.99. This will work right?

 

[AletaG]

I'm starting the whole fodder growing this week! My local feed store has whole oats for horses, 50lbs for $14.99. This will work right?

Oats work for some, not for others. Mine kept getting moldy before I could use it, others have terrible germination. Make sure it's sproutable - if the store isn't sure, don't risk it. Some whole oats are treated with heat to keep it fresher longer, so won't germinate at all.

I have better luck with barley, lentils and any 'bird seed' mix I find on sale. Just my experience. If you've already bought it, and it turns out it's not going to 'go', try fermenting it. My birds range all day, then I feed them FF every day, and forage or sprouted lentils about 1x a week. Plan is to be ramping that up as the forage declines over the winter.
Have fun!

Update. The food grade peroxide washing has been working very well. Have not had to toss anything due to mold so far. I use approx 1/2tsp per cup water to soak for 15min, then rinse it off and soak as usual before placing in the growing tray. If my nose smells something at rinse time, will add a tiny spritz of peroxide again, then rinse off. I live in the Mold and Slug state... mileage may vary.

 

[ohju1ia]

Oats work for some, not for others. Mine kept getting moldy before I could use it, others have terrible germination. Make sure it's sproutable - if the store isn't sure, don't risk it. Some whole oats are treated with heat to keep it fresher longer, so won't germinate at all.

I have better luck with barley, lentils and any 'bird seed' mix I find on sale. Just my experience. If you've already bought it, and it turns out it's not going to 'go', try fermenting it. My birds range all day, then I feed them FF every day, and forage or sprouted lentils about 1x a week. Plan is to be ramping that up as the forage declines over the winter.
Have fun!

Update. The food grade peroxide washing has been working very well. Have not had to toss anything due to mold so far. I use approx 1/2tsp per cup water to soak for 15min, then rinse it off and soak as usual before placing in the growing tray. If my nose smells something at rinse time, will add a tiny spritz of peroxide again, then rinse off. I live in the Mold and Slug state... mileage may vary.

I can't find barley in my area for a reasonable price. One store had a 50lbs bag for $30.

 

[crazyaboutchickens]

Oats work for some, not for others. Mine kept getting moldy before I could use it, others have terrible germination. Make sure it's sproutable - if the store isn't sure, don't risk it. Some whole oats are treated with heat to keep it fresher longer, so won't germinate at all.

I have better luck with barley, lentils and any 'bird seed' mix I find on sale. Just my experience. If you've already bought it, and it turns out it's not going to 'go', try fermenting it. My birds range all day, then I feed them FF every day, and forage or sprouted lentils about 1x a week. Plan is to be ramping that up as the forage declines over the winter.
Have fun!

Update. The food grade peroxide washing has been working very well. Have not had to toss anything due to mold so far. I use approx 1/2tsp per cup water to soak for 15min, then rinse it off and soak as usual before placing in the growing tray. If my nose smells something at rinse time, will add a tiny spritz of peroxide again, then rinse off. I live in the Mold and Slug state... mileage may vary.

I can't find barley in my area for a reasonable price. One store had a 50lbs bag for $30.

50 lbs for $30 is 60c a lb.
1 lb of grain equals 6-7 lbs of fodder.
Real cost: 9c a lb.

Sounds totally reasonable to me.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Not exactly
Most of the extra weight of fodder is just water

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/hydrofodder.html
Quote: Without further analysis, this sounds like a great way to reduce the cost of feeding livestock.

But when the wet cost is converted to a dry matter basis, feed cost becomes very high.

At 12 percent dry matter (DM), wet feed that costs 6 cents per pound actually costs 50 cents per pound of dry matter.

This is considerable more expensive than most other feedstuffs, as shown in the tables below.

 

[crazyaboutchickens]

[COLOR=333333]50 lbs for $30 is 60c a lb.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]1 lb of grain equals 6-7 lbs of fodder.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]Real cost: 9c a lb.[/COLOR]

Not exactly
Most of the extra weight of fodder is just water

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/hydrofodder.html

If you do not consider its high moisture content, the per pound price of hydroponic fodder seems very economical, around $0.06 per pound (or $120 per ton) (3).
 
Without further analysis, this sounds like a great way to reduce the cost of feeding livestock.
 
But when the wet cost is converted to a dry matter basis, feed cost becomes very high.
 
At 12 percent dry matter (DM), wet feed that costs 6 cents per pound actually costs 50 cents per pound of dry matter.
 
This is considerable more expensive than most other feedstuffs, as shown in the tables below.

Both wet mash and fermented feed have a higher water content than dry feed. Neither of those cause chickens to be vitamin deficient, even when the water weight is ignored.
Their statements that it isn't as nutritive are also based on the estimate that commercially, fodder is only given at 2% of the animal's body weight. For chickens, that's an average of 0.15lb of feed, a major decrease from what standard dry feed rations are per bird. If given in a full ration (0.33lb) their requirements would be fulfilled and there would be no problems.