Growing fodder for chickens

[beverly evans]

I found some old Rubbermaid totes that were missing lids. Put holes in the bottom of one. Today is day one of my sprouting adventure! Starting with BOSS because I already have some. This is a little too exciting. I cannot believe the money that can be saved in providing fodder. My girls are only 8 weeks old so I want to make sure they are still eating mostly feed...right? I am beyond convinced in the nutritious nature of fodder but should I limit their consumption? It's such a natural food source I'm tempted to think it's better but everyone else seems to think they should be on crumbles alone at this age.

Don't make the mistake I did. You have to "wash" the stuff at least twice daily. A simple rinse won't do it. They mold rather quickly and the whole mess has to be thrown out. My hens aren't really impressed by BOSS, just let it sit there most of the day without eating it. It doesn't do the ferment thing either. Good luck!

 

[beverly evans]

Thank you very much... however, Lacy is not my real name. I use it because of the birds I breed. Sorry.

So what kind of chicken is a "lacy blue"? Yours in particular. I suppose any breed that can have lacing can have a "blue" form. The one in your foto is really pretty!

 

[christine9]

I found some old Rubbermaid totes that were missing lids. Put holes in the bottom of one. Today is day one of my sprouting adventure! Starting with BOSS because I already have some. This is a little too exciting. I cannot believe the money that can be saved in providing fodder. My girls are only 8 weeks old so I want to make sure they are still eating mostly feed...right? I am beyond convinced in the nutritious nature of fodder but should I limit their consumption? It's such a natural food source I'm tempted to think it's better but everyone else seems to think they should be on crumbles alone at this age.

Don't make the mistake I did.  You have to "wash" the stuff at least twice daily.  A simple rinse won't do it.  They mold rather quickly and the whole mess has to be thrown out.  My hens aren't really impressed by BOSS,  just let it sit there most of the day without eating it. It doesn't do the ferment thing either.  Good luck!

Thanks! So far so good. I've been soaking them for five mins each morning and giving them a rough rinse at night. That seems to be working. No signs of mold and they're starting to sprout. I have to admit, I'll be disappointed if my girls don't like them.

 

[Jeanette56]

Thanks! So far so good. I've been soaking them for five mins each morning and giving them a rough rinse at night. That seems to be working. No signs of mold and they're starting to sprout. I have to admit, I'll be disappointed if my girls don't like them.

 

[tdbrueggen]

I sprouted some fodder on accident from a bag of feed, but it got me thinking about it more. I had a bag of all natural feed get rained on, because I'm an idiot and left it in the truck one night. I salvaged some of it still dry, but tossed most of it out wet. I tossed it on the garden for compost. And I'll be darn, it sprouted! Now I have a garden full of "green manure" which is OK I suppose. I'll just turn it under.

But it made me realize I should have just pitched it in the chicken run for them to pick through. What they don't want or miss, would have sprouted to give them some greenery to work on. What I'm doing now is just tossing a few handfuls of oats every now and then into the run. If the birds don't eat the oats, they sprout, and then they eat the sprouts. I can see that some of it is sprouting. I don't know if the rest got eaten, or just didn't germinate.

Now I'm looking at my runs as micro-pastures. It's basically the inverse of a chicken tractor. If I can find a way to isolate one run at a time, I'll keep the birds out for about a week or so and let it sprout full of oats/grass seed. Then I'll let them have at it!

I'm thinking sprouting the fodder is certainly a more robust method than just tossing out grain like I am. You get almost 100% germination and have more control over when and how much the birds get. But I don't have the time/space to manage a fodder operation, so I just toss out the grain.

 

[Lacy Blues]

So what kind of chicken is a "lacy blue"? Yours in particular. I suppose any breed that can have lacing can have a "blue" form. The one in your foto is really pretty!

My kind of chicken in particular is a Blue Andalusian. Yes, many breeds have blue with lacing and there are even some that rival the Andalusian, though the Andalusian is the breed that "owns" blue.

You mentioned that you have to "wash" your seeds. How do you "wash" not just rinse your seeds?

 

[beverly evans]

My kind of chicken in particular is a Blue Andalusian. Yes, many breeds have blue with lacing and there are even some that rival the Andalusian, though the Andalusian is the breed that "owns" blue.

You mentioned that you have to "wash" your seeds. How do you "wash" not just rinse your seeds?

I just meant a vigorous rinsing, not really washing. Since my rinsing at first had evidently not been good enough.

 

[beverly evans]

My kind of chicken in particular is a Blue Andalusian. Yes, many breeds have blue with lacing and there are even some that rival the Andalusian, though the Andalusian is the breed that "owns" blue.

You mentioned that you have to "wash" your seeds. How do you "wash" not just rinse your seeds?

Forgot to ask. So this is the only kind of chicken you raise? Then you must show them and sell them? How many do you have? Doing it since 2004, you must really be savy at this point. You are in Nevada in the snow. Do you sell outside your area? Always looking to have another exceptionally beautiful bird added to my flock. : )

 

[Lacy Blues]

Forgot to ask. So this is the only kind of chicken you raise? Then you must show them and sell them? How many do you have? Doing it since 2004, you must really be savy at this point. You are in Nevada in the snow. Do you sell outside your area? Always looking to have another exceptionally beautiful bird added to my flock. : )

I raise Andalusians and my daughter raises Golden Campines. Other than this we have a few cross breeds running around for eggs and meat. I don't know if I would claim to be savvy but I do sell when I have birds to sell and buyers are willing to pay shipping. I show if I can afford to go to the show and pay for gas and hotel and all that stuff. What makes you think Nevada has snow? We do GET snow but it doesn't stick around. Where are you? When I get birds that look like the ones I've got pictures of, I generally don't sell them as they are exceptionally hard to come by. I need to get better at culling and being ruthless about it. Maybe this year...

 

[beverly evans]

I raise Andalusians and my daughter raises Golden Campines. Other than this we have a few cross breeds running around for eggs and meat. I don't know if I would claim to be savvy but I do sell when I have birds to sell and buyers are willing to pay shipping. I show if I can afford to go to the show and pay for gas and hotel and all that stuff. What makes you think Nevada has snow? We do GET snow but it doesn't stick around. Where are you? When I get birds that look like the ones I've got pictures of, I generally don't sell them as they are exceptionally hard to come by. I need to get better at culling and being ruthless about it. Maybe this year...

I'm in hot central Texas, Austin. I went to Reno as a child and all I remember is the mountains.