Growing fodder for chickens

[PetRock]

Have any of you had problems with grain weevils? The last 2 bags of barley that I purchased from 2 different feed stores (the grain came from 2 different sources) have had weevils. One bag had them within 1 week of purchase. I have started putting the 50 lb bags of grain in my chest freezer as soon as I bring them home and leave them there for 3 weeks to, hopefully, kill any weevils, larva, and eggs.

 

[mi2bugz]

Have any of you had problems with grain weevils?  The last 2 bags of barley that I purchased from 2 different feed stores (the grain came from 2 different sources) have had weevils.  One bag had them within 1 week of purchase.  I have started putting the 50 lb bags of grain in my chest freezer as soon as I bring them home and leave them there for 3 weeks to, hopefully, kill any weevils, larva, and eggs.  

Just got my bag of wheat and after reading this thinking I should divide it up into a weeks worth and put it in ziplock bags and into the freezer. How do others store it if have only a few chickens?

 

[RaresightFarms]

I just yesterday started to grow my own fodder. Soaked BOSS overnight, then put into tubs with little holes in the bottom to sprout. Watering 4x a day. Well, the guide says not to let the seeds dry out. But... when I water them, the water drains in a couple minutes, leaving them to start drying until the next watering. I see a lot of pics of fodder systems that are in open air, so I figured that would work for us as well, since we do it indoors. Like this - http://rinamarie.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/diy-hydroponic-fodder-system We intend to do a watering system like that eventually as well, but do it by hand for now. But I am wondering how the seeds don't dry out between watering, especially in summer.


Also - for those of you who do the water-pump-on-a-timer for the watering (for people with jobs away from how, is there any other way??)... where in the world do you get a timer that will turn on/of 4x a day, and only stay on (watering) for a short time (just enough to soak the seeds)? I have a timer that will let me program by the minute, but only has two timers on it (as in, can turn on/of 2 times in 24 hours). Vs the other one that I have, that can do as many times a day that I want - but only in 30min blocks (so the water would be running into the seeds for 30min - is that too long?).

Thanks!

 

[Wednesday]

Ok smart chicken people with way more experience
than I do, I was very excited to read about fodder. This is
an extensive thread and I wonder what your thoughts
on this agricultural article that state that fodder may be too
good to be true. Any thoughts?

http://agfax.com/2013/10/14/california-hydroponic-forage-make-sense/

 

[RaresightFarms]

ARG. Just lost the whole long post because I included a link. Frustrating!

*takes a breath* Ok, again.


We are new to fodder growing - just started 2 days ago. We soaked Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for a bit over a day, then rinsed and divided into containers with little holes in the bottom (the bottom half of a bunch of gal water jugs, actually). We have 12 of those, stacked 2 high (bin to collect water - mesh shelf - 6 containers - mesh shelf - 6 containers). We are watering them 4x daily. They are in our extra room, by the glass door which gets a lot of morning sun, next to our chick pen (where we keep the chicks too small to go outside yet). Our current question is - will the seeds dry out too much between watering? We flood them 4x daily but it drains in 2-3 minutes, and then, of course, starts drying out until the next watering. How dry is too dry? Is 'feels moist' ok? Are they fine so long as they don't feel like hard dry seeds? I was considering putting paper towels on top of the seeds, but I'd worry about bacteria or mold growing in the paper towels.

We are following the directions of a certain website (which I apparently cannot link). But I will add the photo they show of their setup.



This is NOT our setup, but it's what we are working towards. As you see, there's no plastic sheeting or greenhouse-like lids on the seeds.


Another question. For those of you who do use the timer-pump method of watering... where in the world do you get a timer that will water 4x a day for 5-10min each time? My digital timer only allows 2 'timers' (so 2x a day) to be set, and my non-digital will allow as many as I press in but it's limited to 30-min blocks. Is 30min too long to flush water through the bins, at any stage of growth?

 

[Phoenixxx]

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). 

The GMO thing is actually one of the main reasons I got into chickens! And then I discovered the cost of organic feed vs "who the heck knows what's in here" feed... I have been giving conventional feed with the consolation that my birds' primary diet comes from my yard and that they get fermented barley (not a known gmo crop whereas wheat and oats likely are gmo) for supper when the forage is under snow. I am so glad I stumbled upon this thread, I only wish I found it a year ago! Today I bought a wire shoe rack, cake tins to fit and pans to collect the water. I'll be setting it up in my kitchen so I just use the faucet sprayer If all goes well, I'm hoping to drastically reduce - if not eliminate - the layer and grower mixes altogether. At the very least, I'm hoping my costs will go down so much that I'll be able to afford buying organic supplementation

 

[Phoenixxx]

Just got my bag of wheat and after reading this thinking I should divide it up into a weeks worth and put it in ziplock bags and into the freezer. How do others store it if have only a few chickens?

Wouldn't the chickens WANT the weavils? I mean, provided they don't find their way loose in your house - that can be disastrous.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Ok smart chicken people with way more experience
than I do, I was very excited to read about fodder. This is
an extensive thread and I wonder what your thoughts
on this agricultural article that state that fodder may be too
good to be true. Any thoughts?

http://agfax.com/2013/10/14/california-hydroponic-forage-make-sense/

hmmm. Interesting. I think it is interesting that their main point is comparing fodder to a dry materials diet which to me the point of growing fodder is to feed your animals a NOT completely dry materials diet and one that more closely resembles a forage diet. They do not make any comparisons to fodder vs pasture feeding in terms of weight which seems like a misstep in a turn analysis of value. I agree that it may not be the most long term economical way to grow grains but if you do not own pasture land then growing pasture isn't an option.

I would agree that the lbs results people give often feel a little confusing as I am never sure how these are being weighted.

The nutritional information they give here is confusing. The writer says: "

However, we do not have data to suggest that barley ‘forage’ is superior to feeding other forages with similar analyses, or even better than feeding barley directly." which seems to now be switch from comparing fodder to DM to comparing fodder with forage barley and I don't think anyone is claiming that fodder grown barley sprouts are better than soil grown barley sprouts.​

There are numerous scientific journals that break down exactly how the nutritional value changes in grains as they are soaked, germinated and sprouted. It has been my understanding based on reading these that the digestible proteins increase in sprouted grains. However I am not a scientist so I am not sure how these digestible proteins differ from the "true proteins" mentioned in this piece.​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouting#Nutritional_information

 

[PetRock]

Wouldn't the chickens WANT the weavils?

I mean, provided they don't find their way loose in your house - that can be disastrous.

The ones in my barley were ugly black things that were crawling all over inside the plastic vittle vault container that I store my grain in. I wasn't thrilled with the thought that they might get out. Plus, the larva eat the grain kernel.

I don't want hoards of these loose in my house!

 

[mi2bugz]

Wouldn't the chickens WANT the weavils? I mean, provided they don't find their way loose in your house - that can be disastrous.

.

Good point! New to chickens n feed so don't know what I am doing . So just store it covered like regular feed (inside out of elements, off ground, and sealed so no pests get in it)?