Growing fodder for chickens

[SweetMischief]

We grow fodder for our horses, cattle and chickens! We love it! We got a big setup inside a heated greenhouse. We grow fodder year round. Depending on who I am feeding I have different mixtures. I have two fodder systems going at once, equally 24 trays of fodder and I believe it's 60 pounds per tray.

 

[TnAndy]

X2, i think that make you work hard!!!!

Not really. The above post is a copy/paste of what I posted over at HomesteadingToday several weeks back.

Since then, I find it takes about 5 minutes/day to pull a tray out to go to the chicken yard, refill it with pre-soaked seed, and put another bucket to soaking for the next day. We have 14 hens and two roosters, and I'm finding a full tray is more than they clean up in a day, so I've cut them back to half tray a day......so I'm only filling a new tray every other day now. ( They have couple of hanging feeders for standard laying mash fed at will as well as this fodder )

I've also switched to barley.....it makes a denser seed mat, but I have about 100lbs of wheat I will be using up as well.....I may try a mix. I like the idea of some black sunflower seed in it as well.

Also about once a week, I roll the stand over to the garage door, and dump out the holding pan at the bottom, and fill it with fresh water. It starts to smell sorta 'gamey' after a week.

 

[Bangarang64]

Homebuilt Fodder growing system

OK, after experimenting with some seed flats on the kitchen counter top, I decided to set up a full blown automated watering system to grow fodder for my chickens this winter. Total amount in the system is about $175.

That looks truly awesome! It's much like what I have come up with in my head for my build I want to do.
One thing I can't figure out is: How can I control the over-spray so it doesn't make a mess? When the wheat get taller in the top bin, wouldn't some of the spray of water splash off of it onto the floor and walls? or is it just a trickle sort of thing?

What does your spray system look like ? Is it simply holes drilled into the pipe?

 

[TnAndy]

I drilled 8 1/8" holes per side (16 total) in the copper pipe "T" ( part that is directly over the top tray ). I also put a valve inline about 1/2 up the back, and I keep it cracked about 1/2way open. I do that to cut the volume of water, more to keep the trays from overfilling before they can drain that because of over spray. I ended up drilling more holes in the trays that I first started with ( I think I drilled a dozen to start, slightly under 1/8" ) because I find the seed has a tendency to get in the hole and stop them up. Now each tray has about 20 holes at the lower end.


The pump I listed is rated at 396 gallons per hours, but only rated at 6.5' of lift (if I recall).....so there isn't a LOT of pressure on the holes. It comes out at a decent flow, but not enough to over spray. Of course, mine is in my basement on a concrete floor, so I don't really care about a little water slopping around.

 

[TnAndy]

I


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!

The Titan pump I listed on pg 304 of this thread will let you set up to 8 different On/Off settings per 24hrs, with any length of run from one minute onward per cycle. About $16 from Amazon or other sources.

 

[RaresightFarms]

The Titan pump I listed on pg 304 of this thread will let you set up to 8 different On/Off settings per 24hrs, with any length of run from one minute onward per cycle. About $16 from Amazon or other sources.

Ok, perfect! Thanks!

 

[ArtGirl]

How thick do you have your seeds in the trays? Do you have any other medium in there or just the seed?

We put about 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. of seed in our trays and it grows pretty thick. We have mostly just red wheat for now. Eventually we might get some BOSS but not yet.

 

[BosqueFarms]

I had to laugh when I saw this thread! I have been doing this for years, but for my consumption! I juice wheat grass all the time and gave the chickens and quail the bottom half. Now I know what those longing looks were saying: "Dude, where is the rest of the plant!" I have have started a whole bunch of trays so everyone can have their wheat grass every day! I challenge the rest of you do grow an extra pan of wheat grass for you and your family. It is great stuff.

 

[Joan71]

I think this is a cool idea. Going to get the materials together and give it a try. Love new ideas. My girls have missed having fresh green fodder to eat. Glad it will save some money. Thanks for your idea and pics.

 

[dbigger2]

You can also get seeds & grains from www.azurestandard.com. You order online, then once a month their trucks are loaded & the routes established, they bring your order to Drop near your location. Only in the US, right now. This is where I buy most of my grain & seeds for my chickens & guinea.