Growing fodder for chickens

[MandalaMaMa]

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I use Luke warm water , put a 25-40 watt light over it. It really kicks it in growing. Especially when you see green like yours. Mine looks like yours now also.[/quoteI

I have been using warm water. Interesting about the light source. Thanks. By the I love your avatar.

 

[maneuvers]

5 days old wheat. I used a plastic pot bottom for plants and drilled 1/8 holes

 

[Chickmagnet9]

I have not. I just bought the seeds to do it and I have a lot of containers to grow it in I only have 9 chickens so, it shouldn't be that much of an ordeal, right? I haven't go the slightest idea how but I am going to find out right now. All I know is the seeds need to be soaked and I did that. Now, time to grow! THANK YOU.

 

[beverly evans]

A few weeks ago I did start at page one and read the first 20 or so pages and STILL got off on the wrong foot! (sigh). I just left out the drainage part altogether. I'm back on track now, after throwing away some fermented seed. haha I already had regular bird seed here so I got a slue of 2-go boxes I had in the shed, cut the tops out, punched holes and laid the seed, using the bottoms for drainage but the seed sat in about 1 inch so they were consistently wet. Now I'm wondering if I have wine too! Drained what was salvageable; have a bag of black oil sunflower here; startin' again! If I mess up now, it'll be 'cause I got drunk off that old seed!

Never throw it away! Just rinse and feed it to them. It is just fermented feed after all. You never have to waste it. The mold when it happens can be washed off. I heard or rather read that it was bad for them but my compost pile regularly produces mold on various components and they hop up there and eat some of it without apparent harm.

 

[michaelf]

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I use Luke warm water , put a 25-40 watt light over it. It really kicks it in growing. Especially when you see green like yours. Mine looks like yours now also.[/quoteI

I have been using warm water. Interesting about the light source. Thanks. By the I love your avatar.

I just use a clamp on light and put above about 20 inches and I use a 25 watt incandescent bulb. During day I place them in front of a window to get light.

 

[OHhappychicks]

That would be wonderful if you could feed it to them with a little mold!!! I've thrown out so much because It had little white fuzzy mold spots!!!
I always used wheat and boss. This last time I added some rye. I really tried to keep it rinsed, but I work 3 days a week, so on those days only got it rinsed 2-3 x's. On the other days, about 3-4 x's a day. Tried different types of containers, I gave it good ventilation, but still i got mold. I gave up. I thought maybe it was the wheat. I believe it has a lot of starch, but I may be wrong. I can't get barley at our local mill or I would try it instead. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[tillyita]

That would be wonderful if you could feed it to them with a little mold!!! I've thrown out so much because It had little white fuzzy mold spots!!!
I always used wheat and boss.  This last time I added some rye.  I really tried to keep it rinsed, but I work 3 days a week, so on those days only got it rinsed 2-3 x's. On the other days, about 3-4 x's a day. Tried different types of containers,  I gave it good ventilation, but still i got mold.  I gave up.  I thought maybe it was the wheat. I believe it has a lot of starch, but I may be wrong.  I can't get barley at our local mill or I would try it instead.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

The white fluffy mould is perfectly safe. if your worried about it either hose it off before you give it to them (it actually washes off quite easily) or put it in the sun for a day and then wet it before feeding. The sun kills the spores and the wetting stops them from becoming air born. It is caused by spores on the seeds grain itself and occurs naturally in the pasture where the grain originally came from. In other words every time you let your chickens free range they are probably eating these mould spores.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Thank you!!!! I may have to give it another shot!! We haven't had much sun this winter and lots of SNOW! Do you think putting it under a heat lamp would do the same?
Does anyone think putting a little white vinegar or lemon juice in the water when you soak them would kill the mold spores? I think I may start a small batch
soaking today. I will experiment with the vinegar and see what happens.
And Greetings from Ohio, USA! Where in Australia are you?

 

[LeopardRock]

Hi. I have finally sourced barley and would like to try it. How thick do you make the layer of barley?

 

[OHhappychicks]

To LeopardRock, I've not had very good luck with my fodder growing efforts, but I think the suggested depth is 1/4 to 1/2 inch. If you go to the first 1 or 2 pages of this thread, more of the experienced "fodder extraordinaires' " will have the correct answer for you. And

from sw ohio!!!