Growing fodder for chickens

[jphendrix]

Not yet, and to tell you the truth I haven't even thought about it. But if I do I will have to find a way to keep them out.

 

[CATRYNA]

We have been growing fodder too, for a while, for our chickens and ducks. We hope to get a cow later on this year and will incorporate the fodder into the rotational pasture system it will be on. The grains we use for fodder are wheat and barley mostly. We haven't had much luck with oats (which seems to eveyone's problem). We also sprout mung beans, red beans, rye, low peas and lentils. Our chickens and ducklings love the variety.

 

[TheMerryYeoman]

WARNING: WARNING: You also have to use "Feed" Barley/Wheat etc. Seed is usually inoculated and will kill animals.WARNING:WARNING:

 

[CATRYNA]

Good call. Generally "Feed" barley or wheat at a feed store is for using for animals. But, to make it clear as to Barley; buying recleaned Barley is the ticket for successful fodder growing and I personally buy organic winter red wheat for fodder growing and bread baking.

 

[jphendrix]

Here is a photo of my wheat fodder on day 8. It does so much better than the oats!

 

[CATRYNA]

I think most of us have had better success with wheat and barley vs oats. I mix barley and wheat together and sprout them.

 

[Phoenixxx]

So, I've been at this for well over a month now with my shoe rack cake-tin rain-down setup with 3 rinses per day. Just over a week ago, I tried BOSS. What I found was that the BOSS LOVES to go mouldy! (Barley doesn't - like, at all.) So, after the first few days, I decided to do a tray of just BOSS but do the initial rinse in scorching hot water. My thinking being, if the BOSS goes mouldy so readily when the barley never does, it must already exist on the shells of the BOSS. Well, turns out, I was right - the test tray of hot water boss is on day 7 and, though there has been some very light moulding, it hasn't grown the big clumps of mould that it does in all the cold water started trays. Thought I'd pass this on

 

[Sirracha]

I've found BOSS gets moldy cuz the skins off the shells clog up the drain holes. Multiple rinsing on separate days helps initially but the chicks don't mind the wheat grass and I mind stressing over moldy slimy fodder and too much work when it should be simple.

 

[SavageDestiny]

So I've fed alfalfa sprouts- a little more than just sprouted, but not quite full fodder- to my girls 2 mornings for breakfast. They are in denial. They cannot believe my sprout shenanigans. They do not accept it as food! They will eat it... eventually... but they act like I am personally offending them by giving them fodder. Tonight when I brought their dinner of fermented feed, they MOBBED me. Like they were starving!

Did anyone else's girls act like this? Did they adjust? I'm trying wheat fodder tomorrow...

 

[CATRYNA]

Fermented seeds? Oh yes!!!! Chickens love stuff that is fermented most of all. That's what goes first around here.