Growing fodder for chickens

[pawtraitart]

A cooler temperature is ideal. If it's too warm, then mold gets a boost. An average of 60 degrees F seems to be perfect according to my tests. Hope that helps.

 

[DMRippy]

A cooler temperature is ideal. If it's too warm, then mold gets a boost. An average of 60 degrees F seems to be perfect according to my tests. Hope that helps.

It dips in the 40's here most every night. Good sleeping but might get too cool for fodder. I don't have a basement to keep them more constant temps. I can keep them near my brooder boxes to keep them warmer at night. I just need to do some planning.

 

[pawtraitart]

I would go ahead and try them at 40. It might still work. If not, a regular 60 watt incandescent light bulb nearby might heat it up enough. If you can place your fodder trays in a closet or cabinet with a light bulb in it that should do the trick as well. Good luck.

 

[DMRippy]

I would go ahead and try them at 40. It might still work. If not, a regular 60 watt incandescent light bulb nearby might heat it up enough. If you can place your fodder trays in a closet or cabinet with a light bulb in it that should do the trick as well. Good luck.

Will do!

 

[Daloorashens]

Since this is done hydroponically you have to put your ideas of sprouting seeds in soil away. You soak the seeds for 24 hours before you place them into the tray. Since there is no soil, you have to water them multiple times a day to keep them moist or they will not germinate and sprout. It also helps rinse the starch away and keep the mold down. Barley is a cold weather crop so you do not want it to be hot. Ideal temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees. You also do not want the humidity to be too high or they will mold. We feed my 30 chickens one tray a day, plus they get to forage the rest of the day. During the winter we soak chicken scratch in milk to help them stay nice and plump. I have found feeding milk to my heritage breed meat birds increases their growth rate. So you would need 10 trays per day, we do 6 per day for our entire ranch with room to do 10 when we get cattle and fiber sheep. We plan on purchasing the FarmTek trays that are 20 feet long by 9" wide in the Spring. They have a 20 year warranty.

That is a good way to explain it!

My question now... Do you only feed fodder, then? in addition to what you stated above?

 

[QuartzRidgeRanch]

For my chickens they get fodder morning and evening and then the milk soaked scratch grains for a treat. For my American Guinea Hogs they get mostly fodder, some hay and a little bit of milk and scratch grains as a treat. They are plump but not overly fat. My horse gets fodder and some hay. I don't buy the expensive alfalfa or orchard grass because they get most of their nutrients from the fodder. It is to keep the horse busy and it is recommended to have some leafy, dry hay to move the fodder through their system. Same with the dairy goats, they get fodder and hay. When they are in milk or a month before they kid we give them dairy pellets. My Pilgrim Geese eat just barley and my muscovies eat the barley and they they get to forage for food. So far everyone is a healthy weight and happy. No one seems like they are starving even though it seems like i am feeding them so little. I have found throwing in the hay helps give them something to do

 

[Daloorashens]

HAve you done a cost comparison with the fodder?? Pound for pound wise... Just curious...

 

[kreagerm]

Making plans of my own to take on a fodder project, thanks for all the great information!!!!

 

[greenhorn]

Thanks! This is what I initially wanted it for:
Think of all the lovely, creamy milk I will have to make cheese with!

But a tray is actually enough for all the critters I want. So yummy meat, lovely yellow eggs, and fresh cheese year round. Pretty hard to beat for $40 a ton, which is what I calculated the wheat Fodder costs me.

Seeing as how crappy hay is over 300 a ton here...............

Sherry

Wow, 40 dollars a ton! That's some inexpensive feed right there.

 

[melwynnd]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the absence, spent the last week getting ready for a Sustainability festival nearby. My living room was full of Fodder!!

For those of you considering a greenhouse, I would recommend a small, well insulated shed with a window instead. Fodder doesn't need much light. What it DOES need is constant temperatures. It's not going to do much at all at 40 degrees. Even if it heats up to 70 during the day, dropping back down to 40 is going to slow the growth to a crawl. A greenhouse heats up during the day, but it's really hard to keep warm at night.

As for comparative price, that depends on the price of your seed. I buy my wheat for $9.60 per pound. I get about 6 pounds of Fodder per pound of wheat. This so it runs just over $.03 a pound or $64 a ton. Not too bad for such high quality feed.

Sherry

I finally got some decent picture of the 12 tray system. There's on of both systems together on my website Gallery at www.half-pinthomestead.com