Growing fodder for chickens

[AlaskaChicks]

Thanks so much for sharing your design! I live in Alaska, so shipping in feed can get expensive so I've been looking for alternative supplements. Thank goodness for this forum, it has done so much to help me in this (my first year of having chickens) adventure!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Maybe you can collect seeds from wild plants that grow where you live and sprout them and grow some to fodder stage.

 

[AlaskaChicks]

Maybe you can collect seeds from wild plants that grow where you live and sprout them and grow some to fodder stage.

great idea! i will have to research this a bit more and see if i can do that next year, thanks!

 

[velacreations]

I have been doing research, trying to find grains that I can grow in the summer, as our temps get up to 80F in the house most of the time. I am growing wheat fodder in the winter, and I have done it for the past few winters.

I just got a small (8 watt) pump and timer to water my trays automatically. Pump and timer were $30, so I'm now up to $50 for my system, or 2.5 bags of rabbit pellets. My basic system without the pump has paid that several times over, as I have 12 adult rabbits and 36 growers at any one time (plus poultry, pigs, goats, etc)

Here in Mexico, I discovered, they grow corn, instead of wheat or barley for hydro fodder. Some operations even grow it to 12 days, giving nutrients after the 8th day, to get even more growth out of it (looks to be about 1 ft tall).

If you can read spanish (or you could use Google Translate), do a web search for "forraje verde hidroponico" (hydroponic green forage). The spanish word for corn is "maiz". Lots of systems throughout Mexico, though none in my area, which is kinda strange, as we are the cattle and dairy capital of Mexico.

Corn likes 70-75 for germination, 80+ for growing. That should be doable for me! The resulting fodder is a bit lower in protein than wheat (around 13-14%), but would still be worth it, if you fed with a higher quality hay. This is an alternative to those of us that need something for the summer.

I did find some spanish research papers on feeding corn fodder vs pellets for rabbits. On nearly all of them, fodder+minerals gain weight faster than the control group (pellets)

 

[Kassaundra]

I have been doing research, trying to find grains that I can grow in the summer, as our temps get up to 80F in the house most of the time. I am growing wheat fodder in the winter, and I have done it for the past few winters.

I just got a small (8 watt) pump and timer to water my trays automatically. Pump and timer were $30, so I'm now up to $50 for my system, or 2.5 bags of rabbit pellets. My basic system without the pump has paid that several times over, as I have 12 adult rabbits and 36 growers at any one time (plus poultry, pigs, goats, etc)

Here in Mexico, I discovered, they grow corn, instead of wheat or barley for hydro fodder. Some operations even grow it to 12 days, giving nutrients after the 8th day, to get even more growth out of it (looks to be about 1 ft tall).

If you can read spanish (or you could use Google Translate), do a web search for "forraje verde hidroponico" (hydroponic green forage). The spanish word for corn is "maiz". Lots of systems throughout Mexico, though none in my area, which is kinda strange, as we are the cattle and dairy capital of Mexico.

Corn likes 70-75 for germination, 80+ for growing. That should be doable for me! The resulting fodder is a bit lower in protein than wheat (around 13-14%), but would still be worth it, if you fed with a higher quality hay. This is an alternative to those of us that need something for the summer.

I did find some spanish research papers on feeding corn fodder vs pellets for rabbits. On nearly all of them, fodder+minerals gain weight faster than the control group (pellets)

Thanks for the reference to rabbits and fodder. I do not have them yet, but am working on making some underground dens for them as our summers are months of over 100. I hope to have all the building in place for early spring and am wanting to feed fodder and garden/yard forage w/ minerals. Good to know about the corn and warm weather.

 

[Lacy Blues]

How will you be building these underground dens? I've thought about something similar a while back but it never went anywhere.

 

[bcboy]

How will you be building these underground dens? I've thought about something similar a while back but it never went anywhere.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

nice excavator! That'll do it, Muahaha love the big toys!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Been off several days so trying to just catch up on all the posts. We have 50-60s here still.. so not growing fodder yet. Usually winter doesn't really set in til January. Going with the burlap idea, (Kassaundra, thank you!) its just going to work the best for me. Getting my bags sewn up so we are ready to go, just have to fix up my drainage tote.

 

[sueblack]

My barley does not seem to be sprouting after 3 days. I soaked it for 24 hours, then have been rinsing it once a day. I started rinsing it twice a day yesterday thinking that maybe its getting too dry. It is this years barley so the seed can't be too old. Any thoughts on this?