Growing fodder for chickens

[LeslieDJoyce]

I found a huge roll of burlap stored in the barn, thats kinda helped me decide too! I will be putting the bags in the 2nd bathroom.... think i will use one of the 48 qt totes, drill holes in the lid, and use that to stack bags to drain. be easy to pick up and move when someone needs the shower. and I can just pull lid & bags off, dump the water from the tote and replace. I like easy

I was looking into getting some "raw"-ish hemp fabric to make sprouting sacks. I was researching how human sprouting is done, and there is a company selling little hemp sprouting bags for crazy amounts of money ... I thought I could do better sewing them myself. Supposedly the hemp fabric helps with mold and such. And if you sew in a drawstring you can hang it to drain instead of working with strainers. It is supposed to be better than jars or buckets.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Could you share that link? PLEASE

 

[Kassaundra]

I was looking into getting some "raw"-ish hemp fabric to make sprouting sacks. I was researching how human sprouting is done, and there is a company selling little hemp sprouting bags for crazy amounts of money ... I thought I could do better sewing them myself. Supposedly the hemp fabric helps with mold and such. And if you sew in a drawstring you can hang it to drain instead of working with strainers. It is supposed to be better than jars or buckets.

I saw those bags too a year or two ago when I first started sprouting, that is what inspired me to sew my own burlap sacks. I have not tried hemp just b/c my local fabric store does not sell it, never actually thought about it until your post. I know the burlap will eventually grow mold, if you get distracted to long

and don't feed it out in time, I have never had it to mold before day 4, which is a great size sprout.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Could you share that link? PLEASE

I saw those bags too a year or two ago when I first started sprouting, that is what inspired me to sew my own burlap sacks. I have not tried hemp just b/c my local fabric store does not sell it, never actually thought about it until your post. I know the burlap will eventually grow mold, if you get distracted to long

and don't feed it out in time, I have never had it to mold before day 4, which is a great size sprout.

How to Use a Sprouting Bag (With Photos):

This example uses a small bag for a small amount of small seeds. Obviously scale this up for your own quantities.

http://www.underthechokotree.com/in...&catid=86:microgreens-and-sprouting&Itemid=37

.. and a more detailed description from a commercial site ...

http://sproutpeople.org/supply/sprouters/hempbag.html

The Fabric

Here is one online source with various grades of hemp fabrics by the yard:

http://www.rawganique.com/HAfabric.htm

Here is another:

http://www.hempemporium.com/page/1108686

Here is hemp fabric available through the secure online shopping powerhouse of Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Hemp-Summercl...d=1354987149&sr=1-2&keywords=100%+hemp+fabric

There are several more sources easy enough to find with a google search if these don't appeal.

Testimonial & Another How-to:

This post suggests sprouting in a bag is faster and better than jar sprouting.

http://poxacuatl.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/homemade-hemp-sprout-bags-and-more/


The Sproutman Video

Having the last word here, the Sproutman, shows off his AWESOME(ly expensive) tiny little hemp sprout bags. His sincerity is worthy of a Sunday morning, and his hat is the perfect costume for someone wanting to appear to be Not Greedy, while the tie says Not A Flake ... genius. He describes how he developed this fabric specifically to use for sprout bags ... I'm not sure it is necessary to be quite that precious about which weave of hemp fabric you use, but he has to have some leverage to market his products and he has chosen this.

And just for giggles, see that sprouting tray shelf system behind him ... I dare you to go find his website and price it. Make sure you're seated first. Here is a head start: http://www.sproutman.com/sprouters/sproutmans-wheatgrass-grower?cPath=11
Oh, do watch the video.

Then go take a shower.

Googling "hemp fabric" so shortly after googling "water pipes" (which I googled for my research into making trough feeders for serving fermented feed) has probably put me on the national Drug Enforcement watch list.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Anyone want to bite into this one? A promise to explain how to grow sprouts without daily rinsing and using very little water, actually an advertisement to a DVD course ...

 

[MyGardenHelper]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds Hi guys, heres the thread, sorry if someones already posted it. Its awesome, i have all my birds, pigs and alpaca all on it now. Odor is way down and so is my feed bills.

jchny2000,
I'm still reading this thread, but I am very interested in what you are fermenting for your alpacas. We have 2 llamas and will be adding milk goats soon. I currently sprout for our chickens and llamas (barley, oats, wheat and BOSS). The llamas are eating an orchard/alfalfa mix at $19 per bale (YIKES) at one flake per day and this cost will go up once we have goats. I'm going to start fodder soon to reduce cost of all feed and was planning to supplement fermented feed to our chickens (I've read about half of the fermenting thread). I would love to know what you are feeding the alpacas, and I'm assuming I might be able to do the same with goats. Thanks!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm not a scientist, but this interview explains in plausible laymen terms how/why sprouts of plants might have "more nutrition" than either the seed or the full-grown versions of those same plants. This is the same guy I'm making fun of in a post above, and the dude doing the interview is usually a bit of a jerk in the episodes of his show I've stumbled across, but both are being personable and charming in this video.

More About Sprout Nutrition (for Humans):

Now I'm inspired to do more research on why sprouts have more nutrition than other forms of plants just to see if this stuff is true.

 

[MyGardenHelper]

I use the following bag for sprouting. Very heavy duty and saves time on sprouting large and small seeds/grains together. I just pull the bag out of the soaking water (5 gallon bucket without holes) and set on the ground to drain. I then pour into a 5 gallon bucket with holes on the bottom and holes drilled about 2 inches up (on the sides) from the bottom. I can now sprout all of our seeds together (wheat, barley, oats and BOSS). Once I start fodder, I don't think I will need to soak in large quantities daily....but this is a heavy duty bag for those looking for one. I bought ours at a local nursery for $39. You just add the seeds/grains, mix with your hands to distribute (BOSS seeds does not float while soaking), roll it down, snap the clips, put in the bucket and fill with water.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/compost-tea-extractor.html

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

My rye sprouts looking pretty good after tweaking my system a bit.

Edited to add:

Because my trays have holes larger than my rye grains, I let my sprouts grow for a while in the bowl before I transfer them to the grow tray. This means my grain stays in the soaking bowl an extra day or two and I continue to rinse in cold water and swish and drain as needed. I drape a towel over the bowl between rinses. The sprouts do form a clump, so each time I rinse I *gently* detangle the clump with my fingers. If I let them sprout too long and clump too much, I worry I will break the shoots and roots off as I detangle them. So I'm gentle.

When I transfer them to the tray I swish them well as I break them apart to let the non-sprouted grains, broken bits and any hulls drop to the bottom of the bowl. This means there's less "dead" organic matter in my grow tray to ferment or mold.

The stuff that's left in the bottom of the bowl once the sprouts are separated currently goes on the compost pile, but I'm sure it would also make great scratch-grain type treats for the flock.

I'm amazed at how much drops out and how much the sprouted rye expands and yet how much thicker my trays are now that I'm doing it this way. Who knows!

 

[Kassaundra]

I use the following bag for sprouting. Very heavy duty and saves time on sprouting large and small seeds/grains together. I just pull the bag out of the soaking water (5 gallon bucket without holes) and set on the ground to drain. I then pour into a 5 gallon bucket with holes on the bottom and holes drilled about 2 inches up (on the sides) from the bottom. I can now sprout all of our seeds together (wheat, barley, oats and BOSS). Once I start fodder, I don't think I will need to soak in large quantities daily....but this is a heavy duty bag for those looking for one. I bought ours at a local nursery for $39. You just add the seeds/grains, mix with your hands to distribute (BOSS seeds does not float while soaking), roll it down, snap the clips, put in the bucket and fill with water.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/compost-tea-extractor.html

I can buy burlap for 3.99/yard and use 1.5 yards for 4 nice size sprouting bags that makes enough for 25 ish chickens at a time