Growing fodder for chickens

[Daloorashens]

wow.. lots of posts lately... always very interesting and educational!!

 

[pawtraitart]

I thought about this, but have decided that giving them eggs or other protein, and, yogurt at times will be easier for me. I have a small flock. Extra protein, and something for the tummy. Yogurt is great for the gut.

Wow, sounds like hay is expensive! I don't have large animals to feed like that. I feel for you guys!

Hay IS expensive. I love my hay burners, though. I can't imagine life without them.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thank you,
Also, can you tell me what is the benefit of feeding the fermented grain ?
Thank you very much.

There are many reasons, in the summer it gets more liquid in them. It provides good bacteria, enzymes, and yeast that aid digestion and improve the smell and consistency of poops (especially w/ the cx), all grain seed and legume seed have chemicals in them called anti nutrients, these inhibit digestion and usability especially to single stomached animals (including humans by the way), their real purpose is seed protection for proper germination, anyway both sprouting and fermenting (either or, not both) use up the anti nutrients making the protein and nutrition available more digestible. Sprouting/ fodder is a little different in that it actually changes the nutrient structure, as well as the seed structure itself.

 

[chickchickchiky]

I have just recently started feeding my chickens Wheat, Oats and Boss sprouts with Alfalfa mixed in there too. I have been experimenting with different seeds and so far my girls are loving this! Green in the winter they are in heaven lol and so cost effective! I pay 12.00 for 100 pds of wheat. Alfalfa is more costly but i sprout a little of it at a time then spread on the wheat flats and they get the combo. I am still averaging 8 eggs a day with 25 degrees outside! Loving this stuff!

 

[Talbott Poultry]

I started fodder using a 4 plastic shelf systems from Wally for $14.97.

Did not like that I could not move the trays, without taking it all apart.
Also did not like the water had to go from shelf to shelf.

So I ran myself out of fodder and decided to build a new rack system for the shelf's.

Now I need two more storage containers.
One to set the rack system in and one for dipping.

What I decided I will do is flood each tray one a day.
Let drain for a few minutes into the drainage trays.
Rotate on the rack and let drip into the lower trays then into the bottom catch pan.

I took two 2x2's and cut them in half.
Cut 1x2's 15.75 inches long
Started 8 inches from the bottom of the leggs
Installed a 1x2
Allowed just enough room for the tray
Installed a second 1x2
Allowed the same amount of room as the first plus 1/2 inch
Installed the third 1x2
Allowed the same as grove # 2 plus 1/2 inch
Installed the forth 1x2
Allowed the same as grove #3 plus 1 inch
continued adding 1x2's each time adding 1 inch
until I had 8 groves to set the shelf's on.

Then I cut 22 inch 1x3's and added to the back of each grove
(this keeps them all aligned from front to rear)

Then I added angle bracing to help keep it all square.

Will post pics when I finish getting the fodder room set back up and operational again.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I started fodder using a 4 plastic shelf systems from Wally for $14.97.

Did not like that I could not move the trays, without taking it all apart.
Also did not like the water had to go from shelf to shelf.

So I ran myself out of fodder and decided to build a new rack system for the shelf's.

Now I need two more storage containers.
One to set the rack system in and one for dipping.

What I decided I will do is flood each tray one a day.
Let drain for a few minutes into the drainage trays.
Rotate on the rack and let drip into the lower trays then into the bottom catch pan.

I took two 2x2's and cut them in half.
Cut 1x2's 15.75 inches long
Started 8 inches from the bottom of the leggs
Installed a 1x2
Allowed just enough room for the tray
Installed a second 1x2
Allowed the same amount of room as the first plus 1/2 inch
Installed the third 1x2
Allowed the same as grove # 2 plus 1/2 inch
Installed the forth 1x2
Allowed the same as grove #3 plus 1 inch
continued adding 1x2's each time adding 1 inch
until I had 8 groves to set the shelf's on.

Then I cut 22 inch 1x3's and added to the back of each grove
(this keeps them all aligned from front to rear)

Then I added angle bracing to help keep it all square.

Will post pics when I finish getting the fodder room set back up and operational again.

wow, that's interesting, what size container, and how many birds are you feeding?

 

[Talbott Poultry]

Quote:

The containers are actually shelves from a plastic shelving system from Walmart.



They measure about 14" x 22 "
With lots of holes.




Take notice to of the divided sections.
After the fodder grows they grow over them.
But with a pocket knife easy to cut into smaller sections.

I have somewhere around 150 of all ages from 3 weeks to 5 years.
I am still working on how much each breed pen gets.
at this point it is more of a treat than a supplement.
And yes I probably have WAYYY too many chickens.

Will try to get a couple of pictures of the shelving rack that I built over the weekend.

 

[groverlvchx]

I'm very interested in how you are draining this indoors. Others drain outside but it's 7* right now and we have a few months of this cold so that's not practical here in MN. I like how you utilize the space and keep it "squared up" so drainage will be controlled. How heavy will the whole thing be? How will you drain? SO EXCITED to see the finished product!! Thanks for sharing your process

 

[Talbott Poultry]

I'm very interested in how you are draining this indoors. Others drain outside but it's 7* right now and we have a few months of this cold so that's not practical here in MN. I like how you utilize the space and keep it "squared up" so drainage will be controlled. How heavy will the whole thing be? How will you drain? SO EXCITED to see the finished product!! Thanks for sharing your process

Go to wally and STAY OUT of the Christmas section for storage containers.

Look in their normal storage containers, then choose the correct size to fit under your shelf's.
The normal containers are A LOT cheaper than the Christmas ones.

 

[Talbott Poultry]

Front of shelving package.




Rear of shelving package.




One of the shelves before drilling.




Same shelf after drilling.




Frontal view of rack.




A little different angle.




Another front view.




A corner angle to see the front to rear bracing.




Opposite angle with one shelf partially slid into place.




Front view with all shelves in place.




Side view with all shelves in place.





Rear view with shelves in place.

NOTES:
Rear has 1x3's aligned with bottom of side 1x2's to keep shelf from sliding out the back.
Rear 1x3's have 2 screws on each end of each board, to help with bracing side to side, notice there is no diagonal brace on front or rear.
Most important: Due to using cheap, light weight 1x2's and 1x3's from lowes ALL holes in 1x's MUST BE PRE DRILLED to keep woof from splitting out.

List of materials.
2 - shelf systems @ 14.97 each
2 - 2x2's @ 1.99 ea
5 - 1x2 @ 0.97 ea
3 - 1x3 @ 1.47 ea
screws 1-5/8" long
4 - storage containers
1 for dipping the shelves into
2 for drainage when shelves come out of sub merging
1 for rack to sit in to catch any remaining drainage


Estimated total for this set up $100.00 most expense coming from storage containers.
Will build another come spring time.
Right now I have chickens in too different locations. When they finally get all together then I think I will need 2 trays per day.