Growing fodder for chickens

[corancher]

I have a 150 gal. trout tank and for a biofilter I use a 3'x8'x12" gravel bed. In the gravel grow bed I grow comfrey for the donkeys and chickens . I groom it every day and when it goes dorment I plant the cut mat after juicing wheat grass. That roots and keeps the water clean in winter. In summer the grass root mat goes to the pigs. I live in the Mohave desert with not enough green on my acre to even feed one donkey, except for my garden and orchard.

Very interesting. Any chance for pictures. I am not sure what you mean by groom. Does it mean pick it?

 

[spiritrancho]

They comfrey leaf stem is kinda fragile and it bends over then the leaf dies. So I groom the comfrey by cutting off the bent over leaves for fodder. Also any leaves that are starting to brown are groomed off. Donkeys will eat 'em brown but chickens wont. In this way the stand stays vibrant but we get fodder out of it on a daily basis.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

We are lucky enough to have an agreement with a local farmer's/produce market to pick up their produce that is either a little old, odd shaped, over stocked in the months of May-October. It helps a lot on the feed bill and is nice for all our animals. In addition those overstocks, end up in canning jar or the freezer for our consumption.

The produce stands are a good source for any of you that have one near by. They have to pay lots of money for a dumpster with pick up every day or every other day so if they can find someone willing to pick up the produce they can't sell daily then it saves them lots of money. We just provide heavy duty trash cans and they put the stuff in the cans. They have a fork lift so I stop by on my way home from work they load whatever they have. It is a bit of work and can be messy but not bad if you stay on top of things. Just thought I would mention for those of you wanting to save money, provide produce for your animals, and not afraid of a little work.

Cool system with the produce stand!

If I ever start up with pigs, I hope I can find a produce stand near here that will let me do this, too. My kitchen produces almost no compost "waste" except coffee grounds, so I called some local grocery stores hoping one might agree to give me a box of wilted kale on occasion. Nope, they all have contracts with major pig farms. They were actually kinda snarky about it. "DO NOT call any of the OTHER stores!" Yeesh. Okay. I won't.

When I was about 9, I used to walk in the front door of the local grocery store franchise with a flat of blueberries, find the person working the produce section (it was always a man), and say, "Mr.? Do you want to buy some blueberries?" and he would *always* say "Yes," and put the whole flat right on the display, stick a price on it, hand me some money and ask me to bring more in a few days. Always.

I need to get my self in gear and grow an enormous garden for my kitchen and my chickens. That's really the right thing to do. I'm sure that's what all the "good" people around here do. And then the good people don't have to go to the snarky grocery store at all. Sigh.

 

[mickey328]

We're going to start with a fodder system this fall, too. Greens in the summer aren't usually an issue because we have all kinds of stuff growing, but they are in short supply over the summer months. After doing a lot of reading here and researching elsewhere, we've come up with what I hope will be an inexpensive system that works well. We'll get a used shower pan from the local re-source building materials store. DH will make a frame for it to sit on and we'll put in a large tub of some sort as a reservoir under the drain hole. We can get a small fountain pump to bring water up for the fodder trays (which will set in the pan) and put it on a timer. We'll set it to run every few hours and it can drain through the trays and back into the reservoir. We should be able to get the whole thing built for well under $100 and make nice green nutrition for the chickens and rabbits all winter long.

 

[corancher]

We're going to start with a fodder system this fall, too. Greens in the summer aren't usually an issue because we have all kinds of stuff growing, but they are in short supply over the summer months. After doing a lot of reading here and researching elsewhere, we've come up with what I hope will be an inexpensive system that works well. We'll get a used shower pan from the local re-source building materials store. DH will make a frame for it to sit on and we'll put in a large tub of some sort as a reservoir under the drain hole. We can get a small fountain pump to bring water up for the fodder trays (which will set in the pan) and put it on a timer. We'll set it to run every few hours and it can drain through the trays and back into the reservoir. We should be able to get the whole thing built for well under $100 and make nice green nutrition for the chickens and rabbits all winter long.

Sounds great. Good luck.

 

[caj1985]

Anyone here tried buckwheat? I had some seed left and threw it into my wheat, BOSS, oats mixture this time just for an added variation. Just wondering how well it sprouts.

 

[mg15]

Anyone here tried buckwheat? I had some seed left and threw it into my wheat, BOSS, oats mixture this time just for an added variation. Just wondering how well it sprouts.

I sprout buckwheat groats. They sprout very well and quickly. I soak for and hour or 1/2 hour. Drain off the water and rinse several times a day. I also fill the pan with water and then put the colander in the pan with water get a spoon and swish the groats around. Leaving them in the colander. Then just leave the colander to the side. If I am at the sink I will plunge the groats in the same water and stir. It saves on the water usage when I do that. Conservation.
Then in about two days they sprout their tails. And become somewhat green. They do not leaf out. My girls really like the buckwheat.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I started soaking BOSS yesterday afternoon, it'll be done soaking at about noon today (24hrs). I set up my tray system yesterday, so I have everything ready, just waiting on the seeds.

Now what? Do I want the seeds to sprout before I put them in the trays, or do I go ahead and put the seeds in the trays at noon today, after the seeds have been soaked for 24hrs?

~ Aspen

 

[sonew123]

I started soaking BOSS yesterday afternoon, it'll be done soaking at about noon today (24hrs). I set up my tray system yesterday, so I have everything ready, just waiting on the seeds.

Now what? Do I want the seeds to sprout before I put them in the trays, or do I go ahead and put the seeds in the trays at noon today, after the seeds have been soaked for 24hrs?

~ Aspen

Tray them up!!! Now wait 3 days to see sprouts!!!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Tray them up!!! Now wait 3 days to see sprouts!!!

The bucket of BOSS I had soaking only had enough seed to cover one tray. Now, I just keep the seeds moist, correct?

~ Aspen