Growing fodder for chickens

[corancher]

I have been having mold problem also. It seems to appear at about day 4. I am going to try the bleach soak this weekend to see if that helps. So far I had one pan that I threw totally out and few others that I picked small areas off before feeding. I did not have any problems with mold before I put in the auto watering system so it may be back to the drawing board.

 

[NotAFarm]

What kind of seeds are all of you using that are getting moldy?

 

[corancher]

What kind of seeds are all of you using that are getting moldy?

I have been using wheat & BOSS

 

[FreedomLover]

I'm using wheat. I think I may have figured out why I'm getting mold on my fodder at days 5-6. It's been being kept pretty warm here in the house since it's been so cloudy and wet.

I'm pretty sure it's the warmth in the house, the raised humidity because of the rain and not getting good enough drainage on my trays.

I've since added additional holes to my trays so they drain better, put the trays in a different location and turned down the thermostat. We'll see how things go from here.

 

[highline]

I'm using BOSS and Turkey Scratch which is a wheat/milo mix. My crew likes the BOSS much better and I think I like growing BOSS more than the mix as well. I have no mold issues with BOSS. I put a couple of small fans to circulate the air and that seems to have resolved my mold issues on the wheat/milo mix.

Side note; I was going to order some of the wheat from Walmart to compare sprouting vs what I'm using. I get an awesome root mat but I don't seem to get thick enough blade growth for my liking. But Walmart has raised their price from 13.00 and change to 24.88 per bucket since I last looked a couple of weeks ago!

Looks like Augason Farms is getting low on this crop. I believe I'll pass for now.

 

[PetRock]

What kind of seeds are all of you using that are getting moldy?

The ones that went moldy last week were barley. The tray I started earlier this week is wheat and I started one of barley today.

 

[TheCrazyChick]

I'm using BOSS and Turkey Scratch which is a wheat/milo mix. My crew likes the BOSS much better and I think I like growing BOSS more than the mix as well. I have no mold issues with BOSS. I put a couple of small fans to circulate the air and that seems to have resolved my mold issues on the wheat/milo mix.

Side note; I was going to order some of the wheat from Walmart to compare sprouting vs what I'm using. I get an awesome root mat but I don't seem to get thick enough blade growth for my liking. But Walmart has raised their price from 13.00 and change to 24.88 per bucket since I last looked a couple of weeks ago!

Looks like Augason Farms is getting low on this crop. I believe I'll pass for now.

My Local Walmart carries the wheatberries in a big bag (25#?) on the bottom shelf in the baking section. I think I paid $13 last week. I guess I should check to see if their price has gone up here, too. Maybe the big bags are cheaper? Since they use petroleum to make the buckets?

 

[NotAFarm]

I have just been doing hard red wheat the last week. I noticed a bit of black ends on one days grain when I soaked it 24 hours instead of 12. I looked on my sprouting list, and it says to soak wheat berries 6 hours for sprouting so I changed the soak time and haven't had another problem. I think the oversoaked batch was "soggy" and never got to dry at all. I think it's a balance to keep the seed moist without being soggy. Air circulation is very important in the balance.

 

[highline]

My Local Walmart carries the wheatberries in a big bag (25#?) on the bottom shelf in the baking section. I think I paid $13 last week. I guess I should check to see if their price has gone up here, too. Maybe the big bags are cheaper? Since they use petroleum to make the buckets?

Would u mind checking and let me know the brand name? Unless it's something they recently picked up, our local WM's don't have it, I checked couple months ago. With the brand I can call and check without driving around at $3.50 a gl.

 

[PetRock]

I have just been doing hard red wheat the last week. I noticed a bit of black ends on one days grain when I soaked it 24 hours instead of 12. I looked on my sprouting list, and it says to soak wheat berries 6 hours for sprouting so I changed the soak time and haven't had another problem. I think the oversoaked batch was "soggy" and never got to dry at all. I think it's a balance to keep the seed moist without being soggy. Air circulation is very important in the balance.

I'll try reducing the soak time and see if that helps.