Growing fodder for chickens

[Kassaundra]

I have never seen dandelions here. Does anyone know if they would grow in Northern Thailand?

WOW, it never occured to me there would be anywhere except desert or arctic that didn't have dandylions! lol lol lol They can grow in about any temperate area as far as I have seen, but they are INVASIVE so not sure how they would interact w/ your eco system. I would try and find a native weed to your area that has the nutritional profile or close to it, I bet there are some.


I love to take pics of my yard, and nature, and I took this pic of a dandylion this past week thought I'd share on this thread too

 

[MamaAB]

Probably a really dumb question...but what kind of oats will actually sprout? I can't seem to find any barely here. So my options are hopefully oats or wheat.

 

[furbabymum]

I have never seen dandelions here. Does anyone know if they would grow in Northern Thailand?

I don't think you'd want to go there. They are a very prolific and invasive species. Most Americans spend their whole lives trying to kill them.

 

[rhoffart]

Probably a really dumb question...but what kind of oats will actually sprout? I can't seem to find any barely here. So my options are hopefully oats or wheat.

I started soaking my first batch today. I got them from Whole Foods @ $1.20 per pound. I'll post a pic in 3 days .

Edit ... sorry I got wheat not oats ...

 

[Lacy Blues]

Probably a really dumb question...but what kind of oats will actually sprout? I can't seem to find any barely here. So my options are hopefully oats or wheat.

I've been looking into what my feed store calls "spring oats" that are actually for planting. It costs about $10 more per 50# sack than feed oats. So, I'm weighing the pros and cons. Maybe I can find it somewhere else cheaper.

 

[corancher]

I don't know what I am doing wrong. I am starting to have trouble with mold. Maybe because the weather is getting warmer? Anyhow I don't know what to do. I add a splash of bleach when I soak my seeds and then rinse after 24 hours. Do I need to add bleach every time I water? Right now I am sprouting wheat and just started adding a bit of sunflower. I tried oats but it wouldn't grow. Suggestions? I keep my trays in the laundry room, I have a small window across the room that remains open. Like I said this just started happening and I can only assume it's the weather. Unless sunflower are more prone?

I was having mold problems also. I washed all my flats with soap then bleach water and changed how I was watering my fodder. I have not had a problem with mold since I changed my system. I think I was not getting enough water throughout the flats and it was allowing the mold to start growing. I now flood the fodder 5 times throughout the day which I think washes any spores away. I am getting much faster sprouting and growth with the new system.

 

[Kassaundra]

I've been sprouting plain old feed oats for almost 2 years w/o problems. Any type of oat that is the whole unaltered seed will work, it can't be crimped, rolled, flaked, chopped or anything like that. Wheat sprouts faster for sure, but at the 4 day stage (when I feed out) the oat is pretty close in sprout to the wheat, (I mix them oat and wheat and sprout together). If you have made a mistake and bought any of the altered seed that won't sprout, don't worry all is not lost, just ferment it, they love that too.

 

[kaisabaijai]

I was just looking at your pictures. Are your chickens walking through salt grass? Your other picture with the ponds in it, looks pretty lush. I imagine that dandelions would have a field day out there.

I have never heard of salt grass before but after searching for it I am pretty sure this isn't it. These are fallow rice fields. When I bought this place it was during the rainy season and there was a lot of rice growing with some grass here and there. After the standing water subsided they grass popped up and the rice stalks dried up.

I have covered part of the rice fields with fill dirt which consists mostly of clay. On that I have planted sun hemp and Jack beans that I am cutting as they flower to put plant material and nitrogen into the clay soil. I am also growing white corn on part of this field which i plan to expand after i get the nitrogen fixed in the soil.

The rest of the rice fields I am just letting the grass grow. I am trying to get the chickens to eat the grass and poop in the fields to get the nitrogen from their poop into the soil. When the rainy season comes again I will have the grass and rice plowed under to add plant material to the soil. At that time I will sow some sun hemp and allow it to grow with any rice that sprouts up as the fields get flooded. The sun hemp seems to grow the best where the water pools so I am hoping that it will still grow in flooded fields.

The dandelions would be helpful I think to break up the clay, add plant matter to the soil and provide fodder for the chickens.

 

[kaisabaijai]

I don't think you'd want to go there. They are a very prolific and invasive species. Most Americans spend their whole lives trying to kill them.

Maybe you are right. i would hate for the farmers around me to complain to the government although the yellow dandelions would look nice in the fields the seeds would blow all over the place.

 

[Odon]

Well I was going to start my Barley Fodder today but the feed store where I orderded it let someone else have it and so I have to wait a couple more weeks to start the Fodder Experiment, oh well. On the up side my 10 new Australorp chicks are growing like crazy and are in the main coop inside a medium sized wire pen so they can all socialize and what not.