Growing fodder for chickens

[Pent]

sooo the seeds I ended up with seem to be treated with pink powder. I'm assuming this is not ok for fodder? I figure its some kind of fungicide. Can I just plant these and use the second generation for fodder? I'd hate for the bag to go to waste. Is there a way to clean this stuff off?

 

[tymimo]

Ok, I've tried this 2-3 times. Everything goes fine the first 2-3 days then it suddenly molds up. I've tried soaking with and without bleach. What can I do to prevent this?

I'm having the same problem. The problem seems to occur when I transfer the sprouted seeds from a wire mesh colander to a tray (the cut off bottom of a one gallon milk jug with lots of holes drilled in the bottom) to grow the grass. My solution is just to feed the sprouted grains (around day 4 or 5) to the chickens before they really develop any grass, which the author at the Natural chicken keeping blog suggests anyway.
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2012/12/easy-ways-to-sprout-seeds-for-your.html

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

sooo the seeds I ended up with seem to be treated with pink powder. I'm assuming this is not ok for fodder? I figure its some kind of fungicide. Can I just plant these and use the second generation for fodder?  I'd hate for the bag to go to waste. Is there a way to clean this stuff off? 

Eww, I haven't seen anything like that on my seeds. I bought organic, non-GMO so maybe they dont put fungicides on them. Have you tried washing it off? The seeds need a good rinse and soak anywhay, so maybe that process would clean that stuff off.

 

[Pent]

Eww, I haven't seen anything like that on my seeds. I bought organic, non-GMO so maybe they dont put fungicides on them. Have you tried washing it off? The seeds need a good rinse and soak anywhay, so maybe that process would clean that stuff off.

Yeah, e-mailed the company on the bag, apparently even though I specified what I wanted it for, the feed store sold me grain that "In no case this treated wheat can be feed to animal or human."

So I suppose I'll have to figure out how to grow my own wheat?

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Yeah, e-mailed the company on the bag, apparently even though I specified what I wanted it for, the feed store sold me grain that "In no case this treated wheat can be feed to animal or human."

So I suppose I'll have to figure out how to grow my own wheat?

Yep!

The seeds collected from what you figure out how to grow should be just fine!

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Yeah, e-mailed the company on the bag, apparently even though I specified what I wanted it for, the feed store sold me grain that "In no case this treated wheat can be feed to animal or human." So I suppose I'll have to figure out how to grow my own wheat?

If the seeds are not to be fed to the animals, is the greenery edible? If so, then you could soak the seeds overnight then plant them in garden soil. I am finding that my wheat seeds grow nicely in my grazing frame. (Details about easily building a grazing frame: http://backyardchickenlady.blogspot.com/search/label/growing veggies )

 

[ChicwannaB]

all neat ideas I'll have to t ry....

 

[Paradox]

My first go at sprouting fodder. Soaked it Sunday and put in the bins Monday morning. This was taken just now. Seems like it is going to work out well. Time to move ahead with a rack set up.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

My first go at sprouting fodder. Soaked it Sunday and put in the bins Monday morning. This was taken just now. Seems like it is going to work out well. Time to move ahead with a rack set up.

Wow, it looks great! Mine wasnt anywhere near that full at 5 days!

 

[Paradox]

Here is a better shot of the growth. The bin is pretty much the size of a shoe box.