Growing fodder for chickens

[kwestley]

We have a mill store here that carries lots of seeds!! But they ran out if wheat when I went there last time that was why I ended up with barley!
I feel so bump that I couldn't make the barley sprout!! First time, I soaked it for 16 hours or so, then I thought maybe it needed more time to soak, so the second time I soaked about 25 hours!!! But I ended up with the same result!! Any suggestions?? I still have 45 lbs of barley to go!!!!!

 

[Highcotton]

I tried with barley and so far it didn't go well! I would say only 1% of barley in the tray was sprout!! I thought I did something wrong, so I tried one more time, and it was the same. I will try wheat and see if I have more luck with it!!

Your barley seed may not be viable. take some seed and put them in a moist paper towell and put them in a plastic bag in a warm place like the top of the refridgerator. They should sprout in about a week. The percentage that sprouts is the percent viability.

 

[BlueMouse]

if the seed is viable you may be soaking too long.....

 

[kwestley]

What is the ideal temperature for growing barley?? I kept the tray inside the house and it was around 68-70 during day time and 60-65 during night time. I washed them every 8 hours. They didn't get moldy or dry. I could see SOME seeds began to sprout on the second day. By the third and fourth day, the sprouted seeds began to sprout longer, but the rest still looked the same (not sprout). Maybe those seeds were bad??

 

[pawtraitart]

What is the ideal temperature for growing barley?? I kept the tray inside the house and it was around 68-70 during day time and 60-65 during night time. I washed them every 8 hours. They didn't get moldy or dry. I could see SOME seeds began to sprout on the second day. By the third and fourth day, the sprouted seeds began to sprout longer, but the rest still looked the same (not sprout). Maybe those seeds were bad??

Your temps look okay. Try this: Soak overnight. Spread out in your tray and put another tray on top of it to put some weight on the seed for a day or so. Barley is more likely to mold than wheat, so rinse your tray very well everyday. If that doesn't work, maybe the seed was heat treated?

 

[Skelley1024]

That took super long to get through!! 243 pages of so much information. We just got our first 4 chickens this weekend - a Cochin, a dominique, a wyandotte and a brahma. we are already in love with them, but realize we are so "uniformed" it is totally overwhelming! We were members of a Chicken Collective so to speak where we had about 36 feathered ladies - mostly rhode island reds and a few barred rocks. The main staples of their diets were layer and scratch feed, whatever they could forage for themselves on about a acre and lots of table scraps. So this fodder thing is completely new to us. I love the idea and am going to try it out on a smaller scale - although we do eventually want to have a small flock of somewhere between 15-25 chickens. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the information and I am so happy to have come across this website. Amazing wealth of info. I am certain I too will be the "crazy chicken lady" one day - in fact many of our friends already think we are nuts!!

 

[kwestley]

Ok, I will try! Just curious, what is the purpose of extra tray on top of another tray?
By the way, is the process of sprouting BOSS the same as barley?

 

[pawtraitart]

Ok, I will try! Just curious, what is the purpose of extra tray on top of another tray?
By the way, is the process of sprouting BOSS the same as barley?

I've found that sometimes seed sprout better if they are pressed a bit like they would be if planted in soil. It also helps keep some moisture in. I don't press the seed for more than a day or two. The root mat gets super thick if the seeds can't easily send green shoots up. I mix BOSS into my blend. It's the same process.

 

[kwestley]

OK, got it!! I'm now trying to sprout 2 separated trays: one barley, and one BOSS!!! We'll see if I have a green or black thumb!!! Feel like a loser already!!!

Will keep you update in a few days!!

 

[OHhappychicks]

That took super long to get through!! 243 pages of so much information. We just got our first 4 chickens this weekend - a Cochin, a dominique, a wyandotte and a brahma. we are already in love with them, but realize we are so "uniformed" it is totally overwhelming! We were members of a Chicken Collective so to speak where we had about 36 feathered ladies - mostly rhode island reds and a few barred rocks. The main staples of their diets were layer and scratch feed, whatever they could forage for themselves on about a acre and lots of table scraps. So this fodder thing is completely new to us. I love the idea and am going to try it out on a smaller scale - although we do eventually want to have a small flock of somewhere between 15-25 chickens. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the information and I am so happy to have come across this website. Amazing wealth of info. I am certain I too will be the "crazy chicken lady" one day - in fact many of our friends already think we are nuts!!

and to the wonderful world of "crazy chicken people"!!