Growing fodder for chickens

[jody411]

neat idea, do you have a green house? How many flats? How long does it take?

 

[Amiga]

Oh dear. My husband may just kill me, but I really want to try this. If I put it in the basement maybe he won't notice.

I can identify with this feeling.

 

[Amiga]

neat idea, do you have a green house? How many flats? How long does it take?

I use a window in the spare bedroom. Just stack some food safe plastic bins with drain holes and air circulation holes, pour water in the top, it drains through to a bottom bucket. The window light is enough for greening up.

I keep the house at about 55F. The window area probably gets a little warmer from the sun during the day.

 

[cjatthefarm]

The cat needs the grass also---for digestion. Not playing--he's trying to eat some.

 

[Choco Maran]

Wow I'm going to try this with my chicks this spring. I have never thought of doing this until I saw this thread. We are putting in a green house in one of the stalls in our barn so I will snag a small section for growing of fodder. I give my chickens a alfalfa mix hay a couple times a week this sounds better for them. Can't wait to try it.

 

[1DrD]

I am planning to purchase my chickens soon & am trying to learn all that I can. So, how many chickens will your fodder feed? What is a typical diet for your birds?

 

[cotquail]

I breed quail. my quail are inside and they are in pairs ,the breeders that is ,they only get sprouts as entertainment and nutritive supplement, they are high protein consumers so I give them raw liver and meat as well, the better you feed them the better they produce.I am line breeding primarily for size and egg production. Sprouted fodder is an incubation principle, as all infants they like it warm, I try for 70 degrees F minimum at 80 degrees they rock . The cheapest and easiest for us is those black plastic (styrene) horticulture trays that they put plant cells in like the jiffy ones 11 inch by 21 inch about 2 1/2 inches deep,.usually hold 72 cell plastic inserts, we poked tiny holes in the bottom but you can buy them that way too. Easy to flood and drain ,they fit inside each other . I have two fluorescent 4 foot 2 tube shop lights over four trays for grow out , for rooting they stack inside each other. the heat of the lights helps a bit but warmer the better.The nice thing about these is they have clear plastic covers that help keep the moisture in. The cleaner the seed the better the results , seed should be fertile as well, not too old, as stated rinsing with hydrogen peroxide solution is the insurance , it depends on what I am sprouting , lentils, alfalfa, sunflower, wheat,radish, mustard, mung beans, oats, barley, buckwheat , millet, , all work well but each has a root development time , the whole thing from dry seed to the birds chowing down takes about one to two weeks. light ,heat, moisture, not soaking, but don't let them dry out. The hydrogen peroxide works wonders perfect bactericide and fungicide.My quail are omnivores tending to high protein I suppose chickens and other domestic poultry are the same, this is a food supplement , I enrich their water with probiotics and vitamins minerals as well in winter in summer we are always throwing bunches of green stuff in too keep them happy and healthy , they like to peck away at foliage. The probiotics are fermented lacto cultures that I make myself , the culture tends to create amylase an enzyme that breaks down starch making grain digestible. Their diets require fiber grit,protein minerals and vitamins, grain legume (corn soya ) diets are just tolerated by poultry, they would like it more diverse and juicy with animal based foodstuffs, bugs mice frogs worms etc, but in confinement they need creative diversified alternatives. Sprouting seeds legumes starts the plants digestive process releasing inherent enzymes to grow a new plant, it is a higher quality foodstuff for the birds.easier digested than dry grain , but allot more fuss. Here is an example of tray( http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/...us-humidity-domes-10-pack/seed-starting-trays)

 

[Wednesday]

For those people on here interested in the science,
here is one of the few studies on growing fodder.
The science does not seem to support this practice
unless its just something you have fun doing:

http://idosi.org/wasj/wasj16(4)12/9.pdf

 

[LuLas Farm]

Do you use any soil or other growing medium in the bottom of the trays? I have done this, using soil in the bottom, when I grow wheat grass for juicing for my family. It looks like you do this w/out soil.

BTW, thanks for the informative post and pictures.

 

[Jeanette56]

Just thought I would put in my 2 Cents. I have been doing fodder for my animals for almost a year. We feed 19 chickens, 4 goats, 16 rabbits and a horse. We feed a mix of wheat, barley and a little BOSS. I have found my chickens like it best at about day 4. So I just grow theirs in a small bucket and stir it every day so it doesn't root together. They go crazy for it. The rest of the animals split a tray in the morning and a tray in the evening. We still feed very small amounts of rabbit pellets and layer feed and the goats and horse get cheap cow hay for the roughage. Right now we have it set up in our bathroom where the tub goes. I will be moving it outside to its own area this spring. I will try to get a better pic soon.