Growing fodder for chickens

[BoereMeisie]

I was in a pinch and jumped head first into fodder......started w 2 trays a day......designed a whole shelf system in my greenhouse but it was failing.....so I went and found two pallets that matched.....turned the top boards to the inside and put a board on top and screwed them together....now I have an 8 shelf watering system and a 4 tray green station and a soaking station......only cost me the price of the trays and the time....(and a PACKED GREENHOUSE!!!) but the chickens the horse and the goat seem to love it......my only question is there seems to be a lot of grass that goes wasted by all the animals........anyone know how to get the horse to eat the fodder and not just rip it all to peices.....?????

Wow, thanks for this awesome idea! A LOT of pallets lying around here, and I was wondering about constructing a system... This is perfect!

 

[beverly evans]

Does anyone use burlap to grow there fodder on? I remember someone posting about using burlap bags their bulk rice came in. the trays I'm using the holes are too small and draining isn't working and I have some growing trays I am going to try but thought it might work out to put the burlap down on top then spread out the seeds.Does your seeds get stuck in the larger holes and make draining hard? I know when I first started FF I used a bucket with holes placed down into a bucket with out and the holes would get clogged up so I went to no holes and no draining.

Write to Kassaundra who is the expert where growing fodder in burlap bags is concerned. She has a cute way of doing it, successful, anyway.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Write to Kassaundra who is the expert where growing fodder in burlap bags is concerned. She has a cute way of doing it, successful, anyway.

Thank you.

 

[aPrimitive]

For people who use barely to grow fodder. About how long does a 50 lb bag of barley last and for approx how many birds, feeding them daily.

 

[escape]

That's one of those questions that cn only be answered by "It depends...."

I get about seven pounds of fodder for every pound of barley seed I use. My friend only gets about five pounds of fodder for each pound of seed.

So, "It depends".

I have six chickens that eat barley fodder. I have decided to give them 1.5 pounds of barley a day (I make more because I feed my horse also). YOU might want to feed more chickens. You might want to feed less cheickens. You might want to feed more barley fodder per chicken.

There is a lot of information that needs to be considered before you can even get a ballpark figure... and then, you still have to take into account that the harvested weight will vary between different systems.

You need to:

1) figure out how much barley fodder you need per day. Many people feed about 1/3 pound per bird, so if you have 9 birds, you will want to grow 3 pounds.

2) figure out what you can get out of one pound of seed. I get seven pounds of fodder for one pound of seed so I would only be using 1/2 pound per day. A 50 pound bag of barley would last me about 100 days for 9 chickens.

I hope this helps you understand it a little better. There is no definitive answer. You'll need to figure out how much to grow, and then start growing and adjusting your use.

 

[Ladydane]

A few weeks ago I did start at page one and read the first 20 or so pages and STILL got off on the wrong foot! (sigh). I just left out the drainage part altogether. I'm back on track now, after throwing away some fermented seed. haha I already had regular bird seed here so I got a slue of 2-go boxes I had in the shed, cut the tops out, punched holes and laid the seed, using the bottoms for drainage but the seed sat in about 1 inch so they were consistently wet. Now I'm wondering if I have wine too! Drained what was salvageable; have a bag of black oil sunflower here; startin' again! If I mess up now, it'll be 'cause I got drunk off that old seed!

 

[MandalaMaMa]

Day 5 and I see green stuff --- and it's not mold. Hooray.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Day 5 and I see green stuff --- and it's not mold. Hooray.

 

[Miss Lydia]

A few weeks ago I did start at page one and read the first 20 or so pages and STILL got off on the wrong foot! (sigh). I just left out the drainage part altogether. I'm back on track now, after throwing away some fermented seed. haha I already had regular bird seed here so I got a slue of 2-go boxes I had in the shed, cut the tops out, punched holes and laid the seed, using the bottoms for drainage but the seed sat in about 1 inch so they were consistently wet. Now I'm wondering if I have wine too! Drained what was salvageable; have a bag of black oil sunflower here; startin' again! If I mess up now, it'll be 'cause I got drunk off that old seed!

I'd share it with the chickens that way you can all enjoy getting a buzz.

 

[MaPa26]

I've gotten my feet wet, so to speak. I took two cups of BOSS and soaked them. I forgot to put some vinegar in the water. I drained them and let them start doing their thing and rinsed them again that evening and made sure they stayed moist. They started to sprout before 24 hrs. Then I saw some mold on several of the hulls. I picked out some obviously moldly ones, rinsed them and then soaked them in a strong vinegar/water solution for a few minutes and then rinsed and drained them. No more mold, but the little roots started to turn brown. TOO much vinegar? They kept drying out so fast that I decided to moisten a paper towel and lay under them and on top of them. They are starting to green up. Time will tell. They are on day three.

Meanwhile, I managed to separate some wheat from the scratch, to experiment with. I soaked it 24 hrs, drained and rinsed and drained and started the process (rinsed and drained twice today.) They are looking good. I hope to see some sprouts tomorrow.

As for that last bit of scratch that I had (three cups), I am fermenting. It is on day three. First day: put in jar and enough water to cover the scratch with a couple extra inches of water. Day two: Stirred two or three times that day and added a bit more water. Day three: Stirred a few times today. It is starting to bubble a bit and smells like bread. Tomorrow I am going to dish them out a bit and add some feed back into the jar. I have read, in several sources, that you should not feed them fermented feed if it smells like alcohol.