Growing fodder for chickens

[chixmix]

Hi. I have finally sourced barley and would like to try it. How thick do you make the layer of barley?

I'm on day 4 with the first day being in a bucket in the closet, I made mine 1/2" thick and am now seeing blades of "grass", no mold. I rinse it well, 2 times per day.

 

[Gategitter]

I too just started my system. (such that it is) I have a 6 shelf greenhouse I bought from walmart. I have it indoors right now because its only about 20* outside. I have 3 trays going and 1 in the soak. I have tiny little sprouties in tray 1&2 so far. I mist several times a day until the water runs through. I dont think at 60* I will have an issue with mold. I have a tiny heater in there to keep it 60* but eventually I will have it outside and wont have to worry about the temp. I only have 3 hens right now with plans to get a couple more but thats all I want so this should be really easy to keep them in fresh greens.

 

[LeopardRock]

Thanks for the info. I am going to try it tomorrow.

 

[tillyita]

Thank you!!!! I may have to give it another shot!! We haven't had much sun this winter and lots of SNOW! Do you think putting it under a heat lamp would do the same?
Does anyone think putting a little white vinegar or lemon juice in the water when you soak them would kill the mold spores?  I think I may start a small batch
soaking today. I will experiment with the vinegar and see what happens. 
And Greetings from Ohio, USA! Where in Australia are you?

I'm pretty sure that its the ultraviolet light that kills the spores rather than the heat.

Vinegar doesn't kill the mould spores just makes the environment non conducive to mould growth (it doesn't like the acidity). If you want to actually kill the spores you need to use cholrine (or bleach). And while chlorinated water meets the requirements for organically grown over here (all our scheme water is chlorinated so it's hard to escape), I don't like adding extra "chemicals" to my animals diets. The chlorine will evaporate out if you use a non-stabalised form.

And I'm from Western Australia about 70km from Perth (~43 miles).

 

[treehugger479]

I found the same grow tent for several dollars less at GrowAce.com. Looks like the same tent. I am new to this blog, but am really interested in cutting the feed bill for my hens. I give away most of the eggs that I don't use to a food pantry, so any way to save money would be great.

 

[MamaKitty913]

Hi just wondered where someone in Louisiana can get barley seed to use as fodder, I have called for 3 months at my local feed stores and can't find it locally yet. On-line if I find it it's way more than a disability check can cover, lol! Any one in the area or know someone? Please?

 

[chixmix]

Try Amish stores for barley and wheat. I found some wheat at a local feed mill, but I have to sift out some corn.

 

[MaPa26]

Quote: That's what I resorted to. BOSS sprouted, hit a plateau and looked like it might go bad. Got it going again, and greening and leaves starting to form and it stopped and looked like it might go bad. I gave one container to the hens yesterday and one today (9 x 11 plastic containers). They loved it. I also gave them the little bit of wheat (one cup, after the process). It just started to sprout yesterday and then stopped growing and I picked out a few that looked to be going bad. They smelled okay. The girls ate them like popcorn. I suspect that my counters and sunroom are too cold. I can't justify turning up the heat for a little bit of fodder, so I think I will get a seed mat warmer (don't know what they are called) to help the process. I also had a jar of seed I was fermenting and it stalled so I rinsed it and gave it to them a few days ago. Now I am trying plain old layer feed. It isn't doing much either. Tomorrow morning will be 48 hrs for it and I'm feeding it out, regardless, before it molds.

 

[Lacy Blues]

That's what I resorted to. BOSS sprouted, hit a plateau and looked like it might go bad. Got it going again, and greening and leaves starting to form and it stopped and looked like it might go bad. I gave one container to the hens yesterday and one today (9 x 11 plastic containers). They loved it. I also gave them the little bit of wheat (one cup, after the process). It just started to sprout yesterday and then stopped growing and I picked out a few that looked to be going bad. They smelled okay. The girls ate them like popcorn. I suspect that my counters and sunroom are too cold. I can't justify turning up the heat for a little bit of fodder, so I think I will get a seed mat warmer (don't know what they are called) to help the process. I also had a jar of seed I was fermenting and it stalled so I rinsed it and gave it to them a few days ago. Now I am trying plain old layer feed. It isn't doing much either. Tomorrow morning will be 48 hrs for it and I'm feeding it out, regardless, before it molds.

Layer feed? You must have a layer feed that is whole grains?

 

[MamaKitty913]

TSC has a greenhouse right now for $25.00, I got 10 six quart mini totes used a sodder stick to put holes in them, a silver lining pan at the bottom to hold the water. seed from the bottom, feed from the top, when you water from the top the bottom containers get watered as well. There's a lady on YouTube that has all her "experiments" on there. But the greenhouse shelves need a little stablization for my cats to stand on and check out, lol