Growing fodder for chickens

[melwynnd]

I'd don't know how others do it, but my hens get Fodder and table scraps.... period. I do give them oyster shell,, but they get no additional grain. My Fodder is wheat with a few sunflower seeds. I've noticed no difference in production from layer pellets except the yolks are golden from the greens.

My hens are not free range.

Sherry

 

[dolfi]

My folders are taking their time. Day 3.

 

[chixmix]

Im BRAND new here an trying to get away from dependancy Im not closed minded as far as Organic no soy and all that nonsense but I ran across this fodder link thread whatever I love the idea. I dont care if I cant grow a chicken overnite if you get my point.So my question is why cant you feed them fodder assuming you have a good mixture of grains? Or are you saying with bugs for protein it would be sufficient. If sprounting frees up digestibility and adds nutrients what am I missing. Different grains have different carbs protein fats Some clarification I dont understand what additional grain serves? I hope Im at least as clear as mud lol. Its understood suppliment grit egg shell and even vitamin electrolytes to water but Id like to fodder yr round with treats of course am I on the right track?

I think you are on the right track. I have around 70 chickens I'm trying to go fully fodder(other than grit and calcium). I fed them about 14 pounds yesterday, and they didn't get enough, I fed them about 2 gallons of pellets a little later and they were on it hard like they were hungry. Before fodder, I fed them 2 3 gallon bucket fulls a day. Not sure how many pounds that is. Once I get to where they are not hungry, I'm sure they will have all the nutrition they need.

 

[MaPa26]

Quote: Going by other people's experience, it sounds like the greens are valuable, but if the chickens still go, like crazy, for the pellets, then the fodder isn't completing their requirements, of what their bodies are telling them they need. Mine will forage for hours, but take a break and go back to the pen for some pellets. They don't eat near as much of the pellets when the greens are available. Tillyita adds chia to her fodder. The chart that was posted showed how high it is in nutrients (high in protein and calcium). I am aiming for that, next winter. I don't know that I can accomplish that, this winter unless I get an "indoor greenhouse" so I can keep the seeds at a constant temperature.

 

[waldeneffect]

Growing grain or fodder for chickens has been a goal of ours for years now.

Here's a blog post summing up the several blog posts we've made on this interesting subject.

http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Experiments_in_growing_grain/

It is totally worth the effort!

 

[chixmix]

Going by other people's experience, it sounds like the greens are valuable, but if the chickens still go, like crazy, for the pellets, then the fodder isn't completing their requirements, of what their bodies are telling them they need. Mine will forage for hours, but take a break and go back to the pen for some pellets. They don't eat near as much of the pellets when the greens are available. Tillyita adds chia to her fodder. The chart that was posted showed how high it is in nutrients (high in protein and calcium). I am aiming for that, next winter. I don't know that I can accomplish that, this winter unless I get an "indoor greenhouse" so I can keep the seeds at a constant temperature.

I simply don't have enough growing per day at the moment. The protein levels in wheat fodder is more than sufficient.

 

[tillyita]

I simply don't have enough growing per day at the moment. The protein levels in wheat fodder is more than sufficient.

Wheat fodder has almost as much protein as chia, but they get to eat more of it because it is the base - not an extra. I can't do wheat fodder becasue I'm not just feeding the chickens. Chia has a lot more calcium than wheat which means less (or no) suplimentation with oyster shell. It basically suppliments where the barley is lacking - and in my case - doesn't make the horses "hot" like the wheat does.

 

[CATRYNA]

That's an excellent price. My wheat berries cost $25 per 50 lb bag

 

[JodyDI]

Im curious, can some explain the the math behind this part, or is it a typo? If it cost $9.60 for 1 pound of seed, which produces 6 pounds of fodder, wouldnt that mean 6lb cost $9.60, or $0.625 a lb? $0.03 a lb just seems way cheaper than makes sense to me, considering the cost of the seed listed.

I'm pretty sure he meant $9.60 for 50lbs. although i hadn't done the math.

 

[CATRYNA]

We grow fodder year round and feed it every day to the chickens. It’s a combination of wheat and barley. Ssometimes it's fed to them when it's 6 inches high and sometimes when it's only an inch high. The shorter for the young chickens. Some people have success with oats, but we haven’t. A lot of grains are musclegenic, like Chia and Flaxseed and can’t be soaked or they end up in a slimey mess. So, we don’t bother with them, but we do feed the chickens freely the organic mash, and the kitchen scraps and the grains we freely feed them would be Chia (light and dark), Flaxseed (dark and light), lentils (green, orange and tan), Nyjer seed, Sunflower, Buckwheat, Rye, Bulgar, Hemp, Kamut, Amaranth, Quinoa, Sesame seed, Sorghum, Oats and Kelp granules. The more variety, the more nutrition. They also get mealworms, worms and leftover meat from all of our meals. When we eat a chicken or turkey, I make stock from the carcass and after I have stripped most of the meat from the carcass, the remaining bone, gristle, skin, etc gets thrown to the chickens. When we haul home manure from our friends who have goats and horses, we throw it to the chickens, to go through first, and then it goes into the compost pile. Chickens can be compared to 2 legged pigs; they can pretty much eat anything. The better fed the chickens are the more eggs they lay per week. We are in the middle of winter and our hens were laying 5 or 6 eggs per week, each. I think this is because their nutrition is excellent and that is key to better health and lots of eggs.