Growing fodder for chickens

[Daloorashens]

Wow, lots of info on this page, and great job rainypeeps!! I know I'm going to find myself pulling out a few to snack on myself when I start as the weather continues to cool=)

 

[Cynthia12]

Rainy, went right out and bought some of those plastic containers. I have my wheat soaking. I think I put tooo much wheat in! The bucket is filling right up..keep having to put more water in. Will drain it tomorrow around 1 O'clock and then, try my hand at sprouting! I'm excited.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

 

[PuffyChick]

I am so excited to try this!

I went to my local hardware shop (they sell all these different seeds in bulk) anyway they had this deer mix. It was made up of Peas, turnip, chichory, 2 kids of rye, oats, clover,

I got a lb of it to try out and see how it sprouts.

I also got the crazy lady blank stare when I started asking about their wheat seeds. I can get a 50lb bag of seed for 12 bucks ..but I asked them if it is treated or anything and they laughed at me like I was silly. "Silly female Of course it's treated ...ALL seed is treated to make it last longer in bulk storage ...durh. ...Oh okay says me ....LOL You should have seen the look I got when I asked them if it was fit for human consumption?

LOLOLOL I swear old boy was like ..What the Heck? hahaha (Paybacks a femme fatale') I was like ..well if it aint fit for me then it aint fit for MY girls. (back to the crazy chicken woman look)

So anyway I have 3 starter tubs ( I only have 4 girls so its easier for me to do on a small scale as well) and I have some clover in one, alfalfa in another and this "deer mix" in the 3rd.

I passed on buying the wheat because I wasnt quiet sure what seed to get (was it corn? wheat? grass? I couldn't recall at the time.)

But now I am tempted especially after reading about the benefits of different seeds here
http://www.natureswonderland.com.au/articles/sprouting-seeds/

What an excellent resource site! Did you see the list of vitamins in Buckwheat?? Holy smokes I am going back to get a lb of that ..me and the girls wil have our daily greens in the mornings LOL

 

[pawtraitart]

Great idea on the deer mix! Let us know how it sprouts.

Yes, you have to be careful with some of the seed out there as it can be coated. If it's "feed" grain, then it's okay. Or, if you are lucky enough to live near a farming community, you can pick up spilled seed during harvest. I've gotten garbage cans full of barley by going around and picking up spill piles at both the harvest site and the loading silos. I didn't have time to do that this year, however. I'll be picking up 100lbs or so of barley in February when our neighbor starts emptying his silo. I just missed being able to pick some up before the silo was sealed up for the winter. He has contracted out the grain in there, but there will be plenty to sweep up when the company calls for their load. Until then, I'm using wheat. I wish I was able to grow/harvest my own!

 

[greenhorn]

I am so excited to try this!

I went to my local hardware shop (they sell all these different seeds in bulk) anyway they had this deer mix. It was made up of Peas, turnip, chichory, 2 kids of rye, oats, clover,

I got a lb of it to try out and see how it sprouts.

I also got the crazy lady blank stare when I started asking about their wheat seeds. I can get a 50lb bag of seed for 12 bucks ..but I asked them if it is treated or anything and they laughed at me like I was silly. "Silly female Of course it's treated ...ALL seed is treated to make it last longer in bulk storage ...durh. ...Oh okay says me ....LOL You should have seen the look I got when I asked them if it was fit for human consumption?

LOLOLOL I swear old boy was like ..What the Heck? hahaha (Paybacks a femme fatale') I was like ..well if it aint fit for me then it aint fit for MY girls. (back to the crazy chicken woman look)

So anyway I have 3 starter tubs ( I only have 4 girls so its easier for me to do on a small scale as well) and I have some clover in one, alfalfa in another and this "deer mix" in the 3rd.

I passed on buying the wheat because I wasnt quiet sure what seed to get (was it corn? wheat? grass? I couldn't recall at the time.)

But now I am tempted especially after reading about the benefits of different seeds here
http://www.natureswonderland.com.au/articles/sprouting-seeds/

What an excellent resource site! Did you see the list of vitamins in Buckwheat?? Holy smokes I am going back to get a lb of that ..me and the girls wil have our daily greens in the mornings LOL

Thanks for the link. I was looking for that exact information.

Starting to think we can grow our own organic fodder seed. Have been looking into traditional ground planted fodder, Wikipedia has a little fodder information too. We're going to grow all kinds of stuff we've never grown. I ordered 1/4 pound of Black Winter Emmer seed and a 1/4 lb of seed of another ancient wheat called Bezbantskaja.

Looking into growing organic millet, barley, rye, amaranth, lentils chia, quiona and all kinds of other stuff. Hoping to find more kinds of nutritional organic heirloom stuff we can grow and make fodder seed with too.

 

[pawtraitart]

For those looking for an online site to test drive some seed types, the following place has the best prices BY FAR and they sell organic seed as well if you want to go that route. I'm going to try their millet, it's in the bird feed section.

https://www.mainstreetseedandsupply.com/

 

[DMRippy]

For those looking for an online site to test drive some seed types, the following place has the best prices BY FAR and they sell organic seed as well if you want to go that route. I'm going to try their millet, it's in the bird feed section.

https://www.mainstreetseedandsupply.com/

I have NOT researched it, but I read that Millet can be toxic... again I DID NOT RESEARCH THIS.

 

[pawtraitart]

Millet is perfectly fine and quite tasty. It's fed to birds in the pet industry as well.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

http://www.natureswonderland.com.au/articles/sprouting-seeds/millet/

 

[DMRippy]

Millet is perfectly fine and quite tasty. It's fed to birds in the pet industry as well.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

http://www.natureswonderland.com.au/articles/sprouting-seeds/millet/

good to know! Thanks.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Our parakeets chow down on millet seed. If it were toxic they would be in trouble lol. We buy the big bags at petsmart and they last two weeks tops.