Growing fodder for chickens

[Dasp]

OH MY GOODNESS!! That's amazing.. Where Can I buy the seeds?

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I showed the A Frame to my hubby and we both said that would be good for growing out chicks

It would keep them warmer than my shop

I can't wait to get my greenhouse going. Someone gave me 3 sets of sliding glass doors and I have made cold frames with them, so I think I can use them for part of the greenhouse. Doors if nothing else

 

[Got eggs]

http://what are these trays? And where did you get them?

 

[prayerwheel]

Thank you so much for sharing your system. I am just starting to soak my sunflower seeds and have done a wheat/oat mix that I have soaked for a few days (rinsing each day) but I haven't put them out to sprout, only soak until I see the little white peeking out, then I put them outside on screens to dry out a bit then I throw them out like scratch.
I get the bucket method but am curious about the trays you use. What are the approx dimensions, where do you get them and do they have holes in the bottoms (I got confused by that part of your post).
Do you have one tray that does have holes and one tray that doesn't that you rinse them in, or...?

I sprout seeds for myself, mostly broccoli , but the trays I use are quite small and they stack. I imagine the ones you use are quite large?
How may chix do you have?
I have 7 but 3 of them are Silkies (although they are the youngest and the biggest eaters!) so how can I determine how much I should grow for them?

I don't have enough room in my house to store the trays and will need to find a way to be able to sprout that large amount outside. Does anyone have any ideas or creative ways they have done it?
Sorry for all the questions but this is one of my favorite topics right now!
Cheers!
Ann

 

[prayerwheel]

This system is so clever! Way to go!!!

 

[hepster]

i have been thinking about this for a while , i have about an acre of perennial peanut hay growing ,
i was wondering if i could mow it with a bagging mower , and feed it to the chickens , ether green , or maby dried out and fed during the winter as a supplement to there feed , the peanut hay is about 28 % protean , , now if i could just get them to eat it

 

[farmboy222]

My chicks free range , until the snows come . If they were penned I would simply throw in piles of bagged lawn and pasture grass. Either my ride-on bagger or my toro personal pace will do the job. They pick at it for hours.

 

[SproutGuy]

MelWynnd-
Yeap- oats can be a problem. But they are cheaper that wheat and a nice variety to the wheat grass.

Oats like it cool and not watered as often. I do a short soak on them of 6 hours with a short of hydrogen peroxide or if you need to-shot of bleach to kill off the bacteria that turn it into a slummy blob.

The sprouting time is a little shorter and once they crack open-only water once a day -max.

Finally, before feeding, give them a final rinse with hydrogen peroxide in the rinse water.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

I'm doing the LAZY way of getting extra treats for my chickies. I remember what my chickens loved when I had some free-range and I just go out to the undergrowth in my field and collect from there. I have nearly five acres and only two is mowed. The rest is wild and we have a wide assortment of vegetation out there. I'd love to fence the whole field in for the chickens eventually but I'd be satisfied if my hubby would agree to just a small portion of it. The the dogs around I know not to let them free-range right now but fencing in the field would be a good compromise.