Growing fodder for chickens

[Chaneys Ranch]

wow!! thats awesome. where are you getting your seeds? My wheat does not grow like that!!

X2 WOW my birds would be crazy on it!

 

[Mskayladog]

The water system looked to complicated for me lol.
I got WInter wheat from the local feed and seed. What I did was rinse as much seed as I would need then put it in a pint mason jar with some panty hose over the top if you need more seed use a bigger jar, i made sure I had more water then seed. I sit the jar of soaking seed on the cabnet..it does not have to be in direct sunlight. After 24 hours or so I Drained and rinsed the seed then added some organic soil in a very slim layer over the bottom of one of those large fruit and cheese trays you get from the deli.
Oh I drilled about 5 holes in the bottom of the tray.
Then I layered the wheat seed evenly as I could over the soil but not buried in the soil watered well and put the lid back on and from the on watered well in morning and misted st supper time.
I set the while set up on top of a round delie tray to catch water that flows through when watering.

I did one out side in the sun and did not turn out as lush, then I read on line a lighted room that you can see in is enough and that's the one that is so lush..so from now on I'm not putting the trays in direct sunlight.

 

[Kassaundra]

Summer wheat I sprouted for the girls, i used dirt and those furit and veggie trays you get from the market. Oh I drilled holes in the bottoms to drain the water. I have more going. It smells so good I actually have a pretty planter on the kitchen table with some growing just for me. I did let grandson MOW the wheat because it was so long so the grils would not get impacted crops, They loved it after they got over being frightened of it.

How many days from the initial soak is this?

 

[Mskayladog]

How many days from the initial soak is this?

I think 6, the one that is not full is about 2 weeks it was outside and in full sun there are wheat seeds in it that did not sprout....I put the full one in the coop yesterday about 3pm and they have dug in it and some of them were eating the grass this morning when i went in the coop more then half of it is left. I thought it would be torn to pieces the root system must be tougher then it looks. I have 16 chickens but they do free range from 11:00 in the morning till its almost dark out.

I would have fed it sooner but it was so warm out I hated to waste it that's why I let it get so long, it was freezing and windy yesterday and the chooks stayed in the bushes that's the reason I gave it to them.

 

[Daloorashens]

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I intended to use wheat only, but sometimes my bags of wheat from the mill include other grains or a few peas or beans unexpectedly. It is about 90% wheat, but there are a few oats and some type of pea mixed in. They are growing beautifully! Because they're doing so well, I added more oats and peas to the batch I put to soak today.

Ann - I used a very small screwdriver to burn the holes. I have a gas stove and used the flame from the burner to heat my screwdriver every few holes. It was very quick and the handle kept my hand from getting hot.

This is a pic from this morning (day 5 in the to-go container).



This is the production line...days 1-5. It just doesn't show the soaking container.

I like how you did that!! Looks yummy, everytime I see it on the 'day 5' I want to eat some, lol!

 

[Daloorashens]

Just wanted to update you all on my fodder system--it's almost completely up and running with the rotation offering my 17 chickens 1/2 tray daily.

I like this idea, too!! You people come up with some really great ways of doing things.... I'll be starting mine after Christmas...

I love the idea of using the tub, that is smart... one of mine doesn't get used much because the kiddos like the deep tub in our bathroom, haha

Heirloom Acres is a place I have ordered from, family farm in MI, they always write me back when I write them and I have felt that their prices are very reasonable... let's see if I can find a link.....

http://www.heirloomacresseeds.com/ one spot to look is under vegetable seed, then cover crop... I haven't been in the market for cover crop, so I haven't purchased that before, but I have had good luck with all of their other seed, I planted some of their heirloom corn this year that I found in the seed box that was about 5 years old and had about a 50% germination, not bad for its age...

 

[Oakieridge]

Well hit a snag with fodder this weekend. We were almost out of wheat and barley so I went to a mill we usually get our pellets from. Well I had my son go since I was working all day Wednesday. Got home and the bags had tiny holes in them I asked my son he said he mentioned it to the guy loading the suburban but he said they werent holes. Well got one bag out and bugs were EVERYWHERE in my suburban on these bags!!! I am so ticked. I really hope the feed store makes it right. We were out of town all weekend so today he is taking the wheat and our receipt to the store to see if they will refund it. We found a feed store closer that will sell us wheat in bulk by the 55 gallon drum. We just have to supply the 55 gallon drum. We have 4 of those so that is easy. It will be much cheaper to buy it that way. He will go get some today in the drum.

If we can't get the feed store to make right on the buggy wheat can I ferment it? I don't like the idea of giving them feed that has bugs in it. I know it won't sprout because the bugs have been eating the wheat you can tell when we opened one bag.

 

[pawtraitart]

Well hit a snag with fodder this weekend. We were almost out of wheat and barley so I went to a mill we usually get our pellets from. Well I had my son go since I was working all day Wednesday. Got home and the bags had tiny holes in them I asked my son he said he mentioned it to the guy loading the suburban but he said they werent holes. Well got one bag out and bugs were EVERYWHERE in my suburban on these bags!!! I am so ticked. I really hope the feed store makes it right. We were out of town all weekend so today he is taking the wheat and our receipt to the store to see if they will refund it. We found a feed store closer that will sell us wheat in bulk by the 55 gallon drum. We just have to supply the 55 gallon drum. We have 4 of those so that is easy. It will be much cheaper to buy it that way. He will go get some today in the drum.

If we can't get the feed store to make right on the buggy wheat can I ferment it? I don't like the idea of giving them feed that has bugs in it. I know it won't sprout because the bugs have been eating the wheat you can tell when we opened one bag.

:Yes, I'd give fermenting a try with that batch.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well hit a snag with fodder this weekend.  We were almost out of wheat and barley so I went to a mill we usually get our pellets from.  Well I had my son go since I was working all day Wednesday.  Got home and the bags had tiny holes in them I asked my son he said he mentioned it to the guy loading the suburban but he said they werent holes.  Well got one bag out and bugs were EVERYWHERE in my suburban on these bags!!! I am so ticked.  I really hope the feed store makes it right.  We were out of town all weekend so today he is taking the wheat and our receipt to the store to see if they will refund it.  We found a feed store closer that will sell us wheat in bulk by the 55 gallon drum.  We just have to supply the 55 gallon drum.  We have 4 of those so that is easy.  It will be much cheaper to buy it that way.  He will go get some today in the drum.  

If we can't get the feed store to make right on the buggy wheat can I ferment it?  I don't like the idea of giving them feed that has bugs in it.  I know it won't sprout because the bugs have been eating the wheat you can tell when we opened one bag. 

I ended up with a couple of bags of wheat this past summer that I had to use. It fermented just fine.

 

[Oakieridge]

Thanks, dh just got off the phone with the mill and they are going to refund me the cost. They won't have anymore for a while but that is fine we will go and get a 55 gallon drum full of it for $60 from another mill just west of us. My birds are loving the fodder, I just wish I could find the nutritional value for all of it so I could know what they are missing from fodder that needs to be made up other places. They will still get their pellets until I am 100% sure they aren't lacking anything from the fodder. Right now I am using a mix of wheat, barley, sweet clover, radish seeds (just grown for 7 days), and oats. But I am sure I could add other things to help make it even better.