Guess what season it is in the Northern Hemisphere?! - Its FODDER Season! šŸ€

Looks like you have some very nice fodder growing there. That is what I got last year with some good seed. Nice to see all that green.
As said, in the bathroom the fodder was growing fine, even though i had some issues with mold. But in the garage it is another story: I get really thick root mattresses, but almost no green leaves, and the three days in the dining room window don't cut it.
Same situation as where you live, it is just a few weeks before everything will explode into green here, surely less than seven weeks. So i will continue growing the fodder and feed what i have until i finished the last Ā½ bag out of three 50lbs bags that i had for this winter and hope next winter will be better.
 
So i will continue growing the fodder and feed what i have until i finished the last Ā½ bag out of three 50lbs bags that i had for this winter and hope next winter will be better.
Yes, today I just filled up my last 5 gallon bucket of barley seed which should last me until the lawn grass starts to grow. The other seed I bought, that was really bad for fodder, will be mixed into some chicken scratch in a week or so as my bin of scratch is down close to empty. So, even the poor germinating seed will be put to good use as scratch.
 
I decided that i will grow out the last Ā¼bag of wheat in my bathroom in the mini-tower:
full
There are fodder bins for the next nine days in the big-tower down in the garage which gives me enough time to start-up the mini-tower system. Let's see how fast the wheat is growing there.
 
This lady is absolutely correct! In regards of Ā»dry matterĀ« you loose feed weight when you're growing fodder.
But: Eating is not only about filling your stomach with nutrients - there is a reason why we humons don't squeeze some gray paste out of a tube into our mouths, even though that paste contains all the necessary nutrients to sustain us. At least give us some Ā»Soylent GreenĀ« biscuitsā€¦ šŸ˜‚
Food also should contain a lot of fibers to keep the digestive tract healthy and fodder is almost the definition of fibers. Fodder also tastes better than the dry grains and, if you do like me and let the fodder green up in a south-window for two days, will contain additional nutrients that the plants have produced through photosynthesis.
Just to keep it short: Her main mistake is the attempt to reduce her food bill by replacing most or all animal feed with fodder. That does not work! Fodder is not meant to replace the base food of your animals (layer pellets in case of my ducks), it is meant as an additional supply to keep your animals healthier during the cold season when there is nothing to forage outside.
I am not growing fodder during the summer! My ducks wouldn't even touch it! (Well, except for Blanca Duck!)
Agreed, calculations like Ā»i turned one pound of grains into 5 pounds of fodderĀ« are misleading, because you are comparing dry and wet food weights. But the author of this video is also comparing apples with pears (as we say in Germany) by comparing feed quantity with quality. There is a huge difference in eating fodder versus dry grains, trust my ducks!
I watched this video this morning and it solidified the fact that I am not giving fodder as nothing more than entertainment and bordem in the winter months. And not too much!
 
Yeah! Mold! - I have new problem with my fodder "ripening" in the dining room window: Fruit flies! Since late autumn we have some kind of a fruit fly / ladybug pandemic here in the area. The ladybugs have all died or been eaten by the ducks and i though we finally got rid of the fruit-flies after the first frosty nights, but now they have discovered the fodder bins in the window. šŸ˜–
Fortunately the wife hasn't discovered them yet, but i somehow need to get rid of those. Not that the ducks mind about some extra protein, but we humans dislike little flies in our beveragesā€¦
omg hubby would go nuts if he seen even 1 fruitfly! He's say, Get Rid of It!
 
I follow wash my Winter Wheat grains twice in a pickle glass before filling the glass Ā½ full and then add some drops of bleach to the soaking water. Let sit for 6-10 hours and pour it into a bin, drain the soaking water out and wash the grains again.
I also add some bleach to the daily flooding water.
So far no problems with mold.
Also, my garage is unheated and between 8 and 10Ā°C (46-50 F) which keeps any potential mold grow down.
WannaBeHillBilly,
I think you answered a question I've been trying to hunt and peck for about growing fodder, I wanted to set up in my cellar which has some south west facing windows and it's neither warm or cold and I had read that it had to be at least 70 degrees so I was stymied because it likely (accorinding to weather) will be between 45 and 62 ish..) I'm guessing in your garage there may not have been a lot of light.. Is light a factor or only in the end of the process to green up? Also I have grow lights on shelves in my basement which I usually only use to start my seedlings in April.. So I could use them if needed but it seems for this kind of sprout growing.. it's not needed but would be if I was using some kind soil and a tray that I could put hardware cloth over which Ive decided I could try in the Spring when I could hope to keep the mat alive out in their run. Thanks for any feedback on my widely curving chicken rant! :^
 
@WannaBeHillBilly said: Agreed, calculations like Ā»i turned one pound of grains into 5 pounds of fodderĀ« are misleading, because you are comparing dry and wet food weights. But the author of this video is also comparing apples with pears (as we say in Germany) by comparing feed quantity with quality. There is a huge difference in eating fodder versus dry grains, trust my ducks!

I know this issue has been kicked around in a number of places, but it showed up again in my inbox. I am one of those who touted that I turned 1 pound of barley seed into 5 pounds of fresh green fodder. I suppose that could be misleading to some, but I think of dry grain as a different substance than fresh fodder. I have watched, and rewatched, that lady with her "anti-fodder" message and considered her comments. I did all that BEFORE I decided to grow fodder for my chickens. Although I agree with some of her points, I think she misses the mark on others.

From what I have read in other places, the advantage of grown fodder is that the animals have an easier time digesting the fodder and extracting the nutrients from the food, as compared to dry grain. I cannot remember the exact percentages, but dry grains pass through the chicken and most of the grain is not digested. Fodder is more easily digested, something like 2X or 3X more than dry grain, so the animal is able to extract more nutrients from the fresh greens as compared to the dry grains. But it has been awhile, and I cannot remember the exact percentages.

From personal experience, I can see the difference in the egg yolks when the chickens are eating green fodder (the yolk is a darker orange) as compared to when they only get dry feed (the yolk is a pale yellow). I don't know if the darker yolk is better for you or not, but we had egg customers who preferred our backyard eggs because the yolks were so dark orange.

As mentioned, my chickens prefer to eat fresh green fodder rather than their bland dry feed. Having said that, I think a well balanced feed available 24/7 is vital to the health of the chickens and the fodder I give them is just considered a healthy treat, but in no way a substitute for the commercial feed with added nutrients.

Also, growing fodder in the winter months here in norhtern Minnesota is the only greens that my chickens will get to eat for about 6 months out of the year. When the grass starts to grow in the spring, they get to eat fresh grass clippings until last mowing in the fall.

Also, part of my philosophy of raising my chickens is to provide them with a variety of different food items. So, my chickens get most of our kitchen scraps and leftovers as well as anything else they can scratch and peck out in the chicken run compost system. I am all for letting my birds eat as many worms and bugs they can find. I think that is in their nature and it benefits them to work for some of their food.

I have a backyard flock for making compost in the run, and eggs are just a bonus. I use the chicken run compost in my gardens to grow people food and that has worked out very well for me. Chickens are natural composters as they continually turn over the litter, breaking it down, over and over again as they look for bugs and worms.

Growing, and feeding fodder to my chickens just encourages their natural scavenging desires and I believe they are happier working through a clump of fodder than eating dry feed out of the hanging feeder. Again, it's just a great treat for them and not a substitute for the balanced feed.
 

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