Guess what season it is in the Northern Hemisphere?! - Its FODDER Season! 🍀

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yes, I measured out 2 scoops/cans of seeds and it was 450 grams, or 1 lb. I like the thick root mat and my chickens love tearing it apart. They have no problem. But, obviously, chicken feet and pointed beaks are very different than a duck's webbed foot and flat bill.

It is kind of comical to see the ducks ripping a tough root-mat apart, one duck grabs a huge chunk of the fodder and runs away, followed by ten others, dragging on all corners… Funny but also extremely messy and a lot gets wasted.
I started to use more grain this morning, 300 grams, ⅔ lbs, let's see where this is going.
I also will buy a bag of wild bird feed and try BOSS sprouts again.
Fodder has really helped ramping up the egg production here and the ducks just love to eat it!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

OMG! @gtaus we are doomed!!!​

The world as we know it has come to an end:

I went to the local Dollar Tree to buy some more bins and there were none.
Then i asked one of the employees who had no clue, but asked his superior who also had no clue, but looked into the storage room only to come back empty handed. Then the store-owner arrived (closing time) and told me that the

white dish bins are sold out permanently!!!
​

Apparently those are made in China and due to the current disagreements between our and the Chinese government these products can no longer be imported into the country.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

What is fodder and what is it good for?
Fodder is the process of germinating seeds and feeding the resulting sprouts (and remaining seeds) to your animals. By feeding the sprouts to the animals the animals will benefit from both the seed's energy and the plant's energy. They will also enjoy eating some fresh greenery during the cold months, when nothing fresh grows outside and foraging. Side effects of feeding fodder may be a more active flock, healthier birds and an increase in egg production, even though it is winter.

How to grow fodder and isn't that a lot of work?
There are several methods to grow fodder, for small amounts you can grow fodder in jars, like described in last year's thread »Starting a Fodder adventure« from @FnWeirdo.
To grow larger amounts of fodder using a fodder-system is recommended. There are commercial solutions available, but those are expensive and are built to grow really large amounts of fodder, like for dairy farms. But there is an affordable solution available right here on BYC: @gtaus built himself a fodder-tower out of some scrap-wood last year and published the instructions in his article »My $10 Inexpensive DIY Fodder Tower with Dollar Tree Dish Bins«. I built one for myself, have used it last winter with great success and just started to grow fodder this year for my ducks.
With the fodder tower in place i can grow one large bin of greens for my ducks per day, spending less than 20 minutes of time per day:

Morning:

1. Take the top-bin out to feed the ducks
2. Weigh grains into a jar and cover them in water
3. Pour water into the top bin and let it flow through
4. Place the fodder-bin into a south-facing window so it can green up

Evening (after feeding the :

1. Clean the fodder bin that was just used
2. Move the remaining bins up one level
3. Empty the water-catch bin at the bottom
4. Pour the soaked grains into a cleaned bin and place it into the bottom rack

Now you made me curious, is there more information available?
Yes, there is:

• Last year's thread from @FnWeirdo »Starting a Fodder adventure«
• @gtaus Fodder Tower article: »My $10 Inexpensive DIY Fodder Tower with Dollar Tree Dish Bins«
• @gtaus hilarious thread how he unsuccessfully tried to hide the fodder tower from his wife: »Don't tell the wife, I'm growing fodder in the 2nd bathroom!«
• My Fodder-Album with lot's of pictures from my fodder-tower and the fodder I grew: »Fodder Album«

I want to grow my own fodder now, where to buy the grains and what kind of grains?
Let me start with the kind of grains first: I have tried Alfalfa, Rye, Oats, BOSS and Winter-Wheat and so far Winter-Wheat grew best and the Oats were the most difficult ones. Soak the oats too short and they don't sprout, soak them too long and they don't sprout, too cold, too dry - they are just difficult. @gtaus was most successful with Barley - which seems to be unavailable in West Virginia.
Where to buy: Local seed- and feed-stores are a good source, fodder grains don't have graded for human consumption. And there are some large companies who sell seeds by the pound over the internet:

• Greencover Seed
• Hancock Seed Company
• Outside Pride
• Stock Seed Farms

And of course the usual suspects, like Amazon and eBay, also you can buy bird feed at the local grocery stores and let it sprout.

No more excuses! Do something good for your animals and grow some Fodder!​

This is so brilliant! Thank you for posting and putting this together. I'm inspired to do this for my flock!!

 

[gtaus]

OMG! @gtaus we are doomed!!!​

The world as we know it has come to an end:

I went to the local Dollar Tree to buy some more bins and there were none.
Then i asked one of the employees who had no clue, but asked his superior who also had no clue, but looked into the storage room only to come back empty handed. Then the store-owner arrived (closing time) and told me that the

white dish bins are sold out permanently!!!
​

Apparently those are made in China and due to the current disagreements between our and the Chinese government these products can no longer be imported into the country.

That bites. I go to the Dollar Tree a couple times a month and have noticed that both the black and white dish bins were out of stock. I had no idea that they are no longer available, permanently. I know that Wal-Mart used to sell the dish bins for about $2.00 each, but I have not been to our local Wal-Mart in quite a while. Those dish bins used to be sold everywhere, so I hope they still available somewhere.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

This is so brilliant! Thank you for posting and putting this together. I'm inspired to do this for my flock!!

Go give it a try, your birds will love it!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That bites. I go to the Dollar Tree a couple times a month and have noticed that both the black and white dish bins were out of stock. I had no idea that they are no longer available, permanently. I know that Wal-Mart used to sell the dish bins for about $2.00 each, but I have not been to our local Wal-Mart in quite a while. Those dish bins used to be sold everywhere, so I hope they still available somewhere.

Need to drive to Walmart too, but the nearest one is ~20 miles away, one-way. And you need to wear a mask in there…
Let's hope the dumb politicians on both side of the even larger pond find back to some common sense!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I mean, if you can drive for 20 miles just to get into walmart, wearing a mask for 20 minutes should be a breeze.

 

[Sally PB]

So, my fodder ALWAYS gets moldy after about 2-3 days post soak. Suggestions?
I'm leaning towards growing it in some dirt at this point just to control the microbes and just feeding the greens not the seed....

I grew alfalfa in water. It went very well. I grew chia in dirt and it got mold about the time it was thinking of making second leaves. Ugh.

I'm trying chia in just water. You know how you can use chia to make pudding...? Well, yup, it turns into gel. I have to keep adding water, but I can see tiny sprouts now on day three. My idea to combat mold is to water with diluted kombucha or acv. I'll let you all know how it goes!

 

[gtaus]

Need to drive to Walmart too, but the nearest one is ~20 miles away, one-way. And you need to wear a mask in there…
Let's hope the dumb politicians on both side of the even larger pond find back to some common sense!

@WannaBeHillBilly, I am a (semi-retired) Registered Nurse. The COVID-19 positivity rate at our local hospital is running about 20% where I live. I had a distant cousin in Nevada die of COVID-19 in October. Currently, my younger brother is sick (no taste, no smell, not feeling well) at home in quarantine for 2 weeks with his youngest son pending results of his COVID-19 test he took on Saturday. We all hope that the vaccines are effective and the vaccinations will be available to the general public sooner than later (current estimate is May 2021). Until then, I encourage everyone to wear a mask in public, watch your distance, and wash your hands. It's the best we can do for now for our public health.

My local community is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 and as such many businesses are once again closed, schools are going to distant learning, and masks are required in all public places that are open. I hope your community is doing better. Stay healthy.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I mean, if you can drive for 20 miles just to get into walmart, wearing a mask for 20 minutes should be a breeze.

I'm not allowed to drive with a face-mask here! - And even 10 minutes with mask on my face will make my nostrils swell shut, dry out my mouth and fog up my glasses. Wit very few exceptions i only go to places where a mask is not required.