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

[gtaus]

I got rid of all grains from last year, my experience is that older seeds have a significantly lower germination rate.

Well, I had a great germination rate with my year old wheat seed, it's just that initially I also got a bin full of mold along with it. I reduced the amount of seed in each bin, which allows the wheat seeds to dry out more, added a bit of bleach to the initial soaking, and the mold problem seems to be under control. Tomorrow I start with the barley seed which is what I used last year successfully.

Did you have any issues with mold with your wheat seed fodder? If so, what steps did you take to control the mold? I think my adjustments to the wheat fodder have knocked out the mold issue I initially had, but just curious to hear your experience with wheat fodder.

 

[gtaus]

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 did not have any mold problems with barely seed fodder last year. This year I started off with wheat seeds and lost my first few bins to mold. Nobody wants to grow moldy fodder for the compost bin. @WannaBeHillBilly has already outlined his method of preventing mold, which is pretty much in line with what I also do with my fodder. I know temp and humidity play an important role in the growth of mold. When I reduced the amount of wheat seed in my bins, thereby allowing the seeds to dry out a bit more between watering, the mold problems have gone away. That is kind of like a trial and error method, but it seems to be working for me.

Just curious, what seeds are you using for your fodder?

I have never tried growing fodder in dirt, well, actually, that would just be growing the wheat, barley, oats, etc... and then cutting off the green grass part to feed to the chickens. I don't have that option here in northern Minnesota, at least not outside. If you live somewhere where you can grow grass all year long, then you might consider planting your seeds under a feeding/grazing frame made up of 2x4's and wire on top. The grass portion of the grains grows up and over the wire, the chickens can eat the greens, and the roots remain firmly planted in the ground to continue growing.

As to feeding fodder to the chickens, they eat not only the top grass portion, but also the root mat with the sprouts and remaining seed that did not germinate. Everything gets eaten. It is fun for me to watch some chickens dive into the green grass, while others immediately start tearing apart the root mat to get at the sprouts.

 

[gtaus]

I follow wash my Winter Wheat grains twice in a pickle glass before filling the glass ½ 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 10°C (46-50 F) which keeps any potential mold grow down.

Pretty much what I do, also. My second bathroom is about 65F, so a bit warmer than your garage. Wonder if anyone knows the "correct" amount of bleach to add to the water? I am using about a small capful of bleach to bin of water. Too much? Not enough? I really don't know.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I did not have any mold problems with barely seed fodder last year. This year I started off with wheat seeds and lost my first few bins to mold. Nobody wants to grow moldy fodder for the compost bin. @WannaBeHillBilly has already outlined his method of preventing mold, which is pretty much in line with what I also do with my fodder. I know temp and humidity play an important role in the growth of mold. When I reduced the amount of wheat seed in my bins, thereby allowing the seeds to dry out a bit more between watering, the mold problems have gone away. That is kind of like a trial and error method, but it seems to be working for me.

Just curious, what seeds are you using for your fodder?

I have never tried growing fodder in dirt, well, actually, that would just be growing the wheat, barley, oats, etc... and then cutting off the green grass part to feed to the chickens. I don't have that option here in northern Minnesota, at least not outside. If you live somewhere where you can grow grass all year long, then you might consider planting your seeds under a feeding/grazing frame made up of 2x4's and wire on top. The grass portion of the grains grows up and over the wire, the chickens can eat the greens, and the roots remain firmly planted in the ground to continue growing.

As to feeding fodder to the chickens, they eat not only the top grass portion, but also the root mat with the sprouts and remaining seed that did not germinate. Everything gets eaten. It is fun for me to watch some chickens dive into the green grass, while others immediately start tearing apart the root mat to get at the sprouts.

I've used human grade red winter wheat, mixed bird seed, sunflowers and field peas in various proportions and quantities.
I can't grow in my garage, I have to grow in my kitchen or basement for it to be out of the way. Basement is a lil cooler but more humid. House is in the low-mid 60's all winter.
I've grown fodder for years and know how they eat it but I can't seem to get it to grow mold free. So I'm thinking of growing it greens only in the future.

 

[alwaysthere4chickens]

Fodder is awesome!

Have you seen This video?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well, I had a great germination rate with my year old wheat seed, it's just that initially I also got a bin full of mold along with it. I reduced the amount of seed in each bin, which allows the wheat seeds to dry out more, added a bit of bleach to the initial soaking, and the mold problem seems to be under control. Tomorrow I start with the barley seed which is what I used last year successfully.

Did you have any issues with mold with your wheat seed fodder? If so, what steps did you take to control the mold? I think my adjustments to the wheat fodder have knocked out the mold issue I initially had, but just curious to hear your experience with wheat fodder.

Yes, i had some problems with mold this year: In order to ramp up the fodder production quickly, i followed this procedure:
morning:

• move all bins one level up
• pour soaked grains from last evening into fresh bin and place it at the bottom
• flood the whole tower with water, containing one "spritz" of bleach
• soak another batch of grains

evening

• move all bins one level up
• pour soaked grains from the morning into fresh bin and place it at the bottom
• flood the whole tower with water, containing one "spritz" of bleach
• soak another batch of grains

So i was flooding the tower twice per day and the nightly grains soaked longer (12+ hours) than those from the day. Some of the night-grains went terribly bad within hours. I had to throw them into the garbage, they were even too bad for the compost - my ducks are allowed to dig through the compost and may have found and eaten them.
Also the temperatures in my garage were higher than they are now, that might have added to the rapid mold growth.
What i have changed since then is:

• I wash the grains multiple times before i let them sit in the water. My wheat contains a lot of dust and mold spores, i assume.
• I use less water in the soaking jar, in fact it is sufficient to put just the soaking wet grains into the jar and let them sit for some hours. - I know you are using your bins to soak the grains, so that may be different for you.
• I flood the tower only once a day, not twice, so the grains stay much drier.
• Temperatures in the garage went down by 10°/18F - i assume that is the main culprit

 

[Kiki]

Where are the pictures?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Pretty much what I do, also. My second bathroom is about 65F, so a bit warmer than your garage. Wonder if anyone knows the "correct" amount of bleach to add to the water? I am using about a small capful of bleach to bin of water. Too much? Not enough? I really don't know.

I can only assume, but 65F is way warmer than my garage, which is in the mid to upper 40's. Since the temperatures have dropped i have fewer issues with mold, and the few white spots i sometimes have in the bins disappear after two days in the bright sun. I let the bins green up for two days in our dining room window, facing straight south. The wheat literally explodes into green leaves, destroying the mold entirely.
I am using a squirt bottle from the dollar store to add just a "spritz" of bleach to all the water, not exactly dosing it.
You should try to water your tower only once per day, maybe that helps to keep the mold down.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Fodder is awesome!

Have you seen This video?

This lady is absolutely correct! In regards of »dry matter« 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 »Soylent Green« biscuits…
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 »i turned one pound of grains into 5 pounds of fodder« 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!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Where are the pictures?

There are plenty of pictures in @gtaus' article »My $10 Inexpensive DIY Fodder Tower with Dollar Tree Dish Bins« and my »Fodder Album«.