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

[Wormhunter]

To sprout seeds (I did not know it was called that ) you do not need all that equipment. Try’s and stacks i have been doing it for months with Macdonald’s large drinking cups. I just put two handfuls of oats in the cup. Cover these seeds by about 1/2 of fresh water. Put in on top of the fridge. ( I know weird place) i start a new cup each day. I have 6, on the third day I cover the seeds with water again and poor out the access. The green fills in so fast after the third day. I take the massive root bell and green of the 6 day cup to my girls. I then start that cup again. It is by no means a blanket of green but it is super easy and quick to do. put in seeds put in water three days later water again. Three days later feed to girls.

 

[Wormhunter]

Hi, you said you use oats for sprouting, what are the oats called when you buy them? Twice I’ve bought oats for growing and both times that have been the wrong sort, one sort arrived and was ‘rough’ oats and another was glakes
Can I get them from

 

[Wormhunter]

Hi, you said you use oats for sprouting, what are the oats called when you buy them? Twice I’ve bought oats for growing and both times that have been the wrong sort, one sort arrived and was ‘rough’ oats and another was glakes
Can I get them from Amazon
I’m really keen to get some ‘ sprouting’ started but am unsure costs and seeds

 

[Sally PB]

@thelittlegraybarn

can you pm me about the barley seeds too? I would be interested in about a pound of seed because I only have 4 chickens.

 

[Sally PB]

Oh, just for information's sake... The rice fodder didn't do well either. Going back to alfalfa sprouts. Got some for the birdies for tomorrow.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

To nix the fruit flies, get a small container (small sour cream tub or like it), put in about an inch of water, about a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and one drop of liquid dish soap. Stir and set it out near your bins. The fruit flies are attracted to the ACV and the soap breaks the water tension on the surface and the little buggers sink to the bottom and die.

I did that thank you for the advice! There were some small plastic containers in the form of red apples on sale in my favorite local hardware store and those attracted and drowned a lot of the flies. Since the weather became colder, the fruit flies are all gone. Until spring that is...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

This is a wonderful thread but I have a problem with all the bleach being used. Chlorine bleach is toxic. You're feeding that to your birds. Their crop depends on a healthy bacterial and yeast balance to work properly. The bleach will kill both of those good guys. Yes, the bleach is in the water but it sticks to the seeds and it doesn't go away.

Instead of bleach, please try white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. H2O2 is also an excellent alternative and is non-toxic. We even used 35% food grade H2O2 to treat our well. Don't want bleach in my house or my water supply!!

I grow microgreens which are just what the fodder is but a few days younger. The white material on the surface is probably just the root hairs from the seeds. You're seeing these since the seeds aren't planted in soil. Microgreens, young fodder, will mold if they are too wet and there isn't enough air circulation. If your grow space doesn't have good circulation, try putting up a small fan on low to move the air some. You might get better results to water once, cover your bin until the seeds sprout, uncover and water once daily.

As a disclaimer, I haven't grown the fodder but I have grown a LOT of microgreens--I sell them to the local health food store. My girls aren't interested in the microgreens so I haven't pursued the fodder. Since it is now winter, I'll give it a try and see what they think.

Thanks for all the good info here.

Are you on well-water?
If not, you and your birds are being exposed to chlorine and similar chemicals through your municipal water supply!
I tried to replace the bleach with vinegar this year and got into trouble with the wife's sensitive nose. She fortunately has not realized that all those fruit-flies we had in the house were coming from the fodder-bins i placed on the window-sill to green up, otherwise it would have been it…
I am not dowsing those grains in chlorine bleach, just add a little bit to the daily flooding and to the soaking water. The chlorine smell is barely noticeable, only when you stick the nose into the bin right after flooding. I don't use any extra bleach during the two days the bins sit on the window sill to green up, so i am sure all the chlorine is gone by the time i give that stuff to my ducks.
And yes, you are very correct: H2O2 would be much much better to fight fungi! But despite my best effort i can't buy that stuff anywhere in the area, it is sold out since months. I assume too many people are using it to fight the beer-virus.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

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i'm easily confused these days. to clarify: soak seeds ~12 hrs; drain. mount drained seeds in rack. rinse and drain (how soon?) allowing rinse water to flow into bin below - rinse twice a day.

Don't be confused! In case of Winter Wheat:

• Rinse seeds with water, remove everything that floats
• Soak seeds for 4-6 hours in water
• Spread out seeds in a bin, remove every foreign looking things
• Flood the bins once or twice a day until you think it has grown tall enough to be fed.
  Once or twice depends on your environment: In my cold garage once daily is enough. If you grow in your way overheated living room , you may need to rinse more than once.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

In my experience, rinsing the sprouts in their trays at least twice a day and ensuring that they are not sitting in water eliminates mold.

Clean seeds, less water and lower temperature are the keys!

Wash your seeds thoroughly and remove anything that floats - for grain that is, other seeds may float altogether. Try to remove everything that is not seed!
Add a drop of bleach - or H2O2 if you can find that - to the soaking water.
Use the bare minimum amount of water to rinse the seeds. They must not sit in water for hours, they just need to be kept moist. In my cold garage i flood the tower only once per day (and sometimes i forget , but the wheat still grows like weeds).
Also the overheated living room is the wrong place to grow fodder! (Re)Locate your growing operation to a cool room in the basement, the garage or a shack outside, it just has to be above freezing for most grains. Winter Wheat grows fine in my garage with temperatures in the 40's.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi, you said you use oats for sprouting, what are the oats called when you buy them? Twice I’ve bought oats for growing and both times that have been the wrong sort, one sort arrived and was ‘rough’ oats and another was glakes
Can I get them from

Personally i cannot recommend Oats: Tried several grains last year and Oats were the most difficult ones. - Though the ducks loved them most.
I found that Winter Wheat is easiest to grow, then comes Rye (which the ducks don't like much), Alfalfa and then Oats. Barley worked best for @gtaus last year, but i cannot get my hands on that.