Maine

[lazy gardener]

Where did you get your wheat & barley? How many pounds? How much?

Paris Farmer's Union, Barley 50# 22.64. Whole wheat 50# 23.96. My plan is to make a sprouting mix including both of those grains, BOSS, and may add some lentils, and maybe some of the mixes designed to be planted to attract deer. A lot of those mixes have clover, and a variety of brassicas. (Waiting until the weather gets colder, hoping that those packages of mixed seeds will go on clearance.

) After I do a trial run and get the kinks worked out, if anyone is interested in sharing 100+#'s of sprouting grains with me, PM.

Since allowing my girls into the garden, i've noticed that their eggs are getting much bigger. Anyone else notice changes in egg size associated with diet changes??

Any one make their own yogurt? If so, do you re-pasteurize the milk? Then, what temp do you try to hold your yogurt at while it "cooks"???

 

[Cknldy]

Alright, all this talk about fodder so I want to know if you give just the fodder and no bagged grain feed or give the fodder for better nutrition AND the bagged feed? I assume giving fodder equals not having to give as much bagged feed (or in other words the chickens eat less bagged feed)? We grew bird seed in containers in the window at the beginning of the year but that is as far as "fodder" went with us.

 

[lazy gardener]

Alright, all this talk about fodder so I want to know if you give just the fodder and no bagged grain feed or give the fodder for better nutrition AND the bagged feed? I assume giving fodder equals not having to give as much bagged feed (or in other words the chickens eat less bagged feed)? We grew bird seed in containers in the window at the beginning of the year but that is as far as "fodder" went with us.

Yes to all of the above: Cuts down on the amount of bagged feed needed, which in my case is already less b/c they get FF. Also gives them better nutrition. Merely by sprouting a seed, the nutritional content is increased through the enzyme action.

Also: Since turning the girls into the garden to clean it up, I've noticed a huge increase in egg size! Gotta love that. Am also saving all my water from cooking veggies, and giving that to them in the morning. Today, the broth du jour was enhanced with sweet potato skins, broccoli bits and savory bits of pork fat!

 

[CoopChick719]

Thanks for the info, LG!!

Will you just be sprouting these items in water or growing in dirt?

 

[lazy gardener]

They will be sprouted in water, similar to the alfalfa sprouts you can buy in the produce section at the grocery store. 1# of seed = 3 - 4# or sprouts, and up to 6# of fodder. I'm going to play around with the tray method, and do a comparison to sprouting in bags. Check out Kassaundra's video on her burlap bag sprout method.

 

[Cknldy]

Shoosh me if this is wrong but...can't the chickens choke on the batting if you throw the whole thing (sprouts/fodder and all) in? Some batting isn't all cotton. Couldn't it cause an impaction if the chickens ate it? It would be pretty neat to be able to use it though- maybe something like peat moss or spanish moss would work without problems?

 

[lazy gardener]

Shoosh me if this is wrong but...can't the chickens choke on the batting if you throw the whole thing (sprouts/fodder and all) in? Some batting isn't all cotton. Couldn't it cause an impaction if the chickens ate it? It would be pretty neat to be able to use it though- maybe something like peat moss or spanish moss would work without problems?

You've lost me Cknldy. Batting??? Cotton? No, they would never do well eating that! Sprouts are just seeds that have sprouted. In the case of grain seeds, they have a little root that may be an inch or so long, and the cotyledon or first leaf(leaves) are about 2 - 3 x longer than the seed. Fodder is those same little plants left to grow until the tops are 3 - 4" long. I think what you're confused about is that growers may be referring to the clump of fodder as a bat. (direct me to the thread and post #) In which case, the roots of all the plants mat together so it forms a solid clump. This mat of fodder can be picked up out of the tray, and cut into pieces or thrown in whole for the chickens to pick apart. In the case of Kassaundra, she sprouts her seeds in burlap bags. She then shakes the plants out of the bags for the chickens to eat, then turns the bag inside out, and puts it over a stick driven into the ground so the chickens can pick the seeds out of the burlap. Then she washes the bag, and starts the next batch.

 

[Cknldy]

sorry- got the threads mixed up! Discussing the same thing on another thread and someone said a greenhouse uses a material like quilt batting to spread seeds for germination. If batting were usedit wouldn't be safe to toss that in to the birds after sprouts or fodder grew. I understand sprouting and fodder growing, just listening in for new methods to try;-)

 

[Cknldy]

Kassaundra's burlap sack method is AWESOME!

 

[liquidequis]

Very interested in this "burlap bag" method...are there instructions posted somewhere on here?