Starting a Fodder adventure

[FnWeirdo]

Hello BWC folks,
This thread will be following my first adventure in fodder, I've done a lot of reading and even did a practice batch using bad quality black oil sunflower seeds. so the purpose of this thread will be to follow me along doing my first "week long fodder rotation"
i will be doing 7 batches of fodder 1 new batch each day and i will be taking plenty photo's while we follow each batch from seed to ready to feed. this will be a bit of a science experiment so i will be doing things like recording the weight each day to see how effienct fodder is.

later on i will be creating an upgraded fodder system but for now i am using the mason jar fodder technique (1/2 gallon jars)
tomorrow will be day 1 with the fodder experiment for anyone that would like to follow along. i will be using organic non gmo barley seed. and i will try to provide any information i can on fodder as we go.

feel free to post and discuss, see you tomorrow for the start of my fodder adventure.

 

[mixedbreeds]

I rinse and drain twice a day as well I have 14 flats going, feed 2 a day to 75 chickens. I’m only letting them grow 7 days now the top left in picture is 10 days. They love it and it does wonders for the taste of the eggs in winter.

 

[aart]

am looking forward to weighing it again to see how much growth we got out of a couple table spoons of seed.

You do realize that any weight gained is mostly 'water weight'?
You'll get much more 'green' if a single layer of seed is sprouted in a flat pan.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Info snagged from the net.

• Sprouting improves the enzyme content, making it more easily digested than grains; after sprouting, a grain becomes 40-50% more digestible to the bird, which means that they are getting more nutrition and fiber than from the same amount of unsprouted grain
• Sprouts are loaded with chlorophyll and beta-carotene, resulting in darker yolks and arguably, more nutritious eggs.

 

[aart]

Info snagged from the net.

You really should provide a link to where that came from,
so folks can assess the source and info themselves,
and to avoid basic plagiarism.

 

[Wezdin]

 

[mixedbreeds]

These are the ones I started soaking Sunday night then put in trays Monday morning. I think yours might be ahead of mine. I found some lentils on amazon ordered 15 pounds still a little speedy but I would only use a half a cup per tray so won’t be to bad should be here by Monday.

 

[aart]

From what I understand, the nutrients from the seeds are more easily processed at the sprouting stage, and the roots are also nutritious. ..... It not only is more nutitious than feeding strait seeds, but you need to feed significantly less. Stretches grain costs considerably as a huge bonus.

All negligible^^^^
...but can be fun to do and the 'green' can contribute to more colorful yolks,
and who doesn't like to see some green in the middle of winter?

 

[FnWeirdo]

20/Jan/2019

-Evening updates-



XP1(day6)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)

XP2(day5)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)

XP3(day4)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)

XP4(day3)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)

XP5(day2)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)

 

[FnWeirdo]

Things seem to be going very well. plenty of green growth on xp1 im hoping by tomorrow it'll be ready to feed and am looking forward to weighing it again to see how much growth we got out of a couple table spoons of seed. XP2 should be greenish by tonight if the timing continue to hold true to one another.