Starting a Fodder adventure

[mixedbreeds]

25/Jan/2019

-Evening updates-

XP6(day6)
*Rinse*
*Drain*
(seed progression)
View attachment 1653534

So are you going to move to some trays after this or keep doing what you are doing. I put canning rings between my tray with holes and the one without so I don’t need to stand and wait for it to drain till I move to the next one just holds it up higher. I need to find something better as the rings eventually will rust.

 

[Kusanar]

So are you going to move to some trays after this or keep doing what you are doing. I put canning rings between my tray with holes and the one without so I don’t need to stand and wait for it to drain till I move to the next one just holds it up higher. I need to find something better as the rings eventually will rust.

Get a piece of pvc pipe and cut it into rings however tall you want them. It's the same material used for plumbing, so it is perfectly safe sitting in water or against wet seed.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Get a piece of pvc pipe and cut it into rings however tall you want them. It's the same material used for plumbing, so it is perfectly safe sitting in water or against wet seed.

Sheesh why didn’t I think of that, thank you for kick starting my brain. The canning rings were easy and I have a lot of them but long term are not good.

 

[FnWeirdo]

So are you going to move to some trays after this or keep doing what you are doing. I put canning rings between my tray with holes and the one without so I don’t need to stand and wait for it to drain till I move to the next one just holds it up higher. I need to find something better as the rings eventually will rust.

for now im gonna stay with the jars although when i get more chickens ill upgrade to flats. but im about to start building a jar system to automate it. heres my plan.( got the idea down but need to draw it up)
i was thinking a modular system would be nice so im gonna make a few small shelves that'll fit 4 jars on it at a 45 degree angle.
ill do a tilted type of gutter for the water drainage.
ill have the water drainage collect in a reservoir, strainer and filter with a small pump.
ill use the same plastic caps on the jars but i will drill a hole big enough to put a tube through it with a mister nozzle.
ill put a timer on it so i dont have to keep coming back to them.

so hopefully it'll work like this..... Every how many hours the mist nozzles will spray rinsing the Entire jar along with the seeds, the water will drain into the gutter - through strainer- into reservoir - and filtered on the outlet.

what do you think?

 

[mixedbreeds]

That sounds very cool I would think it would work great. Thank you for doing this thread it’s been great and I’m sure that for every person that posted there were a dozen or more that read threw it, good job.

 

[Kusanar]

for now im gonna stay with the jars although when i get more chickens ill upgrade to flats. but im about to start building a jar system to automate it. heres my plan.( got the idea down but need to draw it up)
i was thinking a modular system would be nice so im gonna make a few small shelves that'll fit 4 jars on it at a 45 degree angle.
ill do a tilted type of gutter for the water drainage.
ill have the water drainage collect in a reservoir, strainer and filter with a small pump.
ill use the same plastic caps on the jars but i will drill a hole big enough to put a tube through it with a mister nozzle.
ill put a timer on it so i dont have to keep coming back to them.

so hopefully it'll work like this..... Every how many hours the mist nozzles will spray rinsing the Entire jar along with the seeds, the water will drain into the gutter - through strainer- into reservoir - and filtered on the outlet.

what do you think?

I only have 2 concerns with that.
1) Are you taking the lids off currently when you rinse and photograph? If so, they may need that extra air exchange, if not, then concern retracted.
2) the seeds may end up sliding toward the lid and trying to root through the holes in the lid, may need to only put on the mister system after they have enough root to start gripping each other, may not be an issue, just something to watch out for as you try it.

 

[FnWeirdo]

I only have 2 concerns with that.
1) Are you taking the lids off currently when you rinse and photograph? If so, they may need that extra air exchange, if not, then concern retracted.
2) the seeds may end up sliding toward the lid and trying to root through the holes in the lid, may need to only put on the mister system after they have enough root to start gripping each other, may not be an issue, just something to watch out for as you try it.

Thank you for posting, i very much appreciate the thoughts.
concern 1) Currently no i do not take off the lids when rinsing, the holes are just big enough to fill without undoing the lid. i was thinking of putting a couple bigger "vent holes" to left and right of where the tube comes in. and having smaller holes under for drain.
Concern 2) thats a bit of a worry as well. i might just have to pick up the jar and shake the seeds into better position until they start to connect together. i think thats one of those ones ill just have to try it and see what happens before i figure out the solution.
I already have been having to knock the seeds on the lid out every day otherwise they will sprout in the holes to the lid but they just need a little smack on the lid to dislodge them usually.

thanks again for the post i will 100% keep that in mind

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

View attachment 1645337 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.

Do you start with soaking the seeds in a jar for 24 hours and then go to the trays?

I have been growing microgreens with soil for the human members of the family and growing lentils, bird seed, and wheat grass in soil for the chickens. I just bought barley seed and tried to do it without soil. I soaked for 24 hours in water in a jar, then did the drain, rinse, drain for a few days after that and then put them in trays. The seeds definitely sprouted. It is now day 8 and there is hardly any "grass" growing. I don't know what I could have done wrong, but they are growing so slow, something must be wrong. Any ideas?

 

[mixedbreeds]

Yes I put the grain it dish pans and soak overnight. I tried barley a few years ago and had the exact thing happen to me it ended up molding before anything grew very good. I thought at that time it must have been bad barley but maybe not. I bought it on amazon didn’t pay that much but after that I went to the wheat, sunflower seeds and lentils. I know other people sprout barley but have no idea why we had problems.

 

[FnWeirdo]

Do you start with soaking the seeds in a jar for 24 hours and then go to the trays?

I have been growing microgreens with soil for the human members of the family and growing lentils, bird seed, and wheat grass in soil for the chickens. I just bought barley seed and tried to do it without soil. I soaked for 24 hours in water in a jar, then did the drain, rinse, drain for a few days after that and then put them in trays. The seeds definitely sprouted. It is now day 8 and there is hardly any "grass" growing. I don't know what I could have done wrong, but they are growing so slow, something must be wrong. Any ideas?

sorry been busy lately haven't had a chance to visit byc. ( preparing house for new baby coming soon)i have read some people say they use the jars to start them then they transfer to trays. from what ive read they weight till the roots start sprouting but before they form the mat ( day 3 or 4). they then put them in a layer (single layer is better) on the tray. on day 5 the grass usually starts to sprout up i keep my fodder in the dark till day 6 so the grass starts to sprout white instead of green.

yes 24/hr soak first thats very important. are you rinsing twice daily? are you moving them to sunlight after a few days? are you setting the container on an angle to drain? is there air flow in the container? how cold is the area your sprouting in? and what is the sunlight conditions of said area? are you thoroughly cleaning the container before sprouting?

i would do a small batch in the jar without transferring just for a proof of concept. then you can see when the mat starts to form what day to expect the grass to start popping up. and you can formulate the best day for the transfer to the tray according to your growing conditions. as i said the best time to transfer is right before that mat forms. the glass jar acts as a greenhouse so that will change grow time but from what ive read barley takes 6-8 days from seed in soak to feed. the longer you wait the more chance of mold and mildew.

hopefully you can get some sprouts going good luck and ill be watching for replays forgive if it takes a bit for me to respond