Starting a Fodder adventure

[scarrie54]

I’ve been making fodder for a couple of months. I started just to bribe my Egyptian Fayoumis to stay in the electric poultry net.
I have a wire rack and use sprouting trays. I had to move it inside for the winter as they quit growing outside.
I have the best result by letting the seeds send out roots in a sprouting jar and transferring to dirt in the trays under a grow light (not very good window set up).
I cook the dirt @180-200 in the oven to avoid the soil knats that made me abandon my wheatgrass adventure a few years back.
I find the dirt eliminates the mold problem if the seeds are mold free when I put them in.
You can tell in the jar. If they start to get slimmy before they send roots out. I toss those.
My biggest problem was finding a good source of seed. Nothing locally carries it and to have it shipped costs as much as the seed.
I found Azure, which does a truck shipment around the country of a wide variety of organic stuff and bought barley seed, organic black oil sunflower and wheat. They also have organic chicken feed that’s a lot cheaper than Amazon.

 

[scarrie54]

I’ve been having great results with my barley by doing it this way.

 

[h2oratt]

I’ve been making fodder for a couple of months. I started just to bribe my Egyptian Fayoumis to stay in the electric poultry net.
I have a wire rack and use sprouting trays. I had to move it inside for the winter as they quit growing outside.
I have the best result by letting the seeds send out roots in a sprouting jar and transferring to dirt in the trays under a grow light (not very good window set up).
I cook the dirt @180-200 in the oven to avoid the soil knats that made me abandon my wheatgrass adventure a few years back.
I find the dirt eliminates the mold problem if the seeds are mold free when I put them in.
You can tell in the jar. If they start to get slimmy before they send roots out. I toss those.
My biggest problem was finding a good source of seed. Nothing locally carries it and to have it shipped costs as much as the seed.
I found Azure, which does a truck shipment around the country of a wide variety of organic stuff and bought barley seed, organic black oil sunflower and wheat. They also have organic chicken feed that’s a lot cheaper than Amazon.

Does the electric fence keep the chickens in?

 

[scarrie54]

Yes it does. Their coop and “run” is 200 ft of elect poultry fence in a Live Oak and Cedar.
My birds (14) are 5 months old and 4 different breeds. The EF’s get way up in the trees scouting for greens and predators. They flutter down over the fence. The problem is they don’t fly back in and try to get through the fence if threatened. They are learning they don’t like this and it rarely happens anymore. I love my fence. We have tons of predators not to mention roaming dogs.

 

[h2oratt]

Here is my problem. My chickens ar in a dog panel fence. They fly up on the fence but fly down into the dog yard. If we are not out there my dogs get them.
I was going to buy some moveable e fencing. I would have a double fence. Not sure if the birds would perch on the moveable fencing from premierone.

 

[scarrie54]

Probably not. Not on my 4’ fence, it’s to narrow. Nothing to land on.

 

[scarrie54]

Mines from Primier One, the posts are quarter size diameter

 

[Cryss]

Here is my problem. My chickens ar in a dog panel fence. They fly up on the fence but fly down into the dog yard. If we are not out there my dogs get them.
I was going to buy some moveable e fencing. I would have a double fence. Not sure if the birds would perch on the moveable fencing from premierone.

I have chain link dog run fence also. 6 ft tall. I covered it with 1/2 inch hardware cloth to keep hawks and climbing predators out. Does an excellent job of keeping the chickens in too.