Draining fodder/sprouting trays

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UK-backyardbunnies

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:oops:
There was a thread detailing some sprouting/fodder growing systems, which referred to a similar thread in a chicken forum for pictures, and the main glitch seemed to be a lack of drainage causing mould. Someone on one of the forums had found some cheap baskets with a fine mesh bottom but they didn't seem to be widely available.

Anyway I have just bought two metres of "greenhouse shading" which is a very fine but quite thick/strong mesh, and using a litter tray as a template I'm going to have a go folding it into fodder growing trays. If it seems to be working I'll take pics and post them, and it might be useful :)
 
Let us know please. I was just looking up different colanders and figured I would just go ahead and drill some more holes in the flats that I have.

I'm very interested to see what yours turn out as.
 
Me too! Now that we have rabbits as well as chickens, I really want to get into the fodder thing...it's both healthier and will stretch the feed dollar hugely. We hope to get our system set up this year after spring planting...boy we have a lot of projects on tap, LOL. Drainage seems to be the key. I tried sprouting some grain a while back, and even though I thought I had it set up well, it went moldy before it sprouted.

My latest idea is using a shower pan. We saw some used one at the Thrift Store yesterday (it's one that mostly has building supplies rather than household goods or clothes). They're about 4ft x 5ft, slightly angled toward the central drainage hole. I'm sure you're familiar with it...you have one in the bottom of your shower, LOL. Anyway, I'm thinking we can put a largish tub under it to act as a reservoir, and connect a $30 or less fountain pump on a timer. We can set it to run at perhaps 3 hour intervals (it's quite arid here). The water would rinse over the trays of seed, drain through to the pan, funnel back into the tub, and then 3 hours later, the whole thing goes again. Other than setting the tray up, doing the initial soak and harvesting the fodder, it would be pretty much automatic.
 
Phew - got it sorted finally.
I wrote a blog post on it, if it's okay to link to a non-rabbittalk blog?

Link here - please let me know if this isn't allowed :)
 
I can't wait to see how it turns out on the mesh. I am getting my sprouting system together right now too so I'm very curious about the different ways people go about it.
 
UK-backyardbunnies":37o9aima said:
Phew - got it sorted finally.
I wrote a blog post on it, if it's okay to link to a non-rabbittalk blog?

Link here - please let me know if this isn't allowed :)
Click to expand...

How are the mesh trays working for you? I made trays out of plastic needlepoint canvas which works reasonably well but a bit more flimsy than I'd hoped.
 
So far so good, I have one tray of barley, one of peas, one of mung beans, no sprouting yet but the seeds are moist without being damp. I don't know how sturdy the trays wil be when full, but they should hold together for short movements (up/down shelves) and by the time I need to take them outside I presume the roots will be knotted together.
Can you run e.g. a stick of bamboo along the tops of your trays to reinforce them?
 
I probably will attach something along the rim to re-enforce the trays once I decide this is how I want to do my sprouts. Everything is in such "experimental" stage that I'm not spending much time or money on making things permanent. One of the biggest issues I'm still having is with my mother. She hates the smell of the sprouting grains so keeping this in the house long term just isn't going to work. But, I don't have anywhere outside to keep them in the winter...so...it's a connumdrum...
 
I don't know about the North Carolina climate, but could you rig up some kind of cold frame / mini greenhouse outdoors with some shelving and plastic?
 
Hey I just saw this thread and when I saw your trays I thought "he should use a pizza thing to move them". Don't know exactly what it's called but it's a flat wooden lightweight board with a handle - you use it to pull a pizza out of the oven :D Looks like it would work pretty well for moving those screen trays around, and you can get them in a set with a pizza stone for less than $20 at any home store.
 
WallTenter":eisx80xl said:
Hey I just saw this thread and when I saw your trays I thought "he should use a pizza thing to move them". Don't know exactly what it's called but it's a flat wooden lightweight board with a handle - you use it to pull a pizza out of the oven :D Looks like it would work pretty well for moving those screen trays around, and you can get them in a set with a pizza stone for less than $20 at any home store.
Click to expand...

a peel. everyone used to use them in the pizza ovens and bread ovens. because they would be huge and you couldnt just reach in and grab one of like 100 loaves. so you had a big flat peel to reach in and scoop it out.

looks just like a paddle though. think giant spatula or flipper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_paddle
 
UK-backyardbunnies":2cwveqt5 said:
So far so good, I have one tray of barley, one of peas, one of mung beans, no sprouting yet but the seeds are moist without being damp. I don't know how sturdy the trays wil be when full, but they should hold together for short movements (up/down shelves) and by the time I need to take them outside I presume the roots will be knotted together.
Can you run e.g. a stick of bamboo along the tops of your trays to reinforce them?
Click to expand...

I feel sure the roots will grow through your mesh and create a problem seperating them, But let us know how it works out.
 
Apparently 10 deg C is too cold to have significant growth. I still have pea shoots trying to get going that were sown at the beginning of January.
There is some development on the mesh trays however, and no mould. Interestingly something seems to be rinsing off with each watering - the bucket at the bottom has had a bit of a pong now and then.
 
Fascinating stuff! I am working with trays as well for our fodder system. Curious if there were any updates to this thread on how the screens etc. worked out.
 

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