Fodder sprouting systems, anyone?

[mwtrees]

I am totally fascinated by this for various reasons. DH and I have grown tomatoes and other various crops via hydroponics for over 10 years so this is something different and yet not new for us. The controlled temps are more than what we do as we don't have to worry so much about keeping the temps low for tomatoes, they like it warm. But a greenhouse can get to 140 degrees within minutes if the cooling system goes down! To grow sprouts here year round would be challenging in our desert temps in summer, but that isn't an impossible feat either.

I am close to the alpaca farm whose videos have been linked here from you tube. There is a new video that was uploaded about 2 weeks ago. I have posted on there as frloplady and am going to look into the workshops he is offering as well as being able to buy the trays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hes3ZhvjtqY is the newest video.

Another reason..I'm feeding between 200-300 rabbits/day going through 100lbs of dry feed or more per day depending on how many litters. I'm also getting in my first fryer chicks and would love to supplement/feed them with this as well, as well as to my free range laying hens. Maybe I can do control group with the meat birds..hmmm could be worth the effort.

I do have one smaller barn of production does and litters and would experiment first with them going to full fodder feed only.

Looking for information from anyone that is doing this larger scale??

Mary
Cowiche/Eastern Washington

 

[mystang89]

Sorry Mwt, I have 5 rabbits plus grow outs so I'm not really able to help you.

I do have a question for anyone with the answer though. The system I have uses a water reservoir with a water pump which circulates the water around to the trays and back into the reservoir. However, after only a day or so of doing this through the day I start to get bubbles just floating in the reservoir or sitting on top of the fodder. Anyone have any clue why and how to stop the water? I clean the reservoir out when the water starts to turn color and make sure to clean the film out.

 

[SarahMelisse]

Ok... So I'm in my second week of growing fodder for all the animals and now that I have a steady system going, it is really easy. I am using "recleaned" barley, rinsing 3 times daily, and allowing it to sprout to nine days. For every 1 pound of dry seed, I end up with 6.31 pounds of sprouted fodder!

This is super fun and the rabbits LOVE it. They actually go crazy and paw at their cage doors when they see it in the mornings! The chickens are a bit more picky and tend to ignore the roots for a day, but otherwise they eat the seeds and greens well. I have 6 chickens and 5 rabbits with 2-3 litters at a time. Right now I am still transitioning everyone over to 90% fodder (the other 10% is hay for rabbits/calcium and grit for chickens) so the animals are receiving a half portion of fodder and then their normal amount of pellets every day. I am starting up with quail soon too so they should do well on this also.

 

[mwtrees]

Sorry Mwt, I have 5 rabbits plus grow outs so I'm not really able to help you.

I do have a question for anyone with the answer though. The system I have uses a water reservoir with a water pump which circulates the water around to the trays and back into the reservoir. However, after only a day or so of doing this through the day I start to get bubbles just floating in the reservoir or sitting on top of the fodder. Anyone have any clue why and how to stop the water? I clean the reservoir out when the water starts to turn color and make sure to clean the film out.

the video link I posted above from the Alpaca farm no longer uses recirculated water for that reason alone. It was either replace the water often or just flush to waste..ie send the water down the drain. They are still looking into ideas of what else they may be able to use the water for. Maybe flushing toilets? :shock: :roll:<br /><br />__________ Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:19 pm __________<br /><br />

Ok... So I'm in my second week of growing fodder for all the animals and now that I have a steady system going, it is really easy. I am using "recleaned" barley, rinsing 3 times daily, and allowing it to sprout to nine days. For every 1 pound of dry seed, I end up with 6.31 pounds of sprouted fodder!

This is super fun and the rabbits LOVE it. They actually go crazy and paw at their cage doors when they see it in the mornings! The chickens are a bit more picky and tend to ignore the roots for a day, but otherwise they eat the seeds and greens well. I have 6 chickens and 5 rabbits with 2-3 litters at a time. Right now I am still transitioning everyone over to 90% fodder (the other 10% is hay for rabbits/calcium and grit for chickens) so the animals are receiving a half portion of fodder and then their normal amount of pellets every day. I am starting up with quail soon too so they should do well on this also.

Hi Sarah, any pictures and description of how you've set it up?

 

[SarahMelisse]

I soak the recleaned barley seed in a bucket for about 12-hours maybe more (overnight) and then drain, put it into the trays, and grow for 9 days rinsing/watering the trays 2-3 times daily. My system is indoors right now because it is far too cold outside for this to work and I don't have my greenhouse built yet. The whole system takes up about 3 square feet and sits in my living room window each receives only ambient light.

I am using two metal racks (I found around the house) stacked on top of eachother with plastic trays (Tupperware-like trays from the dollar store). The plastic trays have drainage holes on one side only and are at a 10* degree angle on the rack to help water drain out slowly. I only water the first tier and by alternating which side is raised, the first tier will water the next and so on all the way to the bottom where I have a large plastic storage bin to catch all the water. I then use a hose every couple days to suck out/drain the bottom bin and use the used water for my plants on my porch.

At 9 days, my fodder goes from 1 pound to 6.31 pounds.

My YouTube video from when I was at day 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOPYo4xj00s

 

[WallTenter]

The grass that grows on the fodder would be fiber. You could dry it like hay or you could feed it like grass. Those seeds are growing fiber are they not. I mean cant you feed your animals oat hay or grass or barley or clover and call it fiber? :shock:

I am not trying to be argumentative or anything like that, :roll: just in case anyone is wondering , just trying to figure things out. :? I am really considering switching my rabbits to this as a total feed if it will work.

Really cool thread am trying to read through all of it, but I wanted to point out that at the age you harvest fodder, usuually 5-8d, there is not enough coarse fiber in the grasses. Of course I have not drank my coffee yet but the point is that the hay we all buy in the bale (or bale, for some of us) is much coarser, not just what you can see but on a cellular level. This is biology not feed nutrition.

My point is as hind gut fermentors rabbits would indeed have this mature fiber in their system for their little happy bacteria to munch away 24/7.

So just FYI rabbits should still be offered hay - though it can be rather low quality as long as it's clean.

 

[mystang89]

The grass that grows on the fodder would be fiber. You could dry it like hay or you could feed it like grass. Those seeds are growing fiber are they not. I mean cant you feed your animals oat hay or grass or barley or clover and call it fiber? :shock:

I am not trying to be argumentative or anything like that, :roll: just in case anyone is wondering , just trying to figure things out. :? I am really considering switching my rabbits to this as a total feed if it will work.

Really cool thread am trying to read through all of it, but I wanted to point out that at the age you harvest fodder, usuually 5-8d, there is not enough coarse fiber in the grasses. Of course I have not drank my coffee yet but the point is that the hay we all buy in the bale (or bale, for some of us) is much coarser, not just what you can see but on a cellular level. This is biology not feed nutrition.

My point is as hind gut fermentors rabbits would indeed have this mature fiber in their system for their little happy bacteria to munch away 24/7.

So just FYI rabbits should still be offered hay - though it can be rather low quality as long as it's clean.

So glad you put that last sentence in there because I was so lost. I have no clue about nutrition or biology. Plus I'm tired so that last sentence cleared everything up. Thanks

 

[MaggieJ]

This looks like it may have some useful information about fodder.
http://www.fodderfeed.org/Index.html

 

[cnichols]

Hubby and I are going to start on a small scale and see how the animals take to it.

If I've calculated everything correctly we're looking at some serious money saving with using fodder instead of pellets. Of course, now-a-days $5.00 is serious money! LOL

We went today and got 7 plastic shoe boxes to get started with. I'll be starting 1# of seed to soak in the morning.

I will be tracking all of this for both my rabbits and my chicken theory and man .. if this works ... seriously ... huge savings in food for "us" as well!

 

[mystang89]

I think the system I have now is working well enough, I just need more than 3 trays going at one time. I think if I can get at least 5 trays going then I won't have to worry about being a little short on fodder for them occasionally and it will allow me to get a better grow on some of them.

 

[hillbottom]

I started fodder feed a couple of months ago. This is wheat grass. Temperatures have ranged from 20 - 70 degrees (f)...the setup is indoors (well house) so somewhat insulated...the flood buckets are $6 at homedepot - don't spend the money on the expensive ones...not worth it. Just a simple fountain pump, a rubber maid sump - some t5 lighting - all tolled around $200 for 12 large buckets...i am feeding the kits now - and the mommas love it!

This is a new batch - soaked 24 hours in a 5 gallon bucket:

This batch is about 2 weeks old. It has been very cold here so the growth was slow at first.

Here's the timer (15 minutes every 4 hours)/sump in back.

I drilled 4 1/8 inch holes in the bottom - seems to fill the buckets about halfway by the time the cycle ends.

 

[cnichols]

Nice setup Hill Bottom!

Hubby and I went to wal-mart yesterday to pick up a new script for him and we picked up 7 plastic shoe boxes to get started. We're very strapped for cash atm so this is going to be a huge help if we can get the chicks and rabbits converted over. Especially since I already have over 135# of wheat seed here at the house!

I had initially started with some small containers from the kitchen that held about 2 oz. of seed. Fed the first batch to the chicks yesterday and they devoured it once they got over their chicken scaredieness lol That little tray of 2 oz. weighed in at just shy of 12 oz. when we fed it out.

I'm hoping that this first shoebox of fodder that I started today is ready to feed by this time next week. I'll split it up between the rabbits and the chicks. In the mean time I'm going to feed out the little trays that I had already started between now and then!

 

[Half-Pint Homestead]

Good Morning!!

Sherry at Half-Pint Homestead here. My website directory led me here. Just wanted to introduce myself and say Howdy. Nice to see so many people discovering Fodder.

Sherry

 

[cnichols]

Hi Sherry! Welcome to Rabbit Talk!

I'm on day 2 of soaking wheat seed for fodder! I'm really looking forward to introducing it to my animals!

I know you feed fodder, I've gone to your website and seen your posts on other forums!

RT is a great place, hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[Half-Pint Homestead]

Thanks Carol,

I'm finally getting to the point where my animals are actually at my house!! My three chickens are coming home tomorrow. (the rabbits are still at the breeders and my two Kinder goats are at a friend's. I traded Fodder systems for all of them). So I got their chicken house ready and I've built a micro system to feed them. I still don't have it perfected, but I estimate it can feed 5-6 chickens.

 

[zee]

Sherry, where'd you get those green trays from and how much seed do you put in each? Will one tray feed 4 adult rabbits adequately?

 

[mystang89]

I don't know about the green trays but I do know that the black flats she has on the shelves in the background can be purchased at any nursery or home depot for about $1.50 - $2.00 each. The black are what I use. If I'm looking at the picture right it looks like she is just soaking the seeds in the green trays. One black tray filled with 4 cups of winter wheat can adequately feed 5 New Zealand White adults weighing 9.5 lbs for 2 - 3 days here.

 

[Half-Pint Homestead]

Hi Zee,

I just put this tiny system together so I haven't worked out quite how much grain goes into it. Somewhere between 1 to 1 1/2 cups I'd estimate. As the 22"x11" trays I use in my larger systems will feed about 30 rabbits per day, I'm quite sure this one will feed 4 rabbits. One cup of grain should give me about 3 pounds of Fodder. If it takes 1 1/2 cups that will be 4 1/2 pounds of Fodder.

I get the trays online, but I'll have to look up the web address. I also have plans for a mini system with trays about twice this size and one more shelf. That one should feed 10 rabbits or so. My Silver Foxes will be ready to come home in April, so I'm going to have to upsize. Once my Kinder goats get here in July, I'll go back to using my large 6 tray system.

Greenhousemegastore.com has bulk 1020 trays. This is what I have been using for my system. However, I've just discovered a great tray that is much thicker than the regular trays so I'm phasing out the thinner trays. I can get 3 to 6 months out of the regular trays if I'm careful. I believe these new ones will last for years.

Hope this helps.

Sherry

__________ Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:48 am __________

If I'm looking at the picture right it looks like she is just soaking the seeds in the green trays. One black tray filled with 4 cups of winter wheat can adequately feed 5 New Zealand White adults weighing 9.5 lbs for 2 - 3 days here.

No this is a fully functional, automated system on a timer just like my others. It's just very small and this is the first day of the cycle so nothing is up yet. I'm not so good at hand watering..... :x



Sherry

 

[hillbottom]

i give 6-8oz per fryer/buck/dry doe of fodder feed and 2lbs/wet doe/day.

the system in the pick above is designed to give me 30lbs per day per tray (each tray gets 64oz of seed) - there are 12 trays - so 60 non wet rabbits per tray. the rotation is 30lbs per 10-12 days so 12 trays works the rotation pretty good.

when the kits are round 3 weeks i start putting a few ounces in the nest box - they love it!

just remember to put your fountain pump in perforated plastic vessel of some type or the small young seeds will clog your pump.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

i give 6-8oz per fryer/buck/dry doe of fodder feed and 2lbs/wet doe/day.

the system in the pick above is designed to give me 30lbs per day per tray (each tray gets 64oz of seed) - there are 12 trays - so 60 non wet rabbits per tray. the rotation is 30lbs per 10-12 days so 12 trays works the rotation pretty good.

when the kits are round 3 weeks i start putting a few ounces in the nest box - they love it!

just remember to put your fountain pump in perforated plastic vessel of some type or the small young seeds will clog your pump.

Hmm, that seems like a lot....everything I have read says anywhere from 1%(adult bucks and dry does) - 5%(lactating does and weanlings) of their body weight daily. A 10lb rabbit *should* only need 8oz at the MOST...Is there a reason you feed them what you do? Real life experience tends to be the best teacher, and I am wanting to learn as much as I can about fodder...