I am breaking my rabbits in on only fodder and hay, we are on week 6 for some and week 4 for others. Momma had 10 babies, 9 made it. They are starting to nibble on the fodder. I have offered them pellets as well and hay. Rabbits currently eating fodder, meadow grass hay, timothy hay, and weaning off the pellets. I have two gals that refuse to eat fodder, but the rest could care less about the pellets! YEAH! I'm thinking as these two gals mature this may change. If not, we'll be breeding out that gene!
<br /><br />__________ Sun Apr 28, 2013 8:47 pm __________<br /><br />
Got Mold? Fodder turning ugly? Get a fan! Keep your humidity down in the room in which your are sprouting. If you have to choose between air circulation and light, pick air circulation! Also, where do you live??? Has it been a bit warm? I'm in California, it gets a little warm here.
I have a cooler area in my laundry room, but the humidity is up in that room when the laundry is running. I've put a moratorium on using the dryer during the day! The men have agreed to hang their clothing outside, YEAH! The dryer adds a bunch of humidity in the little room and I don't have a venting fan to the outside. I open the door, run a small fan during the day, and if I forget it runs all night too. When my fodder bucket is full (where trays drain into), I empty it or take it out of the room, it just raises the humidity. I'll take a picture for you so you can see my dysfunctional room and setup (I just started about 6 weeks ago). I'm not quite automated yet and you will see that. DO NOT buy the trays that you see in the photo (leach trays from hydroponic store) they are long and narrow, they are a waste of money due to narrow size and not flat inside.
I am trying to find flat trays that are 12"x41" in size (the hydroponic store is ordering them for me). Here's the list of rules I've discovered to keep mold out!
1. Run a fan for air circulation!!!
2. Use opaque, dark or black containers to sprout in, also cover them with a light weight towel for extra darkness if needed.
3. Rinse 2x a day.
4. DO NOT over crowd your seeds! This also provides a breeding ground for mold. I typically use 3 cups of dry grain for the 10 x 20" trays. Some people like 5 cups, but if you are getting mold, try reducing seeds in addition to the other suggestions.
5. Keep containers in darkness, and you don't want the heat of the fridge this time of year, the seeds will go on their own. Keep temperature between 65 and 75 and grain will be happiest.
6. As to the use of bleach, I too have tried it in the soak cycle. I use a 10% solution in a spray bottle. I give it a 5 squirts for 3 cups of seed to the rinse water. I do not want to use it at all! My mom told me about something using grapefruit seed oil, here's the recipe. I don't know if this will work, but it is way more earth and septic tank friendly. I'm going to try it.
7. Clean the trays with bleach after every seed grow or use. Get a little scrub brush and work it over.
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So I also use Folgers plastic cans. They are my favorite but we don't drink enough coffee and I need more containers. Not much light through these bad boys! I add drain holes on top and on bottom. I used my solder gun. You can also melt with a candle and a wire, nail or wire clothes hanger. I take 3 cups of dry grain per batch, some people recommend 5 cups, but you have less grain you have less mold by not over crowding the seeds. The grains can stay in these for 3 days if not 4. I stick my hand in, mix things around under running water, rinsing 2x per day. The oats take a bit longer to get going; are @ 2-3 days behind the wheat or barley (barley is fastest).
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Since I only have 2 Folger's cans I had to buy some trays yesterday. They are kitty litter trays, small for $2.00 at WalMart. Here's the thing, you can probably get these at the Dollar store, so look for them. My dollar store has NOTHING except clear plastic right now. These trays are made by Sterlite (sp?). They are lopsided, which I thought might help me. I melted holes on one side. I do cover them, although not much light gets through these.
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These trays are stacked about 3 high in the ready to go phase (seeds are sprouted in Folgers can and placed in black trays to finish by day 2 or 3 after tails have formed). Not quite ready but almost. You can see the progression (the bottom one is the oats and their tails are just peaking out). Oat tray on bottom is youngest (really behind the others - YIKES). Each tray covers the other, applies a little weight and voila! This was also my first week of sprouting oats. The one tray on top (see photo above) heads to the light tomorrow. I leave the light on about 12 hours but I wonder if I could do less? I don't have a window as this part of the house is underground.
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I used tuna cans to provide enough lift for water, but I like the idea of using PVC which will reduce run-off time and give seeds opportunity to absorb. These are called leach trays, but the inside is a disaster for fodder use! Look at the size of the ridge!!! I can only use 2" on either side!!! ARGH! Leach trays below are 6" wide and I would like 12 at least! I'm working on that.
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Get the bleach bottle from dollar store that has the marks on it for the 10 parts water to 1 part bleach. This works great for planting containers as well. I clean my trays between each use and if the bottom of my tray gets a little slick, I give them a little squirt, rinse and place my growing tray batch on top.
Enjoy!
