Sprouting Fodder for Chickens

We have been experimenting with sprouting fodder here at Colored Egg Homestead for the past few weeks. It all started when I came across this YouTube video




That's all it took folks. I was impressed and in awe. Seed to feed in 7 days. Surely that will take a major chunk out of our feed costs AND our cooped up city chickens get fresh greens daily. WIN WIN!

While I LOVE the way they use a gravity fed watering system with slanted trays on the video, we elected to set up our system a bit differently to fit our needs. I already had a grow shelf in place for seed starting and since it wasn't yet completely filled with vegetable starts, the grow shelf became fodder central.  

I was unable to source barley seed locally but I did manage to get my hands on a 50lb bag of re-cleaned wheat seed from my favorite local feed store. I picked up several plastic dish pans from the dollar tree and I was on my way. 

As I said before, I really love the ease of the gravity fed watering system that Sara uses in the video above, but with the lighting system I have in place that just wasn't something I could do, so I had to improvise.

I found some dish pans that nest inside of each other leaving about a half inch of dead space between them.  I drilled several holes into the top pan (green) and left the bottom pans (white) whole to catch any drainage.  Unfortunately the store didn't have as many as I needed of the green pans so I have some that are both white and nest snugly together as well. I prefer the ones with the clearance underneath.

Twice daily I pull the pans out and water them in my kitchen sink using the sprayer. I remove the bottom pan and water just the pan of fodder and allow any excess to drain out before returning it into its nesting pan.

I use 16oz  (two cups) of dry wheat seed per pan.
Soak seeds for 12-24 hrs (closer to 24 seems to yield better sprouting for me)
Days 1 -6 - rinse two-three times daily and drain out excess water
Day 7 - Feed to the chickens

Now that I have our fodder cycle set up I have a day 7 pan ready to  feed the girls each day and I start a new pan soaking each day. The chickens LOVE it.  I also cut off a small portion for our pet rabbit as well but I think hes just a picky boy.  He will eat the tops but leave the seed mat and roots.

For us, the fodder is going to be used as a supplement for our 12 hens rather than their sole source of food. They will still have their layer feed (We are big fans of Nutrena Naturewise here) and calcium available as well as our organic kitchen and garden scraps. I've already noted a decrease in their consumption of the layer feed since we started offering fodder. 

We are still learning as we go but so far it has been a worthwhile venture for us.

• Very little upfront costs: $17.50 for seed + $15 for pans
• Low maintenance: I spend maybe 10 minutes two to three times daily watering.
• FUN!: Seeing green growth in the middle of winter = priceless
• The chickens love it!

I hope that our experience along with your own online research helps you determine if this is something that you would like try for yourself.  Don't feel confined to any one type of set up. Do what works for you and your farm. If you do decide to give it a try, tell me about it here in the comments or post photos of your set up over on our Facebook page

More inspiration:

This video is another example of a fantastic gravity fed fodder set up from my friends Joe & Bree.  I love that they put their system in a spare shower, eliminating the need for any water catching devices. Excess water just runs down the drain. I also like that they mix sunflower seeds with their wheat seed. 

This next fodder set up is from my friend Tanner from Two Birds One Stone Farm in Maysville. 

This  fodder set up is from our friends over at Bean Acres. They have re-purposed a shoe rack and baking pans for their fodder system. 

Feel free to share photos/links to your fodder project on the Colored Egg Homestead Facebook Page! I'd love to see them!

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