FODDER DAY 6

Evening of day 5 and day 6 of raising the fodder.

Notice last entry the size of the fodder mornng of day 5 then the above photo of EVENING day 5.
AMAZING! Below Day 6. Sun finally came out. the fooder was raised almost totally on cloudy  days light.

CHICKEN UPDATE NOV 7,2012

Sold my Barred Rock hens.
Really pretty but would run when they got out and i was trying to get them in the pen.
 Too smart!
I have one 4 month old one left anyway who is a buddy to Midnight my  pretty Orp Roo.

Also sold 3 of my (favorite) Light Brahmas HATED to do that..but had to.Too many as i have the 3 grown hens and now a small shrimp LB hen (late hatcher) and one roo.

thats Plenty.

BBS Orps didnt hatchI am not surised as they were in the mail 4 days .threw them out yeaterday .Today is day 20 for the Palomino Bantam Brahma eggs!!Excited.Worried b/c my hunsdity came down to 58  overnight 2 days in a row.Should be 65-70!!Hope it didnt hurt them..

Chicken Fodder

In my life one thing leads to another always.I never know what direction i am going...Now its into Fodder.
 "FODDER" is raising hydroponic feed for your stock.  In my case of course chickens.

It  is raised inside and takes one week. which was really appealing to me.Its raised with NO DIRT so the cost is really just seed.
 After reading  a  Fodder  thread on BYC i started my fodder,Went to the feed store in Farmington  which sold seed in bulk.
Barley is preferred but wheat is second.Oats they say gets guppy with mold easily. No   barley... i bought wheat seed.
 5 lbs which i thought would be $5 but no  only $2.Then bought 2 lbs of sunflower seeds to add.
Got some  used plant flats from Lowes  FREE...

Soak seed over night.
Wash well.
 Put in "flat" about 1/2 " thick cover the bottom  of flat solidly.
Rinse twice a day.Whallah

 I am using tv dinner trays here in top photo.
The positive  on this size is saving  spacefit most places even the window sill  saved from  trash , help  the enviroment and growing the fodder in a size that will be  perfect for my  small flocks no waste like a large flat as i dont know for sure but i would think to uproot it from the flat to cut some off isnt that good for the roots. of the rest you wont use..
 All mine are flats that are separated for pots to grow in which i think will turn out well since my chickens arent all together.

Soaked  24 hours and set over night This is what I have Day 1

Tv dinner containers

 

Below  day 2.Hope you can tell the growth  on the seeds is about twice to 3 times  as long as day 1

 Actually the first set in tv tray  i put another tv  container on top of the seeds when set  before letting them set all night and i think the total  darkness helped them germinate  faster to this point.Works for other plants.

Its a rainy day today so dont know how much it all will grow  with no sun.Might put them under my grow light


DAY5-
Yesterday the seeds started to hold together... Roots intertwining
In a window but Weather has been cold and cloudy .About 70 inside.

Id have a cheap grow light on them to extend the daylight.One is4 feet away  from the grow light and  seems to be doing  just as the other 2 so..not sure the little light is doing much.