I've been doing some research on feeding the horses and the poultry (especially the ducks and geese) sprouted grains. The websites are calling it "fodder" but it is really just different grains sprouted into grasses. You can use barley, wheat, oats, and many other grains or a combination of some or all of them. I'm starting my experiment on a small scale to make some sprouted grasses for the ducks and geese. I've purchased some sprouting trays. As soon as those come in I'm going to start growing some fodder for the poultry and I'll report back on how that's going. If you want to read more about growing your own "sprouts" for your critters, you might be interested in some of the following web links.
There is even this neat youtube video from a poultry farmer working with a system for his chickens. The system he's using is one that I'm thinking about purchasing if my cheapo experimental system works out for me.
I'd still have to buy some of my hay for the horses, but the chickens and other poultry could live exclusively on the fodder as they don't require long stem dry matter to aid in digestion. It appears that the fodder systems have been in use in other parts of the world for a while now. Australia and the middle east each have documented use of this type of feed system for 2 to 3 years now. The benefits of the system is that you can provide fresh feed to your animals all year round. the downside is you need a place that is warm enough to grow the fodder all year round. I'm currently working on getting a green house so hopefully I'll be able to make this whole thing work.
this is so interesting! seems like a great alternative for feeding stock
ReplyDeleteWell I'll find out pretty soon how well it works. My seed trays on order have already been shipped. I've got some whole oats, Quinoa, and corn from last years garden to start sprouting. I'll start sprouting those and see how the ducks and geese like that before I go out and get "bigger".
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