Chicken Fodder a Healthy Chicken Snack

Sprouting and growing grain for fodder is a simple and efficient way to not only feed your animals a more natural and fresh diet, but is also a practically effortless way to save money. Imagine for a second that the 50 lb. bag of feed you just bought could grow into 300 lbs. of feed that is more nutrient dense in just ten days.

The sprouted fodder, no matter what seed or grain you choose to use, is fed whole; greens, seeds, and sprouts as a whole. Commonly used grains for fodder are barley, wheat, and whole oats. Barley, which is the easiest to grow, has a crude protein percentage of 12.7 percent and a crude fiber percentage of 5.4 percent as a seed. These percentages jump to a crude protein percentage of 15.5 percent and a crude fiber percentage of 14.1 percent after an average of seven days of sprouting. By sprouting, the digestibility of the grain increases from 40 percent to 80 percent so livestock will not need to consume as much fodder compared to commercial feed because they are obtaining more nutrition from a smaller volume of feed.

SO HOW DO YOU MAKE FODDER?

STEP 1
To get started you really only need a tote lid flipped upside down or a drip pan for a large pot.

STEP 2
Put your wheat seeds in your tray in a single layer and get them evenly soaking, but not covered in water. If at any point it smells like beer, they got too wet for too long and fermented and should be tossed out.

STEP 3
Keep the seeds moist for about 7-10 days and they will begin to sprout. That is as far as the fodder needs to go to before feeding to your birds but you can let it sit for for a total of 15 days and obtain even more feed.

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