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Product Review: Fodder Seed Blend for Laying Hens

By Meredith Chilson on January 10, 2014 Visit Meredith's Website.

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by Meredith Chilson

Several weeks ago, I was approached to review a product from
Incubator Warehouse.  I was told I could look through the entire site and choose something for my existing flock.

Incubator Warehouse sells incubators in all sizes and price ranges for any sort of egg you might want to hatch.  They also offer incubation accessories, after hatch supplies, and hatching eggs as well.  On my first trip through the on-line catalog, I was impressed with the amount of things available, but a little discouraged in my personal search. It’s deep winter here in Western New York, and as much fun as it might be to try to incubate some eggs –this isn’t the time of year to do that.
Then, under the section “After Hatch Supplies”, in “Feeders & Waterers”—I found something –Fodder Seed Blend for feeding farm animal such as chickens….!  Along with the description of the fodder, there was a great photo of bright green grain sprouts. I have been reading about the benefits of feeding sprouted grain fodder to farm animals (see Sarah Cuthill’s article DIY Sprouted Fodder for Livestock), so this seemed to be the perfect way to give it a try.

Photo image from Incubator Warehouse.com
The details on the Incubator Warehouse page gave at least 10 reasons why sprouted fodder is great for farm animals, as well, and they included:
Higher nutrition –barley grain (which sprouts quickly and is used most often in sprouted fodder—either alone or, as in this case, in a mix) has about 12% protein and when it is grown into fodder, it goes up to 15%.   Better digestion which leads to less waste –Grain is digested at around 25% in most animals; with fodder this goes up to nearly 80%.You know exactly what your animal is eating, because you are growing it yourself.You can feed it to all your farm animals.There were more reasons (you can read them for yourself HERE), but I want to add one of my own.  It’s a small thing, but there’s something about having greens growing in your kitchen in the winter—and then feeding them to your animals, that just seems HEALTHY.
The order was in, and in a very few days, on a snowy, blowy morning just before Christmas, the 20 pound box of mixed red wheat, barley and sunflower seed arrived—and was shoved under the bench in the front room until after the holiday stampede.
Finally, I hauled out the box of grain, and read the instructions—which directed me to watch assorted videos on-line, with one of the first by Sarah Cuthill (!).  (You can watch the video HERE.)  I watched the video.  I watched ALL the videos, or at least took a look at them.  I wasn’t interested in feeding an entire herd of cows, or goats, or rabbits, or even replacing all of my chicken feed with sprouted fodder.  I have about two dozen heavy laying hens, and I was hoping that a daily supplement of sprouted grains would help them through the winter while they don’t have access to green grass.  So, as I usually seem to do, I took some basic advice, used my own experiences sprouting seeds for salads and sandwiches, looked through my sheds and came up with a system I hoped would work.
Here’s what I did (and why I did it that way!):

I pulled the three plastic drawers out of a chest I had been keeping-thinking I might raise mealworms. (I might yet.) I found a clear plastic shoe box that fit inside the drawer (and purchased two more shoe boxes at the local Dollar Store for $1 each at the after holiday sale).  I think maybe the main thing to remember when sprouting grains is to keep the grain wet, but to have really good drainage.  The videos I watched showed a rack system with slightly tilted sprouting bins—by watering the top bin, water would drain from one into the bin below and finally into a catch pan.

two bin system
I spaced drainage holes in the bottoms of the three shoe boxes, using the tip of a heat awl.  You could use a metal coat hanger, or something about that  size.  The holes have to allow good drainage, but must be small enough that the grain won’t fall through.  If the sprouting grains don’t drain well, they will mold. I centered the shoe box on a wooden fulcrum inside the larger drawer so the box would tilt to drain.

Drainage holes in bottom of bin
The night before, I had measured out 6 ounces of the grain.  I soaked the grains overnight and when the box was ready, I poured the soaked grains into it.

Measuring the fodder grains

I chose 6 ounces for the first “batch” because I had read that there should be about ½ inch of the soaked grain in the bin, and I wasn’t sure if the grains would plump up at all while soaking. (In the next batches, I used 8 ounces.) I carefully watered the grains, watched to see that they drained, and set them on a shelf in our back office.

When sprouting seeds for salad, I always keep the soaked and drained grains in a dark cabinet until they begin to show green tips, and I wasn’t sure whether to do that with the fodder grains.  Our back office is heated, but not well lighted –not exactly like a dark cabinet, but close enough.  I did not cover the boxes with the fodder grains, but I watered them gently three times a day. Every morning, I dumped the plastic drawer of its accumulated rinse water.
Day 2–if you look closely you will see that the wheat are showing little sprouts

On Day 5, the sprouts were beginning to show green, so I set the bin on the kitchen counter by a window.  I checked for a root system, too.

On Day 6, I rolled back the greened fodder system, and sliced it with a sharp knife.

I only cut off a third of it, because I only planned to use it as a supplement for the hens. The articles I read, and the videos I watched, suggested growing the sprouts up to nine days before feeding them.  I worry about impacted crops in my ladies, so when, at Day 6 the sprouts appeared to be about the size of the lawn grass the chickens like to snip in the summer, I harvested the first third.  For the next two days, I fed a third of the sprouted grain –cut into bite sized pieces –to the hens.

Sprouted fodder, Day 6–by Day 8 the root system is very thick and the sprouts are about 3 to 4 inches tall
In the meantime, every third day, I started another bin full of soaked grains, and now, two weeks later, I am able to feed a third of a bin of the sprouted fodder grains to my laying hens.
The hens love the sprouted fodder. They wait for the dish of pieces to be set in their coop, and then they peck and poke at the green sprouts, the softened grains, and the root mass.

I really have no way to measure the effect on the birds, except to tell you that this week we had several days of very cold weather, and the ladies needed to be kept shut in the coop.  Generally, this would cause a decline in their laying (which they just started getting back up to speed!)—that didn’t happen this time.  Egg production continued as usual.  Was this because of the sprouted fodder supplement?  Again, there’s no way to tell, but I suppose it’s possible.

I can tell you that I intend to continue feeding spouted fodder using grains from Incubator Warehouse. They were just as depicted in the online catalog, which gave me lots of information and links.  I am always looking for a healthy supplement to give my laying hens, and I believe I have found it with this fodder seed blend.

Tags

  • fodder seed
  • Incubator Warehouse
  • laying hens
  • Meredith Chilson
  • Sarah Cuthill

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9 Comments


Em
3 years ago

(Reply)



can I only feed my chickens & ducks sprouts & fermented feed? & if yes, what is the recommended ratio? & if not, how much can I feed them sprouts & fermented feed? 🙂

Judith
4 years ago

(Reply)



I can’t find their fodder seed at this date. Many other companies sell good fodder/sprouting seed and you might include links to their offerings.

Mearced
5 years ago

(Reply)



Great article! I’ve been soaking and fermenting grains for my chickens to supplement their foraging. However, in the winter, when greens are scarce, this is a great supplement for a healthy flock! Thank you for so much great information and all the links.

JoHanna
5 years ago

(Reply)



Meredit, Love this info…tell me….what type of chickens are in the photos? How much was the mixed seed? How did you slice off a third on day 6? Thanks

JoHanna

    Meredith
    5 years ago

    (Reply)



    🙂 Thank you. Well, first–there are Speckled Sussex, Barred Plymouth Rocks, a Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island Red in the photo. I think my black Silkie is trying to push her way in, too. Honestly, I was provided the mixed seed in order to do the product review, but I noticed that it starts at about $12 for the twenty pound mix (plus shipping). I only use about a cup at a time, so it’s lasting very well. And finally, I just used a sharp kitchen knife to cut it.

Nora aka Mrs. DaybyDay
5 years ago

(Reply)



Thank you!

Unknown
5 years ago

(Reply)



I have yet to find barley. My friends and I have scoured half the eastern seaboard searching for barley to sprout to no avail. Only a few run ins with 5 lb bags at more than $20 each. We are making do with wheat which we are sourcing at a cost of $16 to $18 per 50 lb sack. If you can find barley in this quantity for a better price, we would LOVE to know where you are getting it from! PLEASE SHARE!

    Skip O'Brien
    5 years ago

    (Reply)



    If anyone near you is a horse owner, ask where they get their feed, it is probably a “Feed Store,” and they will have, or can get ‘recleaned’ barley for you. The average cost is about $17 to $18 per 50# bag. There is a whole section of raising fodder for your birds on Back Yard Chickens (dot) com, and I have been doing this for nearly a year now, though I raise more fodder than Meredith does, my chickens flock to me from all over the yard every afternoon when I bring out their fodder.

    You can use Barley, Wheat, Rye, and even BOSS (I have tried them all) or you can mix all these seeds together and give them a real festive looking fodder and let each pick their own favorite blend from the offerings.

    I have a small corner of my office where I built a nine stage wood holder for my trays and move each tray up one level after feeding the top level, then place the new tray on the bottom and all the water drains into a five gallon bucket at the bottom, pictures are available on BYC.

    Thank you Meredith for writing this wonderful article, it will bring info to tons of people that were unaware of the fun or raisinf green grass year round but especially in the winter.

    Skip

Anonymous
5 years ago

(Reply)



Thank you! I am sure my ladies would love me to try this! I appreciate the detailed directions, as I have never done sprouts!



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