I'm worried about the feed we do give. Frankly, most of the year we don't need to give them anything. We got into the habit of giving feed when we go away for extended periods. Easier on the person who visits to feed and makes it a one time a day job. The problem I have is, none of the providers locally will tell me if their seed is GMO free. I've been doing research on how much food to think about this time of year. So far, our weather has been in the 50's and there are plenty of birds, insects, things in the dirt. We are collecting pecans and disturbing the ground and making some things available. Problem is, the warm weather doesn't last and as the pecans are eaten by the amazing array of birds, raccoon, squirrels. javelina, deer, etc. visiting day and night, the birds begin to run out of food. We do have insects year round, but we've experienced many days in a row of cold in the past couple of years. I want to be sure that the chickens have enough energy to keep laying eggs and perhaps even through brooding.
Enter my research on fodder. I found this to be of interest from GoRaw.com
"And there are many nutritional advantages to eating sprouts—the process of germination produces vitamin C and increases the vitamin B content, especially B2, B5 and B6. Carotene increases dramatically, up to eight times the seed, grain or legume’s original levels. The sprouting process increases all nutrients, including enzymes and trace minerals, from 300 to 1,200 percent! "
It also is an easy way to take an inexpensive seed and multiply the quantity for feeding. Fodder takes about 9 days. Today is day one. It's usually pretty easy as select the tray to grow in (top) Soak the seeds for 24 hours and then drain. (bottom). I've added an extra step. I'm interested in the difference in weight over time. This scale has a great ability to tare, so I'll weigh the soaked seeds. and compare that against the start weight of 7.2 oz. This was determined by the filling of the pan to a layer of 1-2 seeds deep with no open areas. After the seeds are soaked, we will spread them across the bottom of the pan. Some of my efforts can be done in the same pan I'm soaking in today. This will take me through day 3 (Tuesday).
Research suggests that this will take me 9 days under 65 degrees F and grow lights. Many who use fodder grow a 9 tray rotation, starting seeds each day. I want to keep my cost to just the seed and only for part of the year. I can pasture March to December. It would normally take 9 days for oats to grow under grow lights and heat. I'm going to try in the sunroom which uses a passive solar method of holding heat at night.
The experiment has started.
Another article along the same lines of growing includes this one on Vertical Farms Sprouting up. There are several in New Buffalo Michigan. New Scientist- Vertical-farms-sprouting-all-over-the-world
Advantage of both fodder and Vertical Farming is that you use less water than continuously buying seed. If we could grow our own, we could follow up with these organic oats. It could be possible to go organic for eggs....except for the process of certification. It's just not worth it from that perspective.
A way to go sustainable? Perhaps, this is just day one.
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