Fodder Feeding Systems

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Magic Marker Minis

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Anybody here using the fodder feed systems? It's basically 'sprouts for animals' instead of people. Supposed to be highly nutritious, no waste and can help lower the cost of feed. Can take the place of part of your hay ration. I've seen demos on YouTube on DIY systems. I've also seen the systems sold by Farm Tek and other businesses. Barley seed seems to be the most common sprouted seed. You can feed it to horses, goats, cattle, sheep, chickens, rabbits... practically every farm animal you can name.

We have the Minis and the goats, two American Blackbelly sheeplies <g>, some chickens, a couple of geese and a rabbit. Not to mention a million cats and some dogs. I expect sprouts would be of benefit to all of these animals. I'm just trying to come up with an economical and low volume approach to see if it works...

Kari
 
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Iv just watched the videos and it looks very interesting and appealing to me..Im eager to try grow some..I love the complete fooder systems you can buy but i think thats a bit to adventurous for me..a fab idea though
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Looks like I'll be doing it along with you Kari
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It's well worth a try!
 
I looked a little but couldn't find any pricing/cost info. I just cannot imagine it being anywhere near as cost effective as round bales of hay (4 or 5 cents per pound)--a hydroponic grow op in this climate puts hydro costs through the roof this time of year!!!!

It would surely be labor intensive too--I can't imaging doling that out to everyone morning and night.
 
I don't have any horses yet so this only applies to 2 goats, 30 - 50 rabbits, and 10 chickens; but I found plans and directions at halfpint homestead, pacapride.wordpress.com, and quartz ridge ranch. I only water mine twice a day and (keeping in mind how few animals I have) it doesn't take very long to divvy up the trays, dividing up the rabbits' portions takes the longest. I don't use any growing medium and I have the system set up in the chicken coop and has about a 3' x 2' footprint. I know for goats that you still have to feed regular hay, but you feed around 1/3 as much and the quality doesn't matter much as it's just for digestion and not nutrition with the fodder. The FAQ on halfpint homestead says horses still need hay as well. I grow wheat and barley mostly (whichever the local farmers are using at the time so I can get it cheaper), and I use a bit less than 50# a month. It sprouts for 6 days, though leaving it for 8 days doesn't hurt anything (doesn't help either) so long as you keep watering it. The three sites I mentioned are much more detailed and informative than I can be. Hopefully this helps at least a little
 
Excellent, Kida... Those are some of the places I've explored as well. It's really not "hydroponics in the usual sense of the word. Basically, you soak the grain over night and then spread the soaked seeds in a shallow tray the next. The tray can have holes for drainage or not... Twice a day you spray the seeds with water - nothing else, although some people spray with B Vitamin solution - and wait until they sprout. As they grow you can place them closer to a light source so they develop chlorophyll. I have a Rubbermaid 5 shelve system that I can place the seed trays on. It's very similar to starting seeds indoors - which I've done so, I already have a good idea of how to approach this. This technique is especially useful during fall/winter when 'greens' aren't available to your animals.

You can also search "DIY Fodder Systems" on Youtube and get step by step instructions... It really is easy and DOES NOT require a great deal of effort or dollars if you DIY... And yes, horses and ruminants still need hay for roughage and 'chew factor' but the hay doesn't have to have as high a protein level because the fresh green fodder can have up to 22% protein... It also has a higher digestibility than feeding unsprouted grain.

If you know how much benefit humans get from sprouted grain - enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, omega 3, beta-carotenes, and other beneficial substances - you know it will benefit your animals. Ruminants especially benefit from the sprouts by enabling the digestive system of ruminants to process food much more efficiently than grain. I would also expect it would help keep horse digestive system functioning better and help prevent colic.

Studies show that you can actually save money on feed costs... btw, I've used round bales and I do not believe there is any cost savings... Unless your out there with pitchfork or broom and dustpan to rake up the hay the animals pull off and stomp into the ground or pee and poop on. When round bales cost me $25 each I didn't sweat it too much (although I did cringe when I saw the waste), however, round bales are well over $100 each and I just don't see any cost benefits... Not only that, you have to have a big, strong tractor to move them around. A large tractor isn't something I want to invest in.

Kari
 
Seriously--when one has 40 horses and it is 35 below...how does one sprout enough grain to feed those horses any significant amount of sprouts??

Here there is no room in the house for trays and trays of grain--that would mean an extra building with lights/heat...by the time the stuff is out for the horses they wod be eating frozen sprouts!

Round bales are $40 to $65 delivered here--I do not have any sort of a tractor, I move bales with my truck or hire a neighbor with a tractor -- -- and there is little hay waste. What the horses pull out/stomp down they sleep on, saving me from buying much straw for bedding.

I would like to see the grow op someone would need to feed 40 horses or 100 head of cattle through winter in the Canadian prairies!
 
I think I would like to try this system. I already grow sprouts indoors for my family, my birds ( we raise finches and canaries) and my tortoises. It couldn't be any more difficult growing some to feed one little 28" filly? I'm going to check it out and get back to you when I do. Thanks for posting this!

With kindest regards,

Katrina and Lady Lavender
 
Whenever someone posts about feeding I read with interest, since I’m trying to devise the “perfect” feeding scheme. I had noticed the fodder systems in the Farm-Tek catalog but dismissed them primarily due to cost (FarmTek’s least expensive system is about $3000.) DIY might be an option, but... the two seed types people have mentioned here are barley and wheat. I don’t know squat about sprouted barley or wheat for horse feed, but they’re great for brewing beer. I’m dubious about feeding them to horses though because of the sugars. [below, I cut-and-pasted from a brewing website.] For brewing malts, the process is stopped just after the sprouting stage, whereas it appears for horse feed, the sprout is allowed to grow a few inches. But it makes no sense to me that one would keep a horse on a drylot to prevent them from eating the “rich” grass and then turn around and feed sprouts that were produced with much greater effort (labor.) My little fat bombs gain weight by breathing so I’d afraid feeding sprouts would enhance the chance for colic/laminitis?

“Malting is a process of bringing grain to its highest point of possible soluble starch content by allowing it to sprout (germinate) and take the first step to becoming a normal, photosynthesizing plant. It is at this point that the seed is rich in the starch it needs to use as food for growth. Then, the maltster heats the grain to a temperature that stops the growth process but allows a natural enzyme, diastase, (which converts starch into sugar or maltose) to remain active.”
 

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