Fodder Trial Run (barley growth cycle) 

I never thought about it for cats. Great idea 😁👍

Lolitabonita I'm open to all suggestions. I will give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

Sounds great. But I'm pretty sure birds don't have a sense of taste. They have very very low numbers of tastebuds. It's why chillies evolved to be spicy, because birds can't taste it and will spread the seeds.

I was just experimenting. I still have much to learn here. I should be finished building my greenhouse by the end of the month. Once done I plan on doing a lot more fodder and hope to learn all the ins and outs of it all. Lots more of this to come in the near future.

have you soiled the base, or just furnished the seeds!

I have not tried it with soil but I know lots of people do.

@@FarmerG so, you did it just barely seeds, washed it, aired it, and furnished it

I will do that. Thanks for the tip 😁👍

@@FarmerG also when you finally get down what your doing. Set up like shelf with pvc or mini green house shelf. And stack them newest to oldest going down with a bucket underneath. To catch water. It will help save space and time when it comes to watering and when u experiment. Maybe try soaking times (30 min, 12hrs, 24hrs ) maybe see if it changes growth time or density in the root matt for more cost efficient outcome

Most definitely. I’ve seen a few set ups like that and was planning on it. Thanks 😁👍

jeremycanwalk Cool. Thanks. I’ll be doing a lot more of this in the very near future.

Good to know. Thanks.

Cool. Glad you got something out of it 😁👍👍

Johnny Simsthree No idea what size bit. Sorry. Was big enough to shake out water but keep seeds in.

Thank you!!

Good question. I wasn’t measuring for height just watching for maturity but I would guess about 7-8 inches or 20 centimeters approximately.

I watered lightly each day to keep them moist not saturated.

I hope they like it. They certainly should. I haven’t tried it with rabbits.

😆👍👍

Sorry I haven’t gotten that technical with it.

@@FarmerG okay thanks.

Cool. Me too. Gotta check off a few things on the to do list first but it’s on my mind as well

You can pick up used ones in garden centers !

Not this time of year but will ask come april

I just go to my local feed store.

@@FarmerG do you ever get a bag that just won't sprout? We have go to our local livestock feed provider Sussex Country Store 3 times and bought more barley twice with no success.

@@FarmerG it worked so well the first bag we decided to make it a business, and now we can't get what we purchased to sprout.....for our own pigs!

I’ve had trays that didn’t fully sprout out. But something has always come up. I’ve never had 100% failure. Could it be temperature? 🤷‍♂️

jatwang kumkho This was just a quick little experiment I did. Once I finish my greenhouse I will get much heavier into this. Cost of a bag of barley vs a bail of hay is worth the effort for me.

@@FarmerG thank you so much for the reply. I have another question. Is maize seed sprout also as good as barley sprout fodder

jatwang kumkho I have only tried the barley but I’m sure as time progresses and I get myself set up I will try other seeds. Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you at the moment.

@@FarmerG thank you so much for the answer. In my place, barley seeds are a bit expensive than the international prices, so m thinking of cultivating maize in my fields and using the seed to sprout fodder for the animals.

jatwang kumkho We gotta do what works best for our own situations. Good luck to you.

I’m not using any chemicals at all. I had the perfect growing conditions when I recorded this video. I’ve tried growing it outside near my garden and on my porch. No luck with either. I have come to the conclusion that a controlled environment is key.

Yes he probably used bleach to destroy any mold spores. I work in a biochem lab and I understand bleach very well. It's the polar opposite of acid for it's very basic. This high pH kills bacteria, cells and mold spores DNA very well, that's why we use it to clean the qPCR machine. After a small amount of bleach is added for a while, it's rinsed out with water. Bleach can be diluted very very easily like acid and after rinsing none will be left. This isn't a harmful chemical that "sticks around" for a long time and will not affect the plants, animals or the growing process other than destroying mold from growing (common issue with fodder). Other than that nothing is used especially if it's indoors. You don't have to worry about pests so if you use organic seed and you feed the animals this, it will stay organic and chemical/pesticide free obviously.

I was told to use apple cider vinegar in the initial soaking to stop the mold/fungus. Rinse it off before moving to the trays.

I have not. Curious now 😁

If it works I will make a video

Got it at my local feed store. Same place I get hay for the horses.

They ate it all. They like it as far as I can tell.

Mountain Crest Farm It’s been a long while since I did fodder but I want to get into it pretty heavy once I finish my greenhouse. I will look deeper into the protein content like you mentioned here. Thanks for the heads up. 👍

Sprout a tray to about 6 inches then take it to your local extension office and ask that it be analyzed for nutrients. You'll see in the analysis that animals would have to eat near their weight DAILY in sprouted grains to get the proper nutrition...And that's not even taking into account the lack of vitamins and minerals livestock needs.

Thanks. I will definitely do some homework on this.

FARMER G - MY HOMESTEAD I hope you update us on it I'm subscribing for it

Maddie Sails Thanks for the sub Maddie. I’m in the process of finishing my greenhouse. Once the greenhouse is done I am going to be very much into growing fodder and analyzing the process of growth and nutrition. I need the greenhouse complete in order for a place to grow this on larger and continual basis. Bare with me, I will be doing lots of fodder coming soon.

I just got some grow lights. I will try it like you suggest very soon. 👍

I guess it could but I’m not sure how to pull that one off 😁👍

@@FarmerG Ok cool, just got to spout them then dry them out fully. So long as there is nothing poison for humans lol.

3 cups or 700ML

Thank you :)

Local feed store. Wherever you can buy hay for horses.

I’ve had much better luck inside. It gets full of bugs outside.

I can't wait to see the results, I bought a ten-pound bag of rye seeds, I have wheat and barley coming soon, so I'm using your method and am also planting some outside with soil. My cat, Calci, loves eating grass and has started to eat my other house plants so this is going to be pretty awesome.

Rita Thomson Can you elaborate. At what point do you start giving sunlight exposure?

From what i could see from your video you had them in the window they don't need that much light , just going by all the other people on you tube God bless

I typically did it just once per day sometimes twice. It just depended on how hot it was. I just watched it closely and watered as needed.

Forever Permaculture My goal was to be as simple as possible. It was all about whatever sunlight I could get. So far it’s been enough.

I just get whatever is at my local feed store. I believe it’s already prewashed or processed somehow (I forget the technical term) for better germination.

@@FarmerG how regular should it be watered?

Tuvoye Windstaan No schedule. I just tried to keep it moist. Not saturated.

+Mohammad Ramzan Thanks for the tip. I will try that.

I got it at my local feed supply store.

I purchased it at my local feed store. Same place I purchase hay for my horses.

Tiny Bigbus It doesn’t say anything specific other than barley. I know that it is prewashed but otherwise that’s all I can tell you.

@@FarmerG are you at in the valley? I see the label says Ceres. I have seen it priced anywhere from $8 for a 50 lb bag to over $25 per bag.

Tiny Bigbus I’m in the Sierra foothills. It runs about $12 a bag at the local feed store here.

@@FarmerG I am going to be in Santa Rosa tomorrow and will pick up a 50# bag for $17-18. Not for any reason, just experimenting. Will see what happens. I tried this before when I lived in Tracy. I remember the sheep liked it.

Tiny Bigbus Good luck. I need to get another batch going myself 😁👍

The seeds I bought in this video were from a feed store intended for animals but hungry is hungry. I guess you could try it. 🤷‍♂️ there are sprouts out there sold for human consumption.

How regular should it be watered?