Growing fodder

Fodder is sprouted grain, usually barley or wheat, fed at the peak of nutrition. It is highly digestible and is devoured by livestock roots and all. With a continuous fodder system, you can produce a fresh tray of fodder every day in just a few minutes.

Barley fodder takes about 7 days to go from seed to grass. Wheat fodder takes a bit longer. One 50# bag of grain grows into over 200 pounds of fodder. With a continuous fodder system, you start a new batch of seeds and harvest a mature tray each day. Fodder is an excellent supplement in the winter when other greens are scarce. Or it can be fed year-round to replace commercial pellets in your rabbits diet. and as a supplement for other livestock. Nearly every type of livestock can benefit from fodder.

Fodder grows best at 60-70 degrees F. If grown too warm, you will have problems with mold. It will be grassier with a smaller root mat. If grown too cool, you will experience poor germination, mold, and slow growth. Air flow is key to keeping mold and nats away. We grow ours in a small green house in our basement by an egress window for lighting. I have added the link below for the trays we use to grow ours in! 

Buy your grain. Barley & wheat are preferred. Barley grows faster than wheat and gets a better root mat. Another popular seed to sprout is BOSS (Black Oil sunflower seeds) and oats. 

Scoop your grain into a bucket. For the trays in the link above I use about 2 cups of seed per tray. Measure our your grain into a buck and fill with water. I like to add a splash of bleach to prevent mold. Some people also use ACV In place of the bleach. 

After your seeds have soaked for 12-24 hours scoop your seeds into your trays and rinse. I place my trays in my greenhouse for humidity and a convenient place to keep them. I have provided the link to the greenhouse I have below! 

Water trays twice a day. Place the fodder rack in the sink. Throughly soak your trays and let water drain out. Once the water has dripped through place your trays back on your rack or in your greenhouse. Keep the roots moist, not water-logged.

Repeat step 4 watering daily for 7 days or until you feel you have a good root mat and thick grass. 

Time to harvest your Fodder! If you’re using the trays I linked above they pull out really easy when wet! Inspect the fodder and make sure there is not mold, do not feed molded fodder to your animals.