Oat Sprouts for Feed

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Spent the day with Team Karen yesterday and they had a oat sprout operation going on to supplement feed for the miniature cattle. I was impressed and the cattle loved it and the chicken cleaned up any leftover. I never seen or heard of such a thing growing up around cattle my whole life so this was neat to see a self reliant act in progress. This is supposed to be enriched in nutrients.

[610Alpha]

yep...seen this setup in a farm magazine...the setups that are for sale are very expensive...Fodder systems...my FIL talked with a sales guy and he said for his horses he could only feed them X % of the fodder...the math didn't work out for him...especially in my AO the winter temps would require a greenhouse like temp. i think the sales guy said most of the people doing the fodder systems are south of our area.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Team Karen was saying they were going to build a greenhouse for this, sure is neat

[EX121]

Interesting, I wonder how they taste. They should be edible for humans also. Not that I'm going to run out and try. But I remember in the 70s that some backpackers grew bean sprouts in a net while they were hiking. It always appeared to messy for me.

[Karen]

Growing fodder with hydroponics is pretty easy. I didn't buy a fodder system. I made my own. I wanted to experiment with it without spending a fortune. I just bought a rack to put the trays on and some seed trays like the ones you buy to start garden seeds in. I poked some holes in it to let the seeds drain off and I water them twice each day. After a few adjustments, we have succeeded and now I plan to expand on it by making a greenhouse so I can grow more. I will need to fugure out how to use solor energy to keep it all warm enough in the winter.

[610Alpha]

Growing fodder with hydroponics is pretty easy. I didn't buy a fodder system. I made my own. I wanted to experiment with it without spending a fortune. I just bought a rack to put the trays on and some seed trays like the ones you buy to start garden seeds in. I poked some holes in it to let the seeds drain off and I water them twice each day. After a few adjustments, we have succeeded and now I plan to expand on it by making a greenhouse so I can grow more. I will need to fugure out how to use solor energy to keep it all warm enough in the winter.

Did you use any grow lights or just plain old sun? I have seen some diy systems that used the waste water so that it went to their animals water trough. Fodder systems are really neat. I am not sure about the cost savings that are touted...one potential benefit is if you use heirloom seeds for the sprouts.

I didn't catch what type of animal you are feeding? What percentage of their food is Fodder?

Would love to see some pics when you get time if possible.

[Karen]

I just put the seed rack in front of a window to get as much sun as possible. It takes about a week to grow the seeds to the right size, but I can let them go a couple of days longer if needed. I haven't used the waste water. I just let it go down the kitchen drain. If I needed some water to mix with other feed, I would definitely use the waste water.
I'm feeding Dexter cattle. The sprouts make up about 1/4 of the total feed. I plan to increase my sprouts production until the cattle are getting at least half of thier feed from the sprouts. The cost of the seed is about $16 for a 50lb bag. That will vary a bit depending on the type of seed used. This is definitely a money saver for us. It takes some work/time to grow fodder, but with the cost of hay being so high, it's well worth my time.
I never feed corn to my cattle since most corn crops are now GMO. Corn is expensive and the return on finishing cattle on grain is so minor wehn compared to grass fed beef that it just isn't worth it. My plan is to stock up on seeds so my cattle can live on my small pasture along with the homegrown fodder if needed. I want to make my small herd of cattle be as sustainable as possible. This will be an important part of our food production. I will have to do some research to see which seeds will remain viable for the longest period of time so I can store them for a few years.
If you have chickens, you can also raise sprouts for them. This would be a good supplement to free range feeding your flock. You wouldn't have to let the seeds grow as long before you feed the sprouts to them.
Sprouts can be fed to cattle, horses, chickens, goats, sheep, etc.
It takes time to get the animals used to eating it, but my cattle and cihckens really seem to like it.
I'll ask Matt to take some more pics of my home made hydroponic system the next time he is here.

[Karen]

I've seen some exaggerated claims being thrown around on the internet and I want to set that straight. I just did some quick figuring on the costs of my hydroponics vs. the cost of traditional feed.
It will vary greatly depending on what you pay for feed in your area. For small square bales of grass hay, I pay anywhere from $8-$10 per bale depending on where I get it. I prefer to feed round bales for convenience, but there is a LOT more waste with round bales.
So for about $16 or $17 I can buy 2 square bales, or for that same amount of money, I can buy a 50lb sack of seeds to sprout. The seeds will end up yielding about 200 lbs of feed while two small square bales will be about 130 lbs. So for the same money I can have an extra 70lbs of feed.
If you are using the sprouts to replace grain, the savings are even greater. You can buy a 50 lb sack of grain for the same cost as a 50lb sack fo sprouting feed. The grain will give you 50lbs of feed while the seeds will end up giving you 200 lbs of feed.
So sprouting seeds will save you anywhere from about 30% to about 75% depending on how you are using it. I use it to replace all grain as well as some of the hay. I have a steer that I will not finish on grain. He will be finished on sprouts instead. I haven't done this before so I'm not sure how it will affect the final product (beef) but I suspect that the sprouts will allow the beef to have a bit more fat than traditional grass fed beef without the negative effects and high costs associated with grain finished beef.
Keep in mind that I'm feeding dexter cattle, which tend to be a bit more lean that most beef cattle breeds. Cows tend to waste too much hay but there is very little waste with sprouts.
Another great benifit of feeding sprouts is that I can store up a years worth of seeds in a lot less space that I can store a years worth of hay. Cows and horses need some pasture or hay for roughage to keep their digestion running smoothly, so you shouldn't try to relace all of their feed with sprouts. you will have to experiment and see what works for your own livestock.
The final weight of the sprouts will also vary a bit depending on what seeds you choose to sprout. I'm using 1/3 barley and 2/3 oats. I can adjust the choice of seeds depending on what seeds are available in my area. I was told that oats or very very difficult to sprout because ot the tendency to mold. I took that as a challange and did the oats (successfully) anyway.

Okay, now that I've addressed the issue of cost, I want to add my own personal thoughts about the commercial systems. I would never consider buying a commercial system. The cost is way too high for someone like me who is only feeding a small herd. I'm more of a do-it-yourself type anyway and I made my own test system for about $200 including the seeds. You could do it for even less money if you build you own shelves. I purchased my shelf at Lowe's since my husband doesn't like me to use his table saw unless he is supervising (even tho he is the one who cut the tip of his own finger off)

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Would love to see some pics when you get time if possible.

I took this today while I was borrowing the sump pump for my shelter of this hugely complicated system LOL



The simplicity is what makes it so great IMO