Fodder Improvements

We (Darling Husband) insulated the fodder room and installed an a/c dehumidifier unit.  He also set up an air bubbler and new seed soaking tub.  It is a work in progress and he plans on redoing some things this weekend.  The fodder is growing so much better and we have only had 2 spots of mold (yesterday) in the months that we have been doing this. A few weeks ago we had record heat that the little A/C unit couldn't keep up with so the fodder room got to over 85 three days a few weeks ago - but this was not when we had the mold.  

Last year we had mostly success with growing the fodder but since the fodder room would get up to 110 we were in a constant battle with mold.  

We start with soaking the seeds for 12 to 24 hours.  The seeds soak in water with an air stone.

We drain and rinse the seeds.

About 6 cups of soaked seeds go into each 2010 tray.  If it is less than 16 hours I use only 5 cups of seed.

 The first day of being in the trays we get roots and tiny bits of sprouts starting 

Day 2 some sprouts are about 1/2 inch long.

 

The third day we have lots of nice sprouts.

 

On the fourth day we have a lot the fodder to a point where we were sometimes feeding this winter.   Somehow I skipped the 5th day

 

The top shelf gets the most light so every day I move the next days fodder to the top shelf. We have 12 trays across and 6 going down.  So 72 trays are always growing.

Here it is getting ready for me to rip it up and put it into 5 gallon paint buckets to carry to the cattle.  The sheep get 1/2 tray as a reward for going into their pen at night.  The chicken get any unsprouted seeds.  The biggest problem at this point is I hate having a pool under all the shelving.  If I had it to do over again we would have the water going into a drain.  I think we are using about 55 to 60 gallons of water each day.  The water goes out into the pasture and hopefully grass will start growing where the water flows.  Right now the cattle are eating it as fast as it grows.