Barley fodder gains

It's been so exciting to watch our system grow... but the real enjoyment is in seeing our milk production improve.  My herd is currently producing 13.4% more milk than they were giving before we started feeding fodder.  

In the springtime or summer, it might be easier to shrug at that number since milk numbers are generally on the rise during that time of year.  But increases like this are never seen this time of year, when our sun has gone behind the mountains and will not rise again until early January.

In fact, it seems that milk production will continue to improve for at least awhile before the herd settles into their new normal.  Mango, an older doe who has always had a difficult time holding her weight because she puts all her energy into the milk bucket, looks fatter than I have ever seen her.  And the newest doe, Moonbeam, is perking up nicely with a new fluffy coat and an overflowing udder.

Pretty incredible stuff.  I'm still having a blast, working things out, watching it grow, and feeding up my animals.  We've continued to make improvements to the way things work... I suppose it will be a work in progress for sometime- as all new projects are.

I installed a recoil hose to water the shelves, no more hauling water by the jar to each and every seed tray.  And I hooked up gutters at the back and front of the shelves to feed waste water into buckets for easier removal.  Then I bumped up production from 2 to 3 trays per day.

The best part is that our new record for finished tray weight is 17.5 pounds, giving us a solid 5 times return on the barley investment.  And I'm still aiming for that 6x yield, so I'm sure more improvements will be coming...

I'm mixing things up for our bird families, since they like the fodder more than they like their usual feed.  This is a problem because the barley fodder has a lower protein percentage, and their egg production started to suffer the consequences.  So today I started the first tray with camellina and flax substituted as a portion of the barley.  And I ordered some alyce clover which has 35% protein to add to future trays.  

Now I'm starting to dream of pigs... and how much barley fodder I would have to grow to support a breeding pair and their subsequent offspring.  Maybe by springtime we'll be ready!