Fodder, part 2

I've had good luck with our new barley fodder system.  I'm still kind of shocked at just how easy it is to grow this volume of fresh food for our livestock.  It took the goats a few days to decide if they liked it, but now they devour about 30 pounds per day.  I'm working to increase production to try to push that up to 45#, so I've been tweaking our system a bit.

First, I found that the 3/32# holes which drain our trays are too small.  I've redrilled them to 1/8# and we'll see how that works for awhile.  By keeping good track of soak times, day 3 germination rates and day 7 tray weights, I've been able to optimize our production.

It turns out that so far, a 2 hour soak time followed by two days in the bucket before spreading the grain onto the trays works best for us.  In addition, it seems that adding peas to the barley quickens both germination and maturation.  

So that's where things are at, for the moment.  I'm interested to see how things look at the end of the next week.  Right now our trays are weighing around 15# at maturity.  I'd like to see them weigh around 21# and plan to keep working on it.  Still loving this project...

Growing barley fodder

Okay, I can't wait any longer to share my new experiment with you.

Alfalfa hay and pellets have increased in cost 200% over the last three years.  In addition, the evil Monsanto has put GMO alfalfa on the market and we are no longer safe if we depend on it as the base of our feed program.

Alaska is a wonderful place to grow barley.  Whatever we spill grows on its own without intervention or support.  It grows to full harvest, and it does so happily.  There are lots of barley farmers here, and the going rate is $315 a ton.

Enter the concept of barley fodder:  soaking, sprouting and growing barley grass indoors to feed to your livestock.  Growing barley like this has the ability to turn 1 ton of grain into 6 tons of fresh food for your animals in the space of 7 days.

So we decided to give it a whirl... I ordered a few tons of grain to be delivered and split among a couple local farmers.  Then we built a set of shelves to hold the sprouting trays.  And that was only 9 days ago.  My trays are 18x26 and 3 inches deep.  I drilled 22 holes across the short ends that are 3/32".  They are set up on a 1 inch slant and each tray drains into the one below it.

 

Today marks the second day of feeding my homegrown barley grass to our menagerie of goats and chickens and quail.  The birds love it, devouring it preferentially over their usual grub.  The goats aren't quite sure yet, but they're picking at it and entertaining the idea.

I'm sold... hook, line and sinker.  Totally in, super stoked and in love with the project.  It has taken over our family room and I couldn't be happier.  I'm calling it a success.  A really nice side effect is that we've heated the growing/family room with an oil stove which is providing excess heat for the comfort of our family, and all the trays of growing feed are adding humidity to our normal dry winter air.  The average temp in the fodder room is 65 degrees.

Everyday I start another 7# of barley soaking, which is to be split between two trays.  The grain gets drained after a number of hours- a number which we're still fine tuning to optimize germination rates.  Then the soaked barley gets poured out into trays about 1/2" thick when smoothed out over the surface of the tray.

We water as needed on an individual tray basis, keeping things moist but not soaked. By the next day you can see the barley beginning to sprout.  We call that day one.  On day two, germination is wildly apparent with roots making their journey out and about seeking water.

By day three I can see the occasional monocot signature shoots popping up, and this is the day that I measure for germination.  What I've found so far is that an 8 hour soak gives a 60-70% germ rate on day 3.  A 12 hour soak gave 44%, 16 hour soak was 20%, 20 hour soak was 17%, and 9.5 hour soak gave 50%.  Soon we'll have stats for 6 hours and 3 hours and we'll know if we're headed in the right direction.

Day 4 marks the beginning of the root mat and the trays start to turn green with growing grass.  On day five you can barely see the grain base as the green shoots take over and approach the top of the tray.  By day six our fodder is at least 4 inches tall with a rootmat 1-2 inches thick.  

And then comes day 7 with its lovely 4-6 inch grass and it's time to feed the animals.  So simple, a ton of fun, and pretty trouble free.  I couldn't ask for more.

Out with the old

So much has happened in the last year, and yet it feels like not much has changed.  Life gets so busy... and sometimes our journey takes us in a big circle.  Here we are once again, on the cusp of another inbetween season on the mountain.  

Life is good.  We have fewer goats now, a younger herd with high hopes of improved production.  And we have less chickens but more quail.  Also, we've been blessed to have had excellent help for over a year now, our friend Heidi and now her friend Sam are here to give a hand whenever we need it- and that's not a small thing.

There's alot to be grateful for, and there are new dreams swirling around on their way to fruition.  I'm super excited to share with you what we have in store... I think it's going to rock our world and maybe yours too.  Stay tuned!

Unlikely mothers

We've got some magic happening in the land of the birds this summer.  My 4yo red Ameracauna has been a great broody hen over the years.  I'm beyond thrilled to see her back in her element this year... mothering 4 guinea keets that I got from Margie and Tina.  The interesting part is that 3 years ago this hen hatched a nest of 14 guinea eggs and raised them as well.  She must have liked being a guinea mama to adopt this batch of adolescents, who were already being fathered by our resident guinea cock.  He hadn't any of his own species here for quite awhile... it was really fun to see him take charge of these guys.  And now that the hen has stepped in, they are quite the inseparable family.  On a separate but related note, here is one of my older dark cornish hens who has adopted our Freedom Ranger meat chicks of various ages.  Fun.

Rainy day

Ahhh... this morning we woke up to the sweet pitter patter of spring rain on the roof.  I was surprised to go out and find that the rain barrels were already filled and overflowing.  The cool wetness made for a lazy start to the day, and when I finally got outside to feed the big goats in preparation for milking I found that Guava was dripping mucus.  

She was getting ready to give birth.  In fact her water broke while I was scraping the barn floor.  So I stepped up the morning events and called my Mom to come up and help.  I plopped Miekka into the Bumbo seat in the milkhouse and started gathering goats.  In between every goat or two, I'd dutifully check on Guava, but progress was slow.

Halfway through milking, my Mom arrived and took over kidcare while I finished up.  I was surprised that Guava didn't finish before I did.  Finally, after much watching and waiting, some feet poked out... hind feet they were- I could tell because they were upside down.  She'd push the feet out almost up to the hocks, and then after awhile they'd slip back in again.

Guava's sister (Mango and her yearling daughter (Ava) never left her side.  The daddy buck (Sasquatch) was there for the whole thing as 0well.  Taslyn and I made alot of trips out to check on her, but not much was happening.  Contractions seemed to be a long ways apart and not that productive.

After a couple hours of it, I gave a tentative tug on the feet.  She was in there pretty snug.  A few more tugs while Guava was pushing and the baby started to move.  Guava seemed appreciative of the assistance and worked with me.  And before we knew it, a baby was on the ground.

Since she came breech- and very quickly at the end, she didn't get squeezed enough and had mucus in her airway.  Massage, positioning and homeopathics got her the help she needed to pull through.  And 5 hours later she is nursing like a champ, with a dearly attentive mama.  All's well on the mountain...welcome Rainy!