Forging My Way to a Fodder System Part 1

I have been battling the "bulge" of hay prices lately. I've had to sell off more animals than I wanted to this year simply because I can't afford the hay and grain costs. I'd been researching buying a hydroponic-type setup to grow my own fodder. There are plenty of benefits: I'd be able to give my animals the benefits of organic pasture-fresh feed daily on my small property, it only takes about 8 days from seed to feed, there'd be less daily waste, and it'd be way cheaper in money--I'd be willing to spend the extra time. The downsides? In order to afford a hydroponic fodder system I'd have to sell or slaughter all my animals (or almost all) just to get out from under the monster of hay-cost, then save for months to buy it, and then I'd have to re-buy animals. Another downer? I've always hated the taste and quality of hydroponically grown food, so why would I subject my animals to it? What to do?

I was graced with an idea. Why not use the same method that hard-core wheat- and barleygrass juicers use? They tend to dislike hydroponics, too, and sprout in dirt. Maybe I could streamline growing a few flats while reducing my hay usage? Yes, the more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it. I researched like a mad person. I researched sprouting. I researched the hydroponic fodder systems. I crunched numbers. LOTS of numbers. I researched types of fodder that I could grow. I researched protein levels and all sorts of nutrient information. I came to the conclusion that yes, I could "sprout" a fodder system in dirt. It was affordable; more affordable than I dare hoped to dream. I triple and quadruple checked my numbers before I accepted just how affordable it would be to set up and then to grow my own fodder. 

Fresh, juicy Barleygrass

So, I had decided to sprout my own fodder. The fodder that I settled on was barleygrass. Barleygrass and barley grain are the Biblical animal-feeds of choice, and that seemed appropriate somehow. Moreover, sprouted young barleygrass (unlike the seed itself or the full-grown version, seems to be just super-packed with the protein calcium, phosphorus, and other vitamins and minerals that would benefit all of my animals. But eliminating the hay only eliminated about half my feed costs. My grain costs are also quite crushing. It's true that the geese could be "grass-fed" alone, but what about me chickens? And my milk goats and pregnant sheep couldn't be exclusively barelygrass fed. Or could they?

Once again I threw myself into research. I calculated protein percentages and grams per kilo (waaaaay easier than pounds and ounces!). I looked up natural diets. I checked on grass-fed-only type of blogs and research papers. Turns out, I had picked my fodder well; barleygrass can support a meat or dairy goat, sheep, or cow exclusively. Grain feeding with barelygrass is optional. I'll need to wean my sheep and goats off of the grain (you don't want to suddenly change any animal's feed). Also, I've opted to offer some grain to my milk goats for coming out on the milking stand. But feeding my chickens, to my mind, still had some hurdles to be overcome. (People squeamish about reading about bugs may want to stop here. I don't go into gory detail, though.)

Goats, sheep, and cows, and even the geese are all natural browsers or grazers. Chickens have been successfully pastured, but I'd learned something during my research: Chickens, decedents of the Junglefowl, are primarily insectivores. Wait, what? That's right, folks. Chickens chase down those bugs because that's what they are designed to eat! They prefer to take their protein in the form of insects. I figured there had to be others with this information who had opted to raise insects for their hens. One of the "super-bugs"? The Darkling Beetle.

Adult Dakling Beetle

Or, more accurately, the larvae of the Darkling Beetle, better known as mealworms. Mealworms are full of high-quality protien and fat, something that chickens really need. They're cheap to buy, cheaper to raise, and once established, will give you hundreds and hundreds of wiggly larvae to feed you delighted chickens daily. 

However, I wasn't satisfied. Not only did I want another insect source in case something happened to my mealworm colony, but I felt that I needed to offer the chickens more in the way of calcium to support their egg-laying. (Not to mention that a mealworm farm takes about 6 months to become fully-functional.) The second miraculous insect? The Soldier Fly Grub.

Adult Soldier Fly

Soldier flies, or rather the grubs, are fabulous native composters.  I've never seen a population here in Bakersfield, but there should be some around here. Somewhere... Anyway, they're just packed with a tremendous amount of calcium and have an almost perfect calcium to phosphorus ratio! Fabulous! Not only that, but they're even less expensive to raise than the mealworms, they're not pests, and I get a fantastic, quick compost out of them. It takes only two weeks to establish a viable colony, and these are the fastest composters I've ever seen! We're not talking months or weeks, we're talking hours in a fully established colony! (In my humble opnion, anyone who's interested in composting kitchen scraps should establish a colony of these guys!)

Research done, the shopping, setup, and experimental phases have begun. I hope to keep posted of the process. I'm on the second day of soaking/sprouting my barley seed, and my mealworms should be here tomorrow or the next day. I need to set up or buy a special Soldier Grub composting unit, so I won't order them until I have that all ready. In closing, I have to say I'm super excited!!