Improved wheat fodder for rabbits

[@pinemeadowshobbyfarmafruga8319]

Good insight. Thanks. I cannot wait until my new rabbitry is finished.

[@darleneb.9447]

Will the rabbits eat the roots full of compost? Most of the protein is in the roots. What's the use of feeding fodder if it's not eaten in it's entirety?

[@1949RL]

I use 10 to 1 water to peroxide, seems to get rid of mold in seedlings.

[@marybedard1436]

Great help here. Thank you so much for all those videos, I look forward to viewing more.

[@kathrenlittle]

I think the initial darkness is helping. I cover mine for the first two days and the fodder sprouts faster and more evenly. I just use a damp cloth.

[@scottsutton7989]

Small amounts of bleach will remove the mold issue completely. Also rinsing your seed after it’s soaked helps as well but seems you found another way that works for you so cudo’s to you. If your watering it often enough 8/10 days is normal for most all fodder situations

[@HearthHeathen]

In addition to the fodder, what are the rabbits eating? Thank you so much for your videos!

[@GREGORY69420]

First of all use barley it sprouts faster and has more nutrition. Secondly to stop mould growing on your sprouts dilute 3 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda in a spray bottle and spray it twice a day

[@cbzombiequeen58]

what does that soda due to the rabbit's stomach, it has to build up in the grass?

[@YWu-ze1op]

What I found is barley grass doesn’t mold. But both wheat berry and rye would mold. Rye mold the worst growing without soil even though it germinates very fast and well, so I’m growing rye grass in soil now. The level of mold for wheat is between barley and rye. A little bit tolerable for me to grow without soil. In general, growth in soil is definitely a lot faster.

[@terapiu]

What if you soak the wheat in compost tea instead of putting compost in the tray? (also follow-up with watering with compost tea)

[@MsTokies]

have you thought about mixing the bin with two or 3 types of rain? wheat, oats, so forth? also do you have any plans to try sunflower seeds? have you tried a bit of rock dust?

[@cmee4321]

Hello. I know it's been a long time since you posted but do you feed anything else to your rabbits? What and how much?

[@noahriding5780]

Do you always keep the trays outside all year round? And does that work better than under grow lamps? To what temperature can you keep them outside? I had mold and bad stuff growing in there. But it went away when I improved the drainage.

[@russsherwood5978]

can ya use left over vegtable seeds ta sprout fer fodder? thank ya fer the video

[@ssc5140]

What are you using as your growing trays and where did you get them ? Thanks !

[@iwantosavemoney]

they look like old two liter bottle holders to me

[@TheAcacia1984]

I started growing my own fodder. I began with cleaned oats from feed store. I noticed after moving my fodder location closer to basement entrance, my yield was much less, about 2 lbs less... I thought mice were consuming my seed, so I bought traps, and caught only two. Even though I keep traps baited I haven't caught more. I still observed seed not all growing, and when I went to harvest.... little did I realize on my oats in their root mass was tons of Hessian Fly larve. Have you had any trouble with it? Or how to get rid of it with out pesticides?

[@muhammadusmanafzal5244]

I have a question Can I totally rely on wheat or barley grass as rabbit feed. If so then how many grams of grass an adult rabbit need in a day.

[@DavidODuvall]

You can control the mold if you soak your seeks in a 3% to 10% bleach solution for up to 24 hours. You can experiment with the soaking time and the bleach percentage until you get the control. Don't forget to use a mild bleach on the trays but, the mold spores are probable on the seed itself. You might be able to control the problem with just a 3% solution soak for 20 minutes. Just a suggestion.

[@jksatte]

I wouldn't use bleach but hydrogen peroxide. I would also make sure thee is good air flow. Now for the sparse parts, I would say perhaps to much sun, not sure though.

[@MsTokies]

jksatte or a UV light

[@jksatte]

MsTokies That sounds even better, though I am not at all familiar with that process.

[@MsTokies]

jksatte large clear item so UV light gets through buy fishtank UV's you still need to rinse the water

[@psychobunny32]

another poster said he used diluted lemon juice as a pre-rinse. He has good results

[@purdylicous6473]

So you rip of a piece of the fodder plant each day to feed the rabbit right? Or how do you feed it to them

[@smarph]

Thank you for the info....Please keep us posted

[@Thathumanoverthere1701]

If you are still having mold issues, you can use food grade peroxide or vodka and water to eliminate the mold :)

[@Will-tm5bj]

Tavonna Nira Sivertsen I've used peroxide many times sprouting seeds.. works very well

[@michaelripperger5674]

Drink the vodka !

[@eldenl1]

8 years later... Do you still do fodder? If not, why? If so, any new changes to improve your system?

[@NWRedworms]

Not currently. I stopped doing rabbits for a while. I just recently started back up and it's too cold at this time to any fodder outdoors.

[@PermacultureHomestead]

ive been sub'd for a while don't know how I missed this, im doing the same thing now on a smaller scale, great tips, thx for the share.

[@Sofiarivassculptor]

Very good idea. Where did you get the seeds?

[@joycelebret7686]

Where do u get your trays

[@honestyfaithful]

Where do you get the bulk seed to grow?

[@aspentravisaspen2160]

can I use corn fodder for rabbits and chicken?

[@Billalkhan1101]

so basically by atting compost your got better fodder plants are the same 7/10 days ???

[@cbzombiequeen58]

why wheat instead of barley.

[@Billalkhan1101]

also its best to dilute the bleach with water as it maybe too strong but you can alsochoose to buy treated Food wjeat seeds

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

@@Billalkhan1101 bleach should not be used directly or indirectly in or around food

[@cassieshattuck3364]

this might be a silly question but I bought wheat from our local feed store. I'm knew to this so I'm not sure, but it appears to still have it's hull on. do I need to remove this before sprouting? if so, what's the best way to do that?

[@NWRedworms]

It will crack open when you soak it.

[@michaelripperger5674]

Also this is good for people to understand. You want to get whole grains from feed store. Tell them you are doing fodder. Otherwise you might get grain that has been cracked

[@Oscardingo2011]

i think i'm going to try this. This summer i had no grass to give the rabbits because everything died off even with being watered was just to hot and dry. I love feeding a more natural diet :)

[@Oscardingo2011]

+Jennifer's Miniatures i'm actually thinking of doing it though with a mix of wheat and barely. More types = more nutrition.

[@gonemadd2953]

when you soak your seed, you can add a small amount of bleach with you rinse water and that may help with the mold. Rabbits can be very sensitive to the mold.

[@chancekiki8488]

how much does each rabid eat

[@ImASurvivorNThriver]

Great information! Thanks for sharing it.

[@judylynn2744]

Great video - and very nice farm! I have found in the research I have come across that rabbits should not be fed straight grains - actually no grains at all. They should be fed grass. They say that grains cause rabbits digestive problems... One guy said he got a variety of grass seeds from his local feed store and does a combination of those (fescue, rye, alfalfa and clover) he gave this formula of what percents acording to the protein of each seed... He also said that when he soaks his grains over night he puts a cap full of bleach into the grains and he has no problems with mold at all - (the fodder grows just fine with the bleach) but me personally - that scares me . I am going to try to bleach my trays instead of the grains - in the comments of that video people suggested all sorts of natural alternatives to use in place of the bleach.

[@ce8047]

Barley or wheat grass IS grass... They may consume a little grain, but a small amount won't hurt them. I gave my does a bit of oats when trying to recondition them after kindling, and they did fine. I've even seen rabbitries that feed their kits rolled oats as part of their normal diet. I don't advise taking it that far, but feeding them sprouted grains isn't harmful.

[@16prepping26]

do you feed pellets with the fodder? are just fodder? And if not would rabbits be ok just eating fodder?

[@NWRedworms]

+16 & Prepping I do not think the fodder will have all the nutrients the rabbits need.

[@ce8047]

You should also provide them with hay (always), and a salt lick might be a good idea. As with any animal, variety is a good thing, so other veg/forage would be good for them.

[@Aziz91977]

2 things I know about rabbits we follow them in Egypt 1st no green things unless they are dry , wet materials cause colostrydia and worms if there are dogs and cats playing arroun. 2nd if you gonna depend on that you need to get a decent anti venoms and put it in water once each weak finally when we grow some green planets for rabbits without soil we make sure to to put it for rabbit in day 7 , why?! because roots started to be poisoned and corrupted after day 7 because of no soil exist Also at day 7 seeds still has some sugar and vitamins inside it which is useful for rabbit...so it is not matter of height it is matter of proteins .

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

@Julie Sprik so that whole carrot and rabbit thing it's just TV no reality to that?

[@krrrruptidsoless]

Julie Sprik Don't feed them in chunks. Try using a peeler to give them thin strips. Rabbits are only supposed to eat the tops is what I heard. And because they eat them once doesn't mean they will continue. Rabbits are stupid robots that you can just pump the same thing at them. They like variety just like humans. But they do have favorites. Which they still don't eat all the time but favor them when they do. Try using a potato peeler. It makes them thin like grass. Which the rabbit will more often try but not always finish or like. Of course you know that....

[@lindabrown7374]

@Julie Sprik I had one rabbit who hated carrots. Orlando would not even go near his food bowl if there was a carrot in it. All my other rabbits like them.

[@hawkintelligence]

How many lbs per rabbit, per day? Has anyone come up with a good ratio?

[@JinaMtu111]

Great stuff! Have you tried hydroponics in a small green house? It allows one to control the growth of mould and get one foot plus lenghth of growth in 8 days....

[@grayhand9676]

Some else mentioned peroxide which it the normal treatment but another issue you are probably having that the flood and drain systems don't is the excess starch isn't being washed off and it's the starch feeding the mold. There's no easy way top get rid of the starch without going to an automated flood and drain. Even in those systems the starch builds up in the water and many people swap the water out at least once during a grow cycle. You might try using compost tea instead of solid compost. Most of it would get washed off if you don't add it the last few waterings so the rabbits may be more inclined to finish off the roots as well. Just a cup of tea in a bucket of water should be enough.

[@techgeek1162]

Use Soda water spray to stop mold. I had few molds once in wheatgrass but couple of sprays I got rid of molds.

[@1791457]

i dont understand what You grow, is it wheat, weed, weat, is it grian ?

[@peepslostsheep]

Wheat, which is a grain. Instead of waiting for it to grow out into grain, however, he just feeds them the very young plants.

[@RafaelGarcia-gh6qf]

What else do you feed your rabbits?

[@NWRedworms]

lots of kale, they love that more than anything.

[@wildoxidizer]

why not use barley????

[@mikepowell5097]

barley takes longer to sprout, and is usually harder and more expensive to source

[@wildoxidizer]

Ender Wiggin okay I grow it in hydroponics for my rabbits it take 7 day but just asking and I grow the seeds in a 20 x 20 area in my yard

[@camanojim]

barley was my choice. 50# for $12.50 and grows plenty fast for me. the rabbits devour it. it is a fantastic food for them

[@brando.cando06]

+camanojim where do you get your barley?

[@sebudex]

why you grow food when around you have a lot fresh natural grass

[@BriesBunnyBarn]

I had fly maggots in my last batch of fodder not to long ago, any idea how to stop that...

[@psychobunny32]

put mosquito netting or cheesecloth over your frame

[@tamaraplasser9721]

thanks for sharing!

[@cbzombiequeen58]

The only thing I don't like about fodder, wheat, is that wheat is a GMO grain. all commercial wheat is, even the so-called, organic.

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

Try giving it a whole lot less water

[@AjPets_NGL]

Compost may harm rabbit stomach

[@willdwyer6782]

You should try barley.

[@kamolergashev2346]

No need to add manure

[@DanielDadaBLC]

Thanks so much

[@mikepowell5097]

hmm, i don't have any compost, but i bet rabbit poop would do..

[@noahwiliams5204]

you bet! make a tea from that to water your fodder

[@sherrybodkins300]

I would not recommend adding non-composted rabbit poo. You are setting your rabbits up for a coccidiosis invasion if you do! It would kind of be like pooping in your own cheerios.

[@NWRedworms]

Sherry Bodkins I concur.

[@alphaxwarchief6092]

What? You don't poop in your Cheerios?

[@quang645]

thanks

[@lauracarpenter5283]

great...thanks!

[@harleysurrey1159]

It looks so mad