Feeding Goats Barley Grass Fodder

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I remember reading that too...

Someone had posted that the supposed reason why was because the ACV make the body alkaline. But because generally we give them so little ACV that it really isn't making their body that much more alkaline, and so you would have to put some ACV in the vagina before breeding in order to get the desired effect.

With the research that I did saying that the barley grass alkalizes the body, I would say that this would be a much more reliable way of telling if that theory works or not, at least as far as the alkaline. If its just because it's something the ACV does then a test of your own would certainly be useful. I have been giving my goats ACV or kombucha vinegar every day directly in their feed (not their water, I don't think they get enough that way) for... 3 months I believe. So any kids my goats conceived after January may help us know. And of course any kids conceived after a few weeks or so of starting the barley grass....

That would be SO nice to have a majority of does born...

 

[Livinwright Farm]

I remember reading that too...

Someone had posted that the supposed reason why was because the ACV make the body alkaline. But because generally we give them so little ACV that it really isn't making their body that much more alkaline, and so you would have to put some ACV in the vagina before breeding in order to get the desired effect.

With the research that I did saying that the barley grass alkalizes the body, I would say that this would be a much more reliable way of telling if that theory works or not, at least as far as the alkaline. If its just because it's something the ACV does then a test of your own would certainly be useful. I have been giving my goats ACV or kombucha vinegar every day directly in their feed (not their water, I don't think they get enough that way) for... 3 months I believe. So any kids my goats conceived after January may help us know. And of course any kids conceived after a few weeks or so of starting the barley grass....

That would be SO nice to have a majority of does born...

Mmmhhmmm!

Edited to add: Oouuch... the thought of acv in that area... >cringe<

 

[nmred]

So, it's been 10 days now. How is this working out? Any issues with bloating? How are your goats doing on this diet. I just ordered a bag of barley to sprout and am wondering if I should let some of it go longer. Has it been worth the work?

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

Well I found out that unless you have a system already set up, or lots of time and lots of sunny windows, it can't be done. I just had too little space and not enough time to rinse everything by hand. I am feeding them what I got started and so far no problems at all, but it's also not 6" high grass because until I have a system set up, the method I was doing was majorly slowing the growth down.

So I'll start up once again when we have the system set up. Which may be a while because it's just getting to spring and that means rush rush rush never rest until snow flies again.

 

[helga-the-peasant]

Hi All,
Sprounting for fodder s a new passion of mine. Been doing it a short time. I am however very versed in the "worm tea" realm. We run a commercial worm farm. I wanted to caution those of you who plan on using "worm tea' in the growing of your sprouts. We professionals in the vermiculture world are trying to get the word out that the stuff that comes out /drains out of a wormbin is properly called "leachate" and is NOT worm tea. ' Worm tea' is made from pure worm castings, and more accurately called 'worm casting tea". What's the big deal?
Imagine you have a refrigerator that leaks through the veggie drawer and puddles at the bottom of the frig...would you use this puddle with all the accumulating slime and bacteria to water your food plants? Hopefuly not. This is the same idea with the leachate from a wormbin. The stuff that comes out will contain some good nutrients, but it also has a petri-dish effect for all the bad bacteria that runs out from the stuff that has not yet been eaten by the worms (slimey peelings, moldy bread products, etc...). You may be able to use this with imputiny, but there is still a host of bacteria you should not be introducing to your gardens. In third world countries, redworms are used to solve the disease problems associated with open sewers. The redworms consume the pathogens that cause diseases. Key here is that it needs to be processed by the gut of the redworms. The resulting castings is what you want to make the worm tea out of. For those who are not versed on "Redworms 101", worm castings are worm poop. Worm castings are very clean and have no noticeable odor, and are very high in plant available nutrients.
Back to sprouting. The sprouting process is a great way to grow feed. But caution needs to be used not to introduce bad bacteria into the system. Using leachate instead of actual worm tea made from pure worm castings, is playing with fire. You may be introducing bad bacteria in the system, that will bloom. You then feed that to your ruminants....talk about BLOAT problems (or worse). Be sure to use the worm castings out of your wormbins to make the tea to add to your sprouting systems, and do not use the leachate.

Hopefully this caution is helpful to those of you planning to grow fodder.

 

[treeclimber233]

I have been growing fodder for my goats for several months now. My goats do seem to be in better health. However I am suprised that people are going to give the fodder anything other than plain water. The fodder does not need any extra stuff to sprout and grow. All the nutrients needed are already in the seed. That is why you should feed the fodder to the animals on the 6-7th day. I would be very careful about adding anything extra.

 

[denasfarm]

I started some Wheat grass yesterday (4/9/13). I wanted to do Barley but my feed store was out...next trip I guess...
I currently have it in pans (The bottom half of seed starter pans) in a shed but will probably move the shelves to a shady area outside the garage since the shed gets really HOT, even now at 85* its unbearable if you shut the door (to keep the chickens out). So I have two pans soaked and started and more soaking tonight for tomorrows pans.

What all can I safely sprout and feed to Goats, Cows, chickens and geese?

I did a pan of whole corn for corn sprouts, Thought the goats and cow would like that. and I started a pan with pinto beans for bean sprouts, I figured for the hens and geese but would it harm the goats or cow if they eat it as well?

I read on one of the sites selling systems that you can do sunflower seeds, peas and other grains but I don't want to make my girls sick!.

 

[cg83226]

sorry to comment on an old post... but my daughter is sensitive to Gluten and I wondered what you learned about barley fodder and gluten (barley the grain of course is glutenous).