by Catherine Haug, April 19, 2013
Back in 2010 I posted two related articles about Shelli R’s experimentation with sprouted barley, oat and sunflower seeds as feed for her dairy goats. Although she eventually gave up on the original experiment for reasons unknown to me, she has been inspired to give it another try, as the idea and method are valid for providing fresh, healthful livestock feed. Here are the two earlier articles:
And here are two sites that provided inspiration for her to try again:
- Our Fodder Room (a blog post with photos)
- Podcast: Fodder Systems and Small Scale Farming, with Teresa Hord
If any of our readers have experimented with this type of animal feed, or plan to experiment with it, please let me know how it goes.
Cat’s caution: Please do not use sprouted grains or other seeds to feed carnivore pets like cats and dogs. This could lead to diabetes or other illness for your beloved pet, as carnivores’ digestive and metabolic systems are designed to digest, absorb, and utilize the calories provided by meat. Their intestines are not long enough to allow proper digestion of grains, even sprouted grains.
Read on to learn about Doug Averill’s fodder experiment for his livestock, and for more helpful links on the method.
Averill’s Fodder
This week’s Bigfork Eagle features several articles about Alternative Agriculture, including a front-page article by the new editor, David Reese: What the Hay: Flathead Lake Lodge using innovative livestock feed. It tells about Doug Averill’s experimentation with sprouted barley fodder for his horses, Scottish Highlander Bull, and domestic elk on the Flathead Lake Lodge property.
The method for sprouting and growing the barley fodder as described in the Eagle article is the same as that used to grow wheat sprouts for wheatgrass juice, or sunflower sprouts for eating or juicing, as described by Robben L. for ESP’s first gathering: Sprouting and Juicing (6/25/08).
For more information
- Livestock Sprouted Fodder System Getting Started (7-minute video)
- Barley Fodder Fedding for Organic Dairies Webinar (1 hour video)
- DIY Home Fodder System: How to set up your own low-cost fodder growing system (has instructions and LOTS of photos)
- Fodder Tutorial! AKA: How To Sprout Grain for Livestock!