Fodder Project

Growing fodder is my latest step to giving my rabbits and chickens great nutrition while stretching the feed bill. Especially in the winter when weeds and garden trimmings are not available to feed them, having something green and fresh is a very good thing. Fodder, in it's broadest definition, is any food gathered and brought to the animal rather than what the animal can graze. So, technically, gathered weeds, garden trimmings, hay, silage, and pellets are all "fodder".  But, for the purposes of this discussion, my Fodder Project involves growing wheatgrass for the rabbits and chickens.

Finding the grains for sprouting was the most challenging part. I wanted barley as everyone says that barleygrass is even better than wheatgrass for rabbits. (The Organic Chicken folks tell me barley is not good for chickens, though.) But, sproutable barley is just not available to me. All the local "mills" are just glorified Purina Peddlers and you don't want to know what I think of Purina! I was beginning to think I just wasn't going to be able to affordably grow wheatgrass for the rabbits. Then, a google search landed me at a source for "feed grade" wheat to grow wheatgrass.

Coker's Feed Mill, Inc of Goldsboro, NC

Not only did I locate a source for wheat, I located a fabulous feed mill, to boot! The mill is Coker's Feed Mill, in Goldsboro, NC. They mill feed for livestock, including chickens and rabbits. An email query was promptly answered assuring me that I could purchase feed grade wheat from them through a local distributor.  Another bonus! A local source of feed not from the evil empire!  Clemmons' Hardware in Shallotte is just starting up and the owners are very eager to please. I ordered my wheat through Clemmon's and it came in their next order. Since it was "feed grade" wheat, I expected a good bit of chaff. Was I pleasantly surprised! There is very little chaff at all. My next concern was -- will it sprout well? It sure does! It has a high percentage of germination. This is good wheat, folks!

I was so impressed with the wheat, that I decided to purchase their rabbit pellets as well. (I'd already purchased a bag of their chicken feed.) Now, this was big because I was quite hooked on the MannaPro. But, since I could see that Coker's was using really good quality ingredients in their feeds, I figured this was a win-win -- I can support two local companies while providing my rabbits good feed. The ingredient label on the rabbit pellets was vague, so I emailed Coker's and asked. They are protective of their formulas for good reason but they were able to assure me that corn is not an ingredient in their rabbit pellets. From that fact, and the way they explained why it isn't, I knew I was dealing with a company who cared about the nutritional needs of the animals who would be eating the feed. This really impressed me. You just don't find folks like this very often. And, it isn't often that I give a company such high praises but I think Coker's deserves it! But, then, they are North Carolinian's!

So, anyway, back to the Fodder Project. With good wheat in hand, it was time to start sprouting. I have two buckets, one of which I put drain holes in. Day one, the grains go in the bucket without drain holes. Day two, it is transferred to the other bucket. Day three, it goes into a flat. I purchased four black plastic baskets (upper left-hand corner of picture) and put drain holes in the bottoms. These are working well but I don't think they will produce enough grass. The other flats, the long narrow trays, are actually the "saucers" for planters. I did not put drain holes in those. They will hold almost twice the grains that the black baskets will hold so I'll probably switch to those and save the black baskets for some other project. I will need more of the trays. Essentially, I need seven trays in rotation as it takes between seven and nine days to get the grass to the stage to feed to the animals. The first week, I stuck to just wheat. Then, I started adding in some odds and ends from my old sprouting projects (for me) to see how they will do in the system....and to get rid of them. I'd like to regularly add BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) and Flax to the mix but I am going to wait until I use up the other stuff.

If you do a google search on fodder systems, you will see that folks will use different frequencies of rinsing the trays of grains/grass. Some use pumps to recycle water over their trays every two hours. Others only rinse twice a day. I would love an automatic system but that ain't happening anytime soon. I also don't have the time to be rinsing every few hours! I started out rinsing twice a day. I'm finding that most days, twice is not necessary. One must be very careful not to over water as that can lead to mold. So, I watch, rinse when necessary, and make sure I drain well! The biggest key to the system working and getting high germination is initial soak time for the grains. 6 Hours. No more. No less. Well, if you go longer you aren't lost but it will mean the grains have to sit in the bucket longer before you get good germination. You really want to stay as close to the 6 hour mark as possible. The other decision to make is "soil" or "no soil". I've gone with "no soil" but may try the soil option to see if it makes a difference at all.

Once the grass reaches a good size, between seven and nine days from the start of the process, it is time to feed it to the rabbits. The rabbits are taking a little time deciding if they like the wheatgrass but each day I see that they have eaten more of their grass. The Chickens get the rabbits' leftovers and they also get some of the sprouted grains from the bucket after I put most of the bucket load into a tray. So, the chickens get both sprouted grains and grass. They like this deal, very much! I've offered wheatgrass to the ducks and they say "thanks, but no thanks". Silly ducks!

Folks say they get roughly a 1:6 or even 1:7 return from fodder growing. That means for every one pound of grain used, they get 6 to 7 pounds of fodder at the end of the week's growing. A few folks claim even greater returns but I'll be happy with 6-7 pounds of fodder from 1 pound of grain. It is a bit labor intensive unless you set up an automatic system but so far, not too unweldy.

Unexpected Changes and Heatwaves

I don't even know where to start. So much has happened in a short period of time and I'm still trying to come to grips with it. We seemed to be on a row getting things set up here on the homestead. We had the rabbitry up and running, the chickens in their tractor, and the ducks growing nicely. We still had many projects and plans to work on but it all seemed to flowing nicely. Son got a paying job and it looked like we would finally have enough cash to purchase the supplies we need for projects we want to do. Then, the unexpected happened.

Last week, my spiritual son left the homestead in a most unpleasant way. That is about as much as I will say about his departure except that he broke my heart and my mother's heart. We pray for him and hope he seeks help.

His departure has left me with an assortment of messes to be fixed:

1. the chicken tractor he built is too small for the chickens, it is difficult to move, and impossible to clean. I need to build a new home for the chickens. This time, I'm going to opt for a stationary, open-sided coop. I will be building it myself with the help (hopefully) of my pastor's son. 
2. our muscovy population is over-populated with drakes and this is beginning to cause problems. Possibly connected to that -- the ducks found their way over to the neighbor's house and only six returned home safely. Number 7 was found alive but unfortunately, did not survive. I still have two too many drakes and will need to dispatch two of them to freezer camp very soon before the females decide to look for other accommodations with less testosterone.
3. the field...the ever-troublesome field. Son had started to create a berm and swale with the berm to follow the boundary line of the field. He started. He did not finish. No surprise there. What was left has become an overgrown mess. I am looking for someone to come help clean up that mess and level the field so that I can mow it.
4. the ditches -- another perpetual problem spot. Son broke the weedeater. I thought perhaps I could kill off the weeds in the ditches with vinegar/water/salt but it did not work as hoped. I just might set fire to it if it is dry enough to burn. Anything but use Roundup...don't want to use that!
5. piles of wood, scattered tools, general mess....need I say more? the yard was littered with his tools and scraps left behind from this project or that. I'm slowly clearing those up and getting my yard back to looking like someone cares about the appearance of the place.

There are moments when I feel overwhelmed with it all. This heatwave isn't helping matters. But, all I can do is do what I can do and learn to ask for help for those things I need help with. The silver lining to all this is that offers of assistance are coming from unexpected directions. Some offers have been followed through on and others have yet to...but even if they don't, the offer means their hearts have been softened towards us. That is always a good thing!

Speaking of  heatwave -- it has been brutal all across the country. Farmers losing crops. Rabbitries losing their rabbits. So far, we have not lost any animals to the heat. We have been on ice bottle brigade taking frozen 2-liter bottles to the rabbits through the hot part of the day. It is very fortunate that we placed the rabbit hutch under the pecan trees as the temperature there is a good 10-15 degrees cooler than elsewhere. This extended heatwave and drought is going to cause serious problems this winter with food costs. I'm hoping to stock up on staples like rice, beans, flour, sugar and whatever vegetables we can get canned or otherwise preserved to get us and the animals through the winter.

It is a difficult time. An emotional time. An period of lost security and uncertainty. But, God is still on the throne and I know that He will provide for us and care for us. Recent events may have taken us by surprise, but it hasn't taken God by surprise. It is important to remember from whence our help comes from -- it comes from the Lord! He gives us strength and grace and mercy. He provides our needs and blesses us with our wants. He is a good God!

Chicken Tractor

This week Son began building the chicken tractor for our first chickens. We are looking to house 6 chickens in the tractor. Son designed the tractor in his head.

Dimensions are 4' x 8' x 3' with a taller 4' section in the back end for the chicken roost.


I used to think, based on all the chicken coop plans I saw, that chickens needed coops almost as airtight and insulated as our own homes. Then, I read about open sided coops aka three-sided chicken houses. The idea that chickens are healthier in housing that does not allow the build-up of ammonia which harms their lungs makes a lot of sense to me. It also makes sense that chickens, like other birds, are able to handle the cold as long as they don't have drafts. Birds, after all, roost in trees! So, the tractor is designed to provide a roosting area that is open bottomed and with ventilation at the top. 

At the front end will be an access door for entering the tractor to tend to the chickens. The back-end will have the nestbox bump-out where our ladies will be depositing their eggs.

The tractor will move on wheels. Those square blocks on the corners are for adding stability to the structure and to provide an attachment base for the wheels. We got wheels that will carry more weight than the tractor will weigh but figured that would help guarantee ease of move-ability.

Yes, Son plans on closing the gap between the bottom frame and the ground so that undesirable movement between outside and inside is eliminated while still maintaining the mobility of the tractor.

I am proud to report that the structure is quite sturdy while being lightweight enough for even my mother to move. Soon, we'll have six lovely ladies tilling garden beds, eating bugs, and laying eggs in the prettiest tractor in a tri-state area! Only thing left to decide is what color to paint the pretty thing! (Anyone got any leftover outdoor paint they want to donate?)

We might not be quite there yet...but we are quite excited about the progress we are making!  (I'll post pictures of the completed coop soon!)

Misadventures and Chicken Tractors

Best laid plans of mice and men or so they say. What we plan and what actually happens are often two very different things. When life and people do not work according to plan, plans get seriously messed up! And, so it has been here at the homestead. It seems that each time I adjust the plans for the behaviors and doings of people or conditions, something or someone else comes in and twists it all up yet again. At moments, I want to just give up and go hide in my room. But, I can't do that. I have to keep trying. And, sometimes, better ideas come of it.

The Fall Garden as conceptualized in my head was quite a bit different from what actually happening. The actual Fall planting is a simple garden of mustard greens (smooth leaf, as according to everyone in these parts it's the only type worth growing), kale, spinach, and collards. They went into the ground rather late but I'm hoping we'll enjoy some greens this winter anyway. Hope was that after getting this little bit planted, we'd have time to determine a site for the perennial vegetable beds (asparagus, etc) and get those "beds" heavily mulched and doing their magic for a Spring planting. I also wanted to get some clover planted to cover all the bare soil. Did I mention that nothing is going quite to plan?

I got a call from the Backdoor Neighbor announcing that he was going to be planting 20 blueberry bushes along his border, effectively nixing my garden plans by putting conventionally raised blueberries right at our boundary. While giving me a bit of an upset, a new plan has arisen from it that will be quite beautiful. It will have to wait until the Spring after the Fall Garden is done. Then, we will create a berm-and-swale along the border with ornamental trees, bushes, and grasses along the berm. The swale will serve to hold water after a rain allowing it to be absorbed into the ground rather than run off. The berm and it's plantings will serve as an attractive barrier between his conventional gardening and my organic gardening. It also will give me an area to satisfy Mother's craving for ornamental trees and bushes. Theoretically, this all fits within the principles of Permaculture I talked about previously. Or, so I tell myself so I can feel better about this twisted dizzy road I seem to be on.

Chickens. Chickens were supposed to be here this past Spring. I should have been enjoying their services in the garden for months now. But, for various reasons the coop and the chickens have been delayed. But, that might turn out to not be such a bad thing. Various thoughts and opinions and ideas have been considered and tossed around. Each with their benefits and drawbacks. From the beginning what I really wanted was a chicken tractor -- a portable chicken coop with attached run. But, because Mother was not yet on board with that idea, some form of stationary coop was going to be built. But wasn't. Which turns out to be a good thing as I have since been able to convince Mother that a Chicken Dome is both attractive and has more benefits than drawbacks. Square and rectangle tractors are probably easier to build, perhaps cheaper, but for about $200 we can have a large Dome.

Why a tractor and why a dome? Well, with a chicken tractor, you move the chickens around on a daily or other set schedule so they have fresh graze and leave their fertilizer around instead of all piled up and stinky at the coop. It is better than true free range because the chickens are protected from predators and I get to place them where I want them rather than them just going wherever and possibly eating seedlings they shouldn't be eating. The dome is aesthetically more pleasing and being made from PVC means it is very light and easy to move around.  There is a youtube video of a tractor a man built that has plastic panels enclosing one side forming a shelted roosting area. I like that much better than the tarp-over-the-top idea.

I got the replacement plants from Direct Gardening so we had a lot of holes to dig yesterday. They made a mistake and set me a Hazelnut instead of a lilac but that is fine with me. That got planted up front at a corner of the property. I planted 6 rugosas, two pawpaws, 4 Hansen's bush cherries, and 6 dwarf cherry bushes. The cherry bushes were planted along the back border. The only thing not yet planted was the forsythias. I haven't quite figured out where I want to plant them. I can't plant them where I originally wanted them due to changes in property lines and the new plan for the berm/swale. Need to figure out where to put them and get them planted this week.

We also had a miracle come our way -- or coming our way. A retired Methodist preacher is going to build us a storage shed in exchange for the old camper. I've learned my lesson -- this time, I get the building before I give up the camper! Once burned, twice shy.

Deer Apples and Homestead Animals

Mother has been wanting to make and can apple sauce. She's been waiting with baited breath for the mountain apples to arrive at Holden Brothers. And, they have arrived...a variety of delicious apples all from the North Carolina Mountains. A box of them would be around $30. Not bad. But, not great. Then, I saw the sign that said "Deer Apples $10 per box". Deer apples?  We located the owner and she gave a few bewildering answers and then finally something that made sense--apples that have bruises. Ah, perfect! A mixed box of apples that are perfectly good with exception of a bruise or two. No problem. Now, mother can work on making apple sauce.

In my last post, I discussed some of the permaculture principles I want to incorporate into my little homestead. One of the cornerstones of my overall vision is livestock. Before we lost a chunk of our property, I had hoped to include dairy goats, miniatures, in the plan. But, with less space and after considering all the new factors we are dealing with, I've decided goats aren't a good choice for the Not Quite There Yet Homestead. Instead, we will focus on chickens, ducks, and rabbits.

Chickens: This is the quintessential first livestock accquisition for homesteaders. In fact, there may be a rule that one can not call oneself a homesteader without a few of these running around. If such a rule exists, we aren't officially a homestead yet. The chicken coop we had hoped to have this past Spring appears to have taken a wrong turn at the Green Swamp and gotten lost. Fortunately, our friend Captain Jeff does more than just take care of yachts, he also has chickens and shares the eggs they produce. I can't wait to have some cochins and some EasterEggers running around and laying brown and green and blue eggs. But, it isn't the color of the eggs that make chickens the first choice of permaculturist homesteaders. Chickens provide several benefits: eggs, meat, manure, pest control, turning compost, and entertainment. As long as you don't have a rooster, you shouldn't have issues with the neighbors.

Ducks: I've gone back and forth on whether to get ducks or not. They are messy and some breeds are noisy. And, I've never eaten duck. But, muscovies do offer benefits to the homestead: they make good weeders for the garden, eat their weight in mosquitoes and will also eat slugs and mice and even small snakes. Their meat is said to be of the taste and quality of grass-fed beef and leaner than other duck meat. They are also quite prolific which means you can raise enough for the freezer and have some to sell. I already have interested clients and I don't even have ducks yet! Muscovies are much quieter than other ducks, don't need ponds, and don't require much housing beyond a simple doghouse style shed to retreat into when foul weather arrives. I definitely want muscovies! (But, every homesteader has they duck breed that they feel particularly passionate about. They should be a duck for you if you look around.)

Rabbits: Another excellent livestock choice for the small homestead. A small breeding herd can produce a good amount of meat as well as the best most coveted manure with the exception of worm castings. And, if you put a vermiculture box under the rabbit cages, you will have black gold to enrich your gardens or sell at ridiculous prices to the rose growers in your area. You can also opt for a breed that produces wool and have yet another income stream or product for your homestead. I could go two different directions with breed choice: New Zealand or Silver Fox. New Zealands are plentiful and easy to get at cheap prices. Silver Fox is neither plentiful, easy to get, or cheap. But, Silver Fox is an endangered breed, is stunningly beautiful, and very efficient at creating meat. If I decide I want to get involved in going to breed shows, or simply want to raise meat with a rabbit that is docile and beautiful, it makes sense to go to the trouble of getting Silver Fox breeding stock. I'm definitely leaning in that direction.

These three choices of livestock serves the purpose of providing three sources of meat, two sources of manure, two sources of pest control, one source of weeding, two or more income stream options, and three sources of entertainment. While I will buy feed, the chickens and ducks will supplement through foraging and all three can help consume excess produce. This makes them excellent choices for a permaculture plan and for self-sufficiency in general.  All we need now is the required shelter...we just aren't quite there yet with the shelter. God will provide.