Growing fodder for your chickens can reduce your chicken feed bill and give them a healthy nutritional boost. You can grow fodder for chickens, rabbits, and other livestock animals. Growing your own fodder is simple to do. See our Step by Step Instructions on how to grow fodder and our Featured Video on how to grow it. Fodder is sprouts grown from seeds (wheat, barley, oats, etc.) that can be used to supplement the feed you are using by supplying an added nutrient boost. Growing your own fodder can lower your feed bill, keep your chickens healthier, is easy to do,  and it is part of a more sustainable lifestyle. Scroll down to see types of seeds you can use for fodder, things you will need, and step by step instructions on how to grow it.

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List of things you will need to grow fodder

• Growing trays with drainage holes (you can buy these or make your own)
• Seeds (make sure they are feed grade, pasture seed, or field run, whole grain and untreated)
• Water
• Bucket or jar-to soak seeds in for 24 hours
• Shelves or racks to put trays on
• Drain tray (without holes) to catch the water at the bottom of your racks.
• Box cutter to cut the finished fodder into sections
• Submersible pump (to reuse water) (optional)

Scroll down to see step by step instructions to grow fodder

Seeds You Can Use for Fodder

The most commonly used unhulled seeds used for chicken, rabbits, and other animals fodder are:

• Barley seeds-Not only do chickens, rabbits and other livestock love to eat barley fodder but it looks like grass, sprouts quickly, and makes a great looking edible lawn to cover those bare patches where your birds and animals have eaten and trampled your lawn and weeds away. 
• Millet
• Wheat berries-Wheat grass has over 50 health benefits for human, it has multiple healing properties,  so you can just imagine how good it is for your chickens.
• Sorghum
• Sunflowers
• Milo
• Oats-Whole Oat Grain is perfect for grinding into flour, sprouting, food storage, animal feed & more. 
• Legumes
• Beets
• Corn. 
• Alfalfa
• Clover
• Annual rye
• Kale (and its close relative, rape)
• Turnips
• Mustard
• Buckwheat
• Grain grasses can be used as fodder or for grazing.

We have even used scratch grains and wild bird feed for fodder in a pinch and the chickens love it! However, the cracked corn used in scratch will not grow so we do not recommend using scratch. Using organic, chemical free seeds is much healthier and safer for your chickens and our environment.

Step by Step Instructions to Grow Fodder

1. Put seeds in bucket
2. Fill bucket with lukewarm water until it covers the seeds 
3. Let sit 12-24 hours
4.  The next day pour off the water
5. Spread soaked seeds in growing trays
6. Place trays on racks
7. Place a tray with no holes at the bottom to catch the water because the growing trays have drainage holes.
8. Once or twice a day pour water in the top trays and let it filter down to the drain tray. (Mist as needed)
9.  Cut and serve
After the fodder has grown about 3-5 inches it is ready to be cut into sections and used as feed. It is a good idea to start a few new trays each day so you do not run out of the fodder.
Note: Foddering seed has a very strong odor while the seeds are fermenting. You may want to do this in a greenhouse, shed, garage rather than inside your house.
Planting in soil
If you decide to grow your fodder in soil outdoors, make sure you grow your seeds in a garden make sure that there is netting or fencing around it so that the chickens do not get to them before they have a chance to grow. If you use chicken feces for fertilizer in your soil you should compost it first and wait 120 days before using it as fertilizer.

Featured Video: How to Build a Fodder System for Chickens, Rabbits Or Ducks for $30 Dollars

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Reference: Ussery Harvey. Mother Earth News. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/sites/default/files/grow_your_own_poultry_feed.pdf