This tutorial of how to build a low cost livestock fodder growing system is detailed in a step by step instructions and tons of pictures. Chickens, goats, rabbits and other homestead livestock animals will love this delicious fresh addition to their diet.

When raising animals on your small homestead, you may have come across one aspect already that can put a dent into any budget: the fodder for your animals. Feeding animals, especially livestock, can be quite expensive, but there is great news for those who want to save some money and provide their animals with feed that will make their animals happy and keep them healthy.

With a simple makeshift home fodder system, you can help save some serious money each month as well as have plenty of fodder for your chickens, goats, and other animals. The system that is described below is one that is so easy to set up and does not require much in the way of start-up costs.

While you will have some monthly costs in terms of buying new seeds and some other materials, it will be considerably less expensive than buying fodder and feed prepackaged in the store. So, what do you need to create this at-home system for fodder?

Well, you will need some sprouting tubs, which can be some small plastic tubs that you can find in a dollar store, as well as a plastic cutting board, seedling trays, high and low dome lids, and some sort of shelving system that works for the area where you will place your fodder system. With everything added up, you shouldn’t spend more than $75 to make this at-home fodder system. You can choose the seeds and grains that appeal to your animals the most, such as barley. You’ll find that your animals will love the fresh food each morning.

Commonly used grains for fodder are barley, wheat, and whole oats. Barley, which is the easiest to grow, has a crude protein percentage of 12.7 percent and a crude fiber percentage of 5.4 percent as a seed. These percentages jump to a crude protein percentage of 15.5 percent and a crude fiber percentage of 14.1 percent after an average of seven days of sprouting. By sprouting, the digestibility of the grain increases from 40 percent to 80 percent so livestock will not need to consume as much fodder compared to commercial feed because they are obtaining more nutrition from a smaller volume of feed.

Click here to read about how to build a low cost livestock fodder growing system:

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