Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I know this not a F. A. Q. but has any of you tried this or have any experence. If I could graw alot of my exta feed it would of great help. Thinks jerryandjuliel

Yep. I tried sprouting oats and barley and gave it to my sheep and they sniffed them but just would not eat them. At the time there was plenty of other green feed around, but all the same I was very surprised.

I was only thinking this morning that I should try it again, now there is no green feed around.

A bloke I am told about 100kms away sprouts grain (not sure prolly oats) using hydroponics and feeds his cattle feedlot. His figures estimate a 7x increase in feed value over just grain. It has been a must visit for some time now!! Ho hum.

Google "fodder sheds"...

There has been discussion of this before... see here for some links and pics...

viewtopic.php?p=167605#p167605

Make sure you read the facts from a reliable site ....., gov or maybe large agri business research.

The internet is FULL of Cods-wallop , and so called "facts" from the sellers of these units are EXTREMELY suspect.

Statements such as 700% increase in feed from sprouting need to be looked at carefully ..... in fact they are bull-s***

I suggest maybe 700% consists of the original 100% seed plus 600% WATER
From what i read , the only people making money from this system are the guys selling them.

You buy and sell hay and silage on a dry matter basis. But nobody seams to know about dry matter. You are about right. You increse weight but how much is water. If any ideas let me know. If it looks to good to be true it more than likely is. Thinks Jerrry

I found a full scientific study on these done here in Aus. Qualified researchers on a small budget of $10,000 supplied by a large meat growing co-op. It was extremely extensive and a LONG read. I'll take a look again and post it .

Here it is ..... like I said it's an extensive report.
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/files/48/2 ... fodder.pdf

Chappo,

I would hazard that anyone on this forum who has successfully designed, constructed and operated an AP system could crank out their own green feed production system in a heartbeat. Run a short test and work the numbers whether its worth it or not.

Sprouts have been shown to have higher values in certain vitamin complexes than just the raw seed. I have not seen any docs as to whether sprouting affects the overall caloric value of the spouts vs seed. Will read your link with some interest.

I am unsure about other grains but brown rice sprouted contain more amino acids and other beneficial chemicals. See Gaba or Gbr. Whether its worth doing is another matter

Sprouted grain is as you say very uninteresting for livestock, However,,,
I worked with an international group that was growing very large rabbits.
I manufactured a set of plastic trays very similar to the grow beds and these were on a system that stacked them.
Each bed was filled with wheat, barley, oats and / or a mixture of seeds and they were loaded into a rack.
They had an automatic watering system (hydroponics) that wet the grain and it sprouted and grew to a plant approx 150mm high.
This product was then fed to the rabbits with astounding growth.
Some farmers in NSW have used a similar system to feed cattle very successfully (Landline Program three years ago approx.)
Aquaponics would most likely work very well in this format as the grains concerned love the excess nitrogen it produces but maybe not the flood and drain technique as the roots would rot and smell.
It might need a drain tray system under the main tray or something.
You would need to study this further,
Gav

I saw the same Land line show ..... I believe a few years later they did a follow-up showing the truth ( WASTE of money).
Astounding growth , by who's assessment? And was it measured against other feeds etc. Facts are what people need to assess a system , mere hear-say should be ignored.

Chappo

I assume we are talking about sprouting ie malting and not growing ie small plants. If this is the case, with a few exceptions, these are nutritionally better in terms of vitamin B etc and various enzymes (one of which assists in the breakdown of starch to sugar).

Whether it is economically worthwhile to do with the extra time. labour and capital expense involved is debatable.