We should be receiving a ton or so each of the following:
- Organic Dried Field Peas
- Organic Whole Wheat Berries for sprouting
- Organic Whole Rye Berries for sprouting
- Grub Growing system
Still waiting for delivery:
- Soy-free complete organic poultry feed
- Soy-free complete organic hog feed
If you have been following this project, you will notice the sudden addition of "grubs" to the menu. We have been looking for a reasonably pleasant way to grow insects for the poultry (chickens and turkeys) and finally found one worth trying. You can take a look at it here. This little device is supposed to be the easiest, odor free, maintenance free manner in which to grow grubs. the grubs are an excellent source of protein for any animals that are omnivores (chickens, turkeys, hogs, etc) The process is simple, you place kitchen scraps into the unit each day, and a collection of grubs clean and ready to eat show up in the collection tray for use. Sounds easy enough! The challenge here will be keeping it warm enough in the winter to produce year round. I'm thinking of trying it inside the greenhouse. The grubs themselves create heat as the live and eat, so that will help the greenhouse stay warm. At the same time the greenhouse will buffer the cold nights so that the grubs stay active. If this experiment works we will expand to several producers so that we can have a constant natural protein supply for the poultry and perhaps even the hogs. That would make it even easier to go soy free since soy is added to feed specifically for the protein content.
The grub of choice is the black soldier fly.
For the sprouting I have settled on a system of plastic 40 gallon trash cans in the barn, sitting on a greenhouse heat pads. I plan on adding about 20 lbs of grains per day to a can and covering them with water. A cycle like this:
Day 1 - 20 lbs wheat in can 1, 20 lbs rye in can 2 : add water
Day 2 - 20 lbs wheat in can 3, 20 lbs rye in can 4 - add water : stir cans 1&2
Day 3 - 20 lbs wheat in can 5, 20 lbs rye in can 6 - add water : stir cans 1, 2, 3, 4
Continue this cycle for as many days as required to achieve level of sprouting desired. Once that happens, the oldest 2 cans are dumped in the open pig feed buckets, cans rinsed clean, and rotated back into service. This way we have a steady supply of whole sprouted grains. The total feed consumption of the hogs is about 7-8 lbs per day, so adding 40 lbs of grains amounts to about 1/3 to 1/4 of their total feed intake (on average of 20 hogs being fed)
The complete feed formulations should be arriving soon, but no delivery date set yet.
Exciting days at Little Sprouts!
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