Using Bacteria to generate hydroponic nutrient

[Bidadisndat]

Laurie, those thumbnails look great, and you seem to have a good organistaion going in your neck of the woods. Are you able to offer us any tips based on how your fodder operation works - especially in regards to controlling mould?
......Bid...

[Laurie]

Hi Bid......
What are you going to feed the fodder too. Cattle ????

Let me know & I might be able to answer your question.

Laurie.

www.geelonghydroponicgardening.com

[GaryD]

Hi Laurie,

Growing fodder is a very simple process. The dearest part is the grain you're going to grow. As for the 'mould' situation, this is easy to overcome, if you know what your doing. It only takes 7 days to grow & it is soon devoured by whatever you're feeding it to.

So, tell us more......

Gary

[Bidadisndat]

Short reply, Laurie: Alpacas and Irish Dexters.

Rambling reply: () We are on 2·2 acres, though the council has taken the ·2 for an easement, on which they have dug a drainage canal, with an access strip beside it. As they never use the acces strip I am planting it out to lucerne, along with the strips that run along the rear of the neighbour's properties on both sides of us. This will give me about a half acre of lucerne, which I hopefully will be able to scythe twice a year. The neighbour on one side has also offered me the use of an unused acre at the back of his property, so I have two acres that I can devote some critters. We currently have some poultry and one Boer Goat and I'd like to get two alpacas on our block, and two Irish Dexters which would would go on the acre next door. We get more than adequate rainfall most of the year and grass grows well, though it does get a bit lean in winter. I have to fence that part of the neighbour's property that will hold the Dexters, so I'm installing the 'edible fencing' that I've previously written about.
Our intention is to move to a larger property when our daughters finish High School in three years time, but I want to get some experience with the alpacas and Dexters before we do.
Any advice will be appreciated.
......Bid...

[Laurie]

Going fodder. There are a few things that you can call 'fodder' eg. some bird breeders grow sprouted seeds & some for other livestock. I'll just keep it to livestock, as Bid. has a couple of cattle. The best grain to grow is barley, it only takes 7 days. Day 0ne, the bailey needs to be soaked overnight in water, & the main thing to do is to add 'chlorine' in the water, this will stop the 'mould' 'bacteria'. If the grain is NOT soaked in the chlorine solution, the cattle can get 'ASPERGILLUS' which can be fatal. Google ' Aspergillus in cattle' or it could be called aspergillosis.
A cheaper way to grow your grain is in kitty litter trays, drill 6 x 6mm. holes, one in each corner & in the middle of the long sides. These need to be placed on a sloping wire mesh shelf, all depends on how many trays you want, but you will need enough for 7 days, eg. 2 trays a day = 14 trays.
The first 2 days you spray them with a weak nutrient solution, using a timer, then the rest of the remaining days, just plain water. The water run-off can be saved if your set-up is built properly eg. sloping floor or channels. This can be recycled. Hope this is of some help.
Laurie.
www.geelonghydroponicgardening.com

[Bidadisndat]

Thanks for the reply Laurie.
I also found quite a bit of useful information on the topic here: http://www.hydrocentre.com.au/fodder/questions.htm

BTW, I haven't purchased the cattle yet - Got to get the fencing organised first - but eventually want to get a couple of standard, (long legged), red cows, with perhaps one in calf.

[GaryD]

Hi Laurie,

While I'm appreciative of your efforts, I'm not sure that you would get out of it that easily in Queensland.

The link that Bid has posted chronicles the efforts of many people who have tried to grow it and, sooner or later, mould has beaten them all......chlorine or not.

As I indicated earlier, I think the answer lies in disinfection coupled with precise temperature control.

If I lived in a drier climate, I'd certainly be growing hydro fodder. If I could integrate enough systems to rationalise air conditioning (read temperature and humidity control) I might still give it go up here.

In the meantime, I think it's still worth growing sprouts for micro-livestock.

Gary

[Laurie]

Looks like my 34 years experience with hydroponics counts for nothing. Everytime I try to help, I get shot down by so called "experts" I'm not after the glory or trying to big note myself. I give up. Wastes my time of trying to help. I am NOT on an ego trip, as it seems that is defind to northeners.

[GaryD]

Hi Laurie,

Looks like my 34 years experience with hydroponics counts for nothing.

For as much as you attempt to share your experience, it is valued.

Everytime I try to help, I get shot down by so called "experts" I'm not after the glory or trying to big note myself. I give up. Wastes my time of trying to help. I am NOT on an ego trip, as it seems that is defind to northeners.

Since when did asking questions or seeking clarification amount to shooting you down......and since when was your experience any more valuable than that of others.

We encourage debate and discussion around food production issues here.

Unfortunately, when some people run out of answers, they resort to personal attacks. Feel free to correct me if I have that wrong.

Gary

[arthoz]

This looks interesting. I am looking for a good source of fodder for my sheep though I think duckweed is good enough or as what is popular in malaysia is the use of sweetcorn or any grass leaves sprayed with water and sealed in an airtight barrel (some sort of brewing the leaves--not sure how to translate it into english--they called it silaj--you can keep high nutritious fodder for up to years in storage and this has become quite an industry in malaysia with support from the ministry of agriculture--good way to process aquaponics plant refuse).

At the moment I'm studying on mushroom cultivation and I came across the idea of using hydrogen peroxide that could make the innoculation and spawning process much easier without using high tech containment are and sanitary but with low risk of bacteria or mould contamination. You can find the documents here: http://www.thenook.org/archives/tek/Volume1.html

Read it first before coming into any conclusion. I know I did. It is very wordy but facinatingly useful. Maybe Gary could find it to be useful in regard of mould problems...

As for Laurie, I'm sorry if he's upset but people should not look at disagreement as a cause for friction and anger. We all know something but nobody knows everything. Knowledge will always grow, becoming evolve or it could even revolt against any principle people thought was set in stone. This forum has become quite "international" and any system that works in one region and seemed like pure genius...in another region would be laughed at and look upon as a waste. (Some people could be very insulted if I put an example here so lets just leave it at that)

People change (their needs, their tastes, their health, lifestyles...), the climate will change, even government policy could change causing disruption on an ecological and environmental level rendering "old" pratices obsolete. I could elaborate on this all day long but suffice to say, years of experience may not be enough in face of unforeseen change unless one is willing to share it collectively so that it may be further refined without any personal bias. Are we not a global community?