Barley Fodder Setup

We have been asked some questions about our Barley Fodder setup included where we got our supplies from.

We have three metal shelving systems from Ikea called Broder. You can buy individual pieces of it to make it work for your situation.

We currently have four L-Foots, four posts, fifteen 47×23.5” shelves and fifteen large brackets. This is enough shelf space to hold 60 trays! 12 trays fit across and then there are 5 shelves.

The trays we pick up from our local garden center and they run about $2.00 each. They do not last very long because they are just plastic but if you are careful with them we get longer use out of them. I have just found the trays online for cheaper even with shipping through Greenhouse Megastore. I will be ordering them next month and see how they work out.

We punch about 6-8 holes down the 10” side of the tray so it drains evenly and in a controlled manner. The plan is to run a 4” pipe cut in half on the front of the bottom shelves so it drains into the collection bin. The collection bin is then pumped out into the garden area using a pond pump. This will eliminate the need for multiple collection bins under the shelves.

The collection bin is a 275 gallon food grade container that we picked up from craigslist. They usually run about $100. We cut it in half and use the top half as it fits in between the feet of the shelf system.

We purchase our barley seed from a seed company in Stockton, CA. We researched what businesses were selling it locally and then went to their wholesale distributer. It works out to be $22.00 for a 50lb bag. Make sure you are buying seed and not feed. You want “hulled barley” it means that it is unhulled, whole barley seeds that are equipped to sprout.

Right now we are watering 3 – 4 times a day with enough water to almost fill to the top of the tray. I use a water wand but I have a plan for an automatic set-up. It will involve a PVC tree on the left side of the shelving unit and 1/2” drip tubing going down each shelf. From there, I have a 1/4” line that come out from the 1/2” line for each tray. It is zip tied to the top of the shelf so it hits the tray correctly. The PVC tree is then hooked up to a water timer. You will have to adjust the timer based off of your flow rate, water pressure, etc.

This is a photo of our setup so far:

We still need to add the drainage pipe, take away all but the right hand collection bin and add the automatic watering system.

Hope this helps you to figure out a way to feed your animals good quality food for an unbelievably low price.

I will be doing another post about the cost of feeding our animals soon!

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail us or leave us a comment.