Sprouts

The baby peeps are huge!  

And cute!  

But, meanwhile back at the ranch...

My experiment with sprouting sunflower seeds for the Team was mostly a success. The seeds sprouted nicely.  

But as far as the Team is concerned, the jury is still out on how yummy the sprouts are. They love sunflower seeds but are now disconcerted by the things growing out of them. They try to separate sprout from seed and only eat the seed part. Hopefully, they'll get it figured out. 

(UPDATE: they eventually ate all of the sprouts. So I guess they decided it tasted "yummy".

Sprouting is a very efficient way to grow food for the Team. One pound of sunflower seeds yields two to three pounds of sprouts in about a week. Not a bad return!

I use this old tub that used to have a mineral supplement for the horses as my sprouting container.  

Soak the seeds overnight, then drain off the water.  

Cover the wet seeds with something...newspaper or a lid. Then check it every few days to see if it's looking dry. If so, add enough water to keep the seeds moist but not so much water that the seeds are floating.

When the sprouts are about an inch long you can feed them to the chickens. 

Or, you can uncover them and put them in a sunny place for another few days. This will allow the sprouts to grow bigger and get green. 

If temperatures are chilly, the seeds take a lot longer to sprout. Be patient! 

One note of caution, I have heard that some sunflower seed has been treated with something that prevents sprouting. I think that's the variety used in bird feeders. Just to be certain, read the bag before you buy any that you intend to sprout.

Have you tried sprouting seeds to feed to your flock? What seeds? How did it turn out?