Gave my horse her first hydroponic home made biscuit today!

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SCMSL

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I have been making hydroponic fodder for my horse at home and today I gave her her first biscuit. She loved it! I was so happy for her :)

She'll be getting a biscuit (about 6kg) everyday as a treat, before riding.

She is ulcer prone but won't eat alfalfa before riding so this way I make sure she has something in her tummy before I hop on.

Here's the vid :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=659737914053301&set=vb.100000512946047&type=2&theater
 
Ah boo, can't see the vid, was looking forward to seeing a happy munching horse and the homemade biccies :(

What did you make them from?
 
Should work now!

Rebels, a biscuit is what you call a tray of hydroponic forage.

I made it with 80:20 barley and timothy.
 
Oooh I was expecting a dry block type thing but wow! That looks so lush even I want to take a bite! :D She really looks like she's enjoying that, well done you! :D
 
Noup, managed to set a home system - invested 25€ in total and am producing one biscuit a day. Total cost of production with seeds and water and everything is averaging 16 cents, so pretty cheap!
 
Interesting! I have never seen/heard of that and am very curious! How long does it take to produce one biscuit? Do you have to buy special seed in? How is it supported if there is no soil?

It does look yummy :)
 
Oooh how cool! Pls excuse my ignorance, but is that just a patch of specially grown grass? She is loving it in the vid - proper little lawnmower! :D
 
A biscuit takes 7 days to grow from seed to fodder. You just need the correct moisture and temperature and nothing else, since for those 7 days the seed itself has everything the plant needs to develop. I start a tray everyday so I have a tray available for her everyday too.

I buy regular barley and timothy from the feed store. One kg of seed produces 7kg of fodder.

Its great because considering its grass, its very high energy (11,5MJ/kg) and has a lot less starch and sugar than if feeding the grain directly, since they are consumed to produce the fodder.

As to how I make it, lets see if I can put it in writing!

You basically buy those see through storage boxes, drill as many tiny holes as you can on the bottom and a few big ones on the sides, and then stack them up. On the bottom I have a box without any holes

Then the seed. You basically soak them for 20h and then put them on a tray. I have the trays stacked in such a way that I just need to water the first one and it sips through watering all the levels and the excess water accumulates in the final bin.

I use the water in the final bin to water the system the next day - thus saving water and enriching the fodder with the nutrients lost during the watering.

I have the system set up on my bathroom which I found had the perfect temperature for this sort of stuff. The window just needs to be slightly open since it does smell a lot of barley!

Don't know if I made myself clear :P
 
Sure, I'll take plenty of pics tomorrow! :D

Ideal temperature is around 18ºc, colder and it won't develop properly, warmer and the seeds will ferment.
 
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