I only have seven trays set up with drainage holes at this point, so this morning I moved Batch 1 into a non-draining tray, and gave it quite a bit of water to grow with. Set it on the ground in front of the soaking tray, where it would still get a good amount of exposure to the grow lights.
Handling that mass, however, and seeing how many wheat seeds failed to sprout well, convinced me to trial cutting down from a full pound of seed per tray. So, to experiment, Batch #9 is half a pound of seed, and soaking. I think I’ll have Batch #10 be three quarters of a pound, and compare sprouting density.
Batch #1 enjoyed having water available to it all day. While the weight increase wasn’t a full pound (after draining off excess), it did get significantly taller.
| Batch | Starting Weight | Weight | Day (of growth) |
| #1 | 1 lb | 5 lb 6 oz | 7 – fed today |
| #2 | 1 lb | 4 lb 4.3 oz | 6 |
| #3 | 1 lb | 3 lb 5.7 oz | 5 |
| #4 | 1 lb | 3 lb 0.6 oz | 4 |
| #5 | 1 lb | 2 lb 6.5 oz | 3 |
| #6 | 1 lb | 2 lb 7.0 oz | 2 |
| #7 | 1 lb | 2 lb 2.3 oz | 1 |
| #8 | 1 lb | 2 lb 4.6 oz | 0 – soak finished this morning |
| #9 | .5 lb | .5 lb | -1 – soaking |
I took the flat up to the run, and divvied it up into 12 squares. The rabbits haven’t been given much “fresh” food before, so I didn’t want to give them a lot. Some of the rabbits were like “huh, that’s interesting”, and others were “Uh, are you trying to trick me? Pellets, woman.”
So I’ll see how they act tomorrow, and how much is left (if any).
If this works out, I’ll need to do at least two of the flats per day. The chickens didn’t get any — they’ll clean up what falls down to the ground, I’m sure. I may try to sprout sunflower seeds, too, for the chickens specifically. That will be an expansion project, once I have a better handle on Phase 1.
Also replaced the circulating pump, but I think the lines are frozen. (So everyone got their non-watering system watering option refilled.) New pump has a large aquarium filter ziptied to it, to help keep the intake clear.
Eldest litter has been removed from their mother’s cage, and shifted into cage 2 of the new hutch. I need to look at the tattoo pen and figure it out before I mark up the kits to keep track of them. They are 60 days old today. Culling starts within the next 2-4 weeks. If I wait 4 weeks, the hides will be better for tanning, per my reading.
I have acquired more roofing panels to finish out the hutch. I’ll have to work on that tomorrow after work. It was dark, and snowing, when we got back from the hardware store.
Egg count: 5 – 3 blue, 2 brown. 1 day since last collection.