Fermenting feed

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Cowgirlmelo

Cowgirlmelo

In the Brooder
Apr 3, 2016
11
0
22
Moccasin , Montana
HI! ok so we are getting our new batch of babies around the 16th of may and ive never fermented feed before but i have read a lot on it and i just cant find much on giving it to chicks. does anyone know when is a good age to introduce it?
when they get older they will be free range and they have a lot of range, so i dont think i will have to give them a whole lot but a nice pick-nick when they get in to eat at night.

also does anyone know what a good age is to introduce them to my ducks? Thanks guys!!

Oh yeah also im just curious for next year, i know a broody hen can hatch ducklings but what about the other way around?
 
Last edited:
Hi Cowgirlmelo.

Welcome to BYC.

I have 2 sets of chicks. One is 2 weeks old and the other is 10 weeks. In both instances they were started on dry feed. I introduced small amounts starting a week ago for the 2 week olds. For the first few days they looked at it, in a different container, from far away. Once 1 chicken figured out it was food, the feast was on. This is how it went both times for me. After that I slowly took away the dry feed. They are all doing well, but keeping the shavings out is a pain (even in the little round chick feeder).

I know very little about ducks. But unless you are going to do the actual raising seems like the chick would be left out when she takes the ducklings in the water.

Good luck.
 
Chicks can be raised on fermented feed right from day one. My chicks take right to it. I've found, though, feeding it in a very small "sauce" cup works better than a container that allows them to wade around in it. I also make sure it is very thick so they can't drown in it. Yes, people on BYC have had that happen.

Ducklings raised by a broody hen is no problem, but chicks raised by a duck mom have drowned when she has taken them for their first "swim". The mothering instincts simply do not precisely match up, tragically.
 
Thank you both for your input!

Quote:
Yea i see how that could be a problem haha i guess i was thinking once they were hatched i would move them to a separate brooder so they wouldnt have the chance to go swimming, poor little guys.
Do you feel like they eat less of the fermented food then the dry food?
 
Cowgirlmelo said:
 
Do you feel like they eat less of the fermented food then the dry food?
Click to expand...


They certainly can't waste much of it, which was a big problem with the dry crumble. So, my feed bill did go down substantially with batches of chicks once I started fermenting the feed. I had one batch that had a bit of trouble getting the hang of eating it so I had to keep them on crumble for a week. Subsequent batches have done fine from day one. I feed it in one of those chick troughs with all the holes so they can't walk/drown in it.
 

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