Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds - Page 34

Excellent news!  I can't wait to see how everyone's birds all come out and if the weights and the feed use/costs are such that it makes a clear statement on the efficacy of the FF.  I'm also interested if anyone notices any improved flavor, juiciness or tenderness in their birds. 
 

Instead of drilling holes in a second bucket you could use a plastic colander like I do.  I have a colander that fits over the top of a second bucket so I can just pour the contents from the first right through. 

My bucket system was frustrating me since I was losing a lot of the grower mash through the holes so I picked up a 6" mesh strainer and put a nylon footie over it and sewed it on with dental floss to keep the mash from draining through and it works great!!!!!!!!  It took less than 5 minutes to strain and feed my 17- 9 week old non-meatie LF's.

Just got confirmation that my poultry fence has shipped. I see meaties free ranging in my near future!!

I think a colander would work great unless you are feeding a large number of birds. Me personally, I don't want to spend the time to drain one colander at a time. I just lift my bucket out of the ferment water and go about doing the other chores while it drains. Doesn't take very long and I am mixing grain with my flock raiser.

I mixed 50# of whole wheat, 50# of rolled barley, 50# of oats and 25# of cracked corn. Out of that I take out 3 scoops and then 3 scoops of flock raiser to ferment and that makes enough feed for about 2 or 3 days worth. I am currently feeding in three 2' x 3" x 2" trough feeders and will fill them in the morning and again at about 5 or 6 PM but in the evening I only fill two of them up because they usually have some left in the third tray. By morning...they are all empty.

You are correct, I only fill 3 bread pans an inch deep twice a day so the collander works great.  Waiting for a whole bucket to drain for the small amount of feed I'm using was crazy but once my meaties arrive and add to the feed needed, I'll probably switch back

when i start mine, i'm going to use a colander i think.  i too have just a few birds.  i have all the ingredients - i just haven't started it yet - no good reason.  gotta get er done.

Ok. Up-date. The active dry yeast cultures apparently pack quite a punch, that or I got a VERY good set. Just checked on my bucket and not only were their bubbles it was like watching a coke fizz, almost frothy, and had a VERY nice Alcohol-APC smell going. I was, however, a bit dismayed at how much my mix swelled AFTER the yeast started working. Out of a combination of curiosity and need to prevent a "boil-over" I grabbed a couple of greek yogurt cups that I use for treat dishes and scooped out a bout 1/3 a cup for each brooder and offered it. I regularly give my chicks oats, crumbles, and/or whatever other chopped fruit and vegitables are handy mixed in with yogurt, so they are used to eating porridge/gruel. They had recently eaten half of teir nightly ration so they didn't really attack it but when I left them there were 5 or 6 birds per brooder happily sucking it down. I don't think I'll have any trouble converting them over ;) lol.  Now I can worry about getting me a strainer to dip it with so they don't have to eat glop at every meal and I might be set. Until I start up a 5 gallon bucket arrangement.

PS, THREE hours, that's all it took to get enough yeast action going to with my dry starter. Will see what it's done by tomorrow morning.

OMG!!!!! That last post was number 150! I just graduated! Yay :D