Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds - Page 561

I do know that too much bread is not supposed to be good for chickens. I dry out my crusts and bread ends and then soak them in clabbered milk/whey and give to the birds, especially the meat birds and chicks. It has been traditional in france to fatten birds up on clabbered milk. and clabbered milk and bread seems to be good for lush feather production in juveniles and ; moulting birds. Certainly all my juveniles have very lush feathers! There is a good deal of concern that too much bread may lead to sour crop because of the simple starches present. So.... take that as you will? I certainly don't think it will hurt them to have some, but I personally don't think I'd make it a lot of their diet? of course, I only have 8 birds so a little goes a long ways. 

that cornmeal will be an amaing windfall! I wish I could find something like that here! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedRidge 

So how warm does the FF need to be kept over the winter?  hadn't thought about that, but guess I better.

You are all so useful on this thread... thanks!

It depends on the type of fermentation you are doing.  

I'm doing a yeast based fermentation.  If doing a yeast based fermentation, it then depends on what type of yeast colony you are using.  Some colonies prefer it in the low to mid 70s.  Some prefer it around 62-65.  I have found that if I go with 70 (ish - sometimes I drop down to the high sixties or jump to the low 70s), my fermentation keeps going well.  It seems to love 72.  I have a wild yeast colony in my current fermentation, so it took me a bit of time to find the sweet spot for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by echosrevenge 

One question I do have, though...husband's new job is at an organic bakery, and since they know they can't pay him what he's worth they've offered him all the day old bread he can haul as chicken feed. Its an all-sourdough bakery, how should I best handle this windfall? Mix it in to the FF? Feed it dry and just toss it in the yard? Its not moldy, just the "oops" cuts when they slice for their deli customers, and the occasional bit of day-old bread - the bakery doesn't sell the day olds, as the owner put it to my husband, "this is Maine - if we sold day olds, we'd never sell any fresh bread!" 

Welcome to the "end".   As for bread - as BlueMoose above stated, it's not good to feed chickens too much bread.  In part, it's sodium rich.  Unless you're making it at home or the bakery actually bakes their bread without salt (very, very unusual).  Add in the simple starches as BM mentioned...well, it's a great treat; but, not a good staple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by echosrevenge 

Ah! I remembered my other question from earlier too- someone mentioned not using wood or metal to stir the FF. I get not using metal other than stainless steel that doesn't sit in the bucket, but why the objection to wood? I whittled myself a nice big feed spurdle (rounded stick used to stir porridge on Scotland for centuries) the other night, and I quite enjoy using it. I used a nice stick of maple off our own land, and my husband just about peed himself laughing when he saw me knocking around a 30-gallon trash can with a huge knobby stick.

All I can imagine is that someone likes to leave the wood in the FF bucket....or lives in an environment that is not conducive to prompt drying...that would be a bad thing as it would encourage mold.  But, I use a big, old bit of wood to stir every day.  Have done for quite some time.  A good stir, tap tap, lean against the wall on my bucket shelf and it's good to go.  No muss no fuss.

As for using the whole grains in your FF - don't see any problem with that.  The fermentation will help break down some of the acids and such that make whole grains a bit of a no no for significant food choice.  It's one reason I love fermentation so much. 

I'm not sure about wood, but I had a cotton bathmat laid over the bucket, and in a storm it blew in to the mix. The hooch very rapidly ate a huge hole in the cotton.

I use a stainless steel strainer-spoon to stir and ladle out the mix, and I always rinse it well after contact.