Fermenting Feed for Large Flock

Hi,
I guess i just don't get it, sigh. Why feed birds partially spoiled feed when one could feed them freshly sprouted oats instead? Both take the same amount of work. They only need 1 cubic inch of sprouts per adult bird per day.
Best,
Karen
 
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Hi,
I guess i just don't get it, sigh. Why feed birds partially spoiled feed when one could feed them freshly sprouted oats instead? Both take the same amount of work. They only need 1 cubic inch of sprouts per adult bird per day.
Best,
Karen
Karen. Do you eat yogurt? Do you consider yogurt to be partially spoiled? Or do you appreciate it for the product it is? Mainly milk that has the benefit of probiotic bacteria that make that product more easily digested, while giving your gut a healthy dose of probiotics to promote better health for you? Babies can easily digest yogurt, while milk often gives them difficulty. Do you eat any other fermented products? Cheese? Even cottage cheese? Old fashioned dill pickles, sour kraut? Same thing. The fermentation process enhances the nutrients, and in a lot of cases breaks down the anti-nutrient properties of the food. Fermentation has been used for both people food and animal feed for thousands of years. I've been feeding FF for 4 years, and my birds lay sooner and better and have better feather condition than my neighbors and friends flocks, who eat "fresh feed". My conversion rate for the last two bags of feed resulted in 29%, and 13% savings compared to giving dry feed. I was surprised at the difference between the 2 bags of feed. But, equate the increased consumption to the fact that my girls have just recently started laying again, so they were eating more feed with the last bag b/c of all of those gorgeous eggs, in spite of the cold weather. Takes more feed to make eggs and heat. Generally, I can plan on about 30% cost savings per bag, and this is with giving them as much as they will eat.

Are you saying that you feed nothing but sprouted oats to your birds? How long have you been doing so? I sprout for my birds in the winter, just started soaking my first batch of wheat last night. But, they get the sprouts in addition to their FF. With addition of sprouts, their FF consumption will also go down.
 
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Hi,
I guess i just don't get it, sigh. Why feed birds partially spoiled feed when one could feed them freshly sprouted oats instead? Both take the same amount of work. They only need 1 cubic inch of sprouts per adult bird per day.
Best,
Karen

Sprouts are good, if you don't have green forage.

Sprouts are in addition to a complete feed. Fermented feed is replacing one complete feed with another complete feed.

Fermented feed isn't spoiled, it is preserved, to put it simply.

Proteins become more bioavailable and the wetting eliminates waste of nutrients added in powder form.
Fermenting is also an easy way for me to add things like kelp to the feed because I can blend it in.

I ferment, sprout and feed dry.
I prefer barley for sprounting. but have done wheat, oats, buckwheat and sunflower seed.
 
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I got a good price on wheat this year. Just opened the bag last night, and the grains are beautiful. so... wheat it is! Looking forward to getting a nice deep compost going in the sunroom. Planning stage for finishing the compost bin area, and putting a green house tarp over it. When it heats up acceptably, I can simply do my sprouting in the compost for the girls. Win/win situation.

Thank you so much, Edible Acres. I've had sprouts in the compost before, but never to the deliberate extent that he is doing.

 
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So basically just mix equal parts of feed and water stirring occasionally for three days. Then I can feed out what I need before stirring. Then add equal parts feed and water back in, and stir it up?
 

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