FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[CindyinSD]

Everything I've read about it says to keep it covered at least 1in over the grain with water

It doesn't have to be covered with water to ferment. Many ferments are wet, but much of the time this is a factor of the type of fermentation. For example, when fermenting pickles it's important to keep the veggies covered in water to prevent the growth of mold organisms. When fermenting bread dough (also a lactofermentation process) this is not a consideration.

I mix my feed to the consistency of a wet bread dough and never cover it with water. I ferment for a few hours to overnight. I can tell by the delicious aroma that my feed is fermenting; it smells a lot like rising bread (and it will actually rise, so be careful or you'll have a mess). It can warm up as well.

Fermenting for long periods of time in the absence of oxygen, in a fairly neutral pH, without sufficient salt can risk growth of organisms you do not want.

I do not put my fermented food in metal containers. It is acidic and can corrode the metals. Plastics are fine. Those rubber containers are fine, too.

I don't ferment feed much in the winter. A lot of days here, it is cold enough to freeze the feed before the birds can eat it, so I give them dry feed.

 

[Molpet]

Fermenting for long periods of time in the absence of oxygen, in a fairly neutral pH, without sufficient salt can risk growth of organisms you do not want.

I always wondered about botulism with the cover with water method.

I don't ferment feed much in the winter. A lot of days here, it is cold enough to freeze the feed before the birds can eat it, so I give them dry feed.

I'm retired and feed just a little more than they will eat before freezing...then bring FF when I am collecting eggs every few hours in the winter

 

[RebeccaRN]

I ferment in a glass container and use it on day 3 then start over. I guess everyone has to do what works best for them. Its great that there are so many ways to do and get the same results

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

I have fermented scratch before. The chickens loved it, but I kept forgetting to stir it.

 

[CindyinSD]

I have fermented scratch before. The chickens loved it, but I kept forgetting to stir it.

I don't stir mine. I fill the 5 gal bucket around halfway and slowly pour the food in. when the dry feed starts peeking over the water level, I stir it in a bit then adjust feed:water until I'm happy. If you use commercial feed it's better (for me) to leave it a little on the wet side. It thickens as it sits.

 

[CrisAnderson27]

I don't stir mine. I fill the 5 gal bucket around halfway and slowly pour the food in. when the dry feed starts peeking over the water level, I stir it in a bit then adjust feed:water until I'm happy. If you use commercial feed it's better (for me) to leave it a little on the wet side. It thickens as it sits.

This.

I've been using the same bucket of fermented feed (backsplashing) since about...April? May? I started with fermented crumble, but around June I started to mix and ferment my own 20% protein grain based feed with extras including calf manna and other additions. Roughly 1 cup feed is 400 calories. I feed 38 birds ranging from 15wks to a year old, and 6 birds at 10wks.

One 5 gallon bucket, full to within a few inches of the top...lasts me roughly two days. My mix is fairly dry (50% water/feed, allowed to ferment overnight). Basically on the night of day two I look at how much feed is left, and fill the bucket half the distance remaining to the top. Stir it, and mix in my feed mix in a roughly equal amount. Sometimes its more wet. Sometimes less. As long as the grain has visible moisture at the top its good.

When I first started it felt like I HAD to get it perfect. The lack of a specific recipe bugged me. But in doing it a few months with both types of feed I quickly realized it just doesn't matter that much. As long as the birds are getting an appropriate amount and correct nutrition the actual consistency doesn't make a huge difference.

 

[centralcaligirl]

As long as the birds are getting an appropriate amount and correct nutrition the actual consistency doesn't make a huge difference.

Well said.

 

[CindyinSD]

This.

I've been using the same bucket of fermented feed (backsplashing) since about...April? May? I started with fermented crumble, but around June I started to mix and ferment my own 20% protein grain based feed with extras including calf manna and other additions. Roughly 1 cup feed is 400 calories. I feed 38 birds ranging from 15wks to a year old, and 6 birds at 10wks.

One 5 gallon bucket, full to within a few inches of the top...lasts me roughly two days. My mix is fairly dry (50% water/feed, allowed to ferment overnight). Basically on the night of day two I look at how much feed is left, and fill the bucket half the distance remaining to the top. Stir it, and mix in my feed mix in a roughly equal amount. Sometimes its more wet. Sometimes less. As long as the grain has visible moisture at the top its good.

When I first started it felt like I HAD to get it perfect. The lack of a specific recipe bugged me. But in doing it a few months with both types of feed I quickly realized it just doesn't matter that much. As long as the birds are getting an appropriate amount and correct nutrition the actual consistency doesn't make a huge difference.

Would you be willing to share your feed recipe, Chris?

 

[CrisAnderson27]

Would you be willing to share your feed recipe, Chris?

Sure


5 gallons of this feed mix is two days worth of feed, with one day left over for backsplash...for:
1 - 14mo Ayam Cemani
4 - 25wk Cornish X (these are laying birds)
20 - 25wk Barred Rocks
3 - 19wk French Toulouse Geese (it's a supplement for them, they mostly eat grass)
6 - 15wk BBS Ameraucana
5 - 13wk Ayam Cemani
6 - 10wk BBS Ameraucana

45 birds (sorry for miscounting and stating 38 above lol)


1 part Soybean meal (47% protein...different feed mills have varying levels of protein in their soybean meal)
1 part Whole Wheat
1 part Whole Oats
1 part Corn (cracked or shell is fine, sometimes if I'm in a pinch I'll sub a quality scratch for this...corn is cheaper)
0.3 part Calf Manna (a little over 1/4 part)
0.3 part Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
1 cup vita-pack (not all feed mills/co-ops have this...it's fine without it)

Protein/lb - 20.13%
Calories/lb - 1608cal (1/4lb per bird will give sufficient calories for most birds...I supplement with dry mixed feed as scratch, food scraps from my kitchen, etc)
Price/lb - $0.26
Price/50lb - $13.00

You can add any vitamin mix that is safe for chickens. Vitamin E is always good, as is vitamin B complex. I add 2 500mg capsules niacin per remix...because my geese eat directly out of the bucket all day for 2 days out of 3. You can also add things like blackstrap molasses etc...just watch caloric content. But the base mix above is good enough to get by on. I use this feed year round without much amendment.

I told my local feed mill it costs me $12/bag to mix myself...they offered to mix it for $13/bag...so I'm dead even and only have to drive to the mill to pick it up lol...which is better than driving to five mills to buy the individual ingredients at the best pricing.

Hope that helps. This feed mix is working wonderfully for my birds....but you should definitely do your own research. Also, if you decide to use this you should gradually switch (75% crumble or pellet, 25% grain the first week, 50%/50% the second, 25%/75% the third...etc). My chickens seem pretty resilient...but I have heard of people having issues when they switch from crumble to grain based feed. I don't know if there's any actual correlation there, nor what their overall setup is like. But mine absolutely freaking love it.

 

[CrisAnderson27]