FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

So I have 80 chicks ranging from a week old to 6 weeks. I give unmedicated chick crumble. They waste a ton and it is driving me nuts. I don't know how much feed to put in and how much water??? I'm confused on how to make this? Also can I use a five gallon Home Depot bucket? Do I cover it? I keep reading that people cover it and leave it but then some people keep adding more feed... Why? Also is it only good for one day and you have to toss out what you don't use that day?

If you read the last 20 or so pages of this thread these questions will be answered with some detail and helpful examples. There is also a link to a website where someone has answered a lot of the more common questions.

 

[LindaB220]

So I have 80 chicks ranging from a week old to 6 weeks. I give unmedicated chick crumble. They waste a ton and it is driving me nuts. I don't know how much feed to put in and how much water??? I'm confused on how to make this? Also can I use a five gallon Home Depot bucket? Do I cover it? I keep reading that people cover it and leave it but then some people keep adding more feed... Why? Also is it only good for one day and you have to toss out what you don't use that day?

Here you go, the best way to do it.

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[wonkyflock14]

Many different things are produced when you ferment chicken food. One of the things produced is Penicillin. There is even a chicken disease recognized as being caused by Penicillin. This disease is closely related to Aspergillus another chicken disease caused by moldy or improperly fermented food.. Penicillin is an anti-biotic and like all anti-biotics Penicillin kills the good bacteria living in a chicken's stomach.
If Penicillin failed to kill gut bacteria Penicillin would be useless for treating other poultry bacterial diseases.

Your bird needs this bacteria to digest its food. I am sorry but the bacteria found in yogurt is not the same as the natural or native bacteria living in a chicken's gut. The undigested grains in the poop make me suspicious of the chicken's diet. So why didn't the crop produce the right enzymes to break the grains down before they entered the gizzard? Why did the gizzard fail to grind the grains down so that the rest of the digestive system could properly process them? There are what looks like grains of barley passing through your hen's gut that looks like they are completely undigested. I can't even discount that the yellow mass isn't a partially digested grain of feed corn. The size shape and color are certainly correct for yellow dent corn.

So chickengeorgeto, do you feed FF? If so, how do you make sure that you are fermenting properly and in a way that doesn't produce Penicillin in the feed? I want to do what is best for my chickens, not unintentionally endanger them!

 

[momofthehouse]

Leslie I have been reading and I also have a family of five and a full farm. Most people aren't saying how much feed for the amount of chicks I have. I asked questions that i felt weren't answered completely.


Thanks to everyone else for clarifying.

 

[momofthehouse]

So chickengeorgeto, do you feed FF? If so, how do you make sure that you are fermenting properly and in a way that doesn't produce Penicillin in the feed? I want to do what is best for my chickens, not unintentionally endanger them!

And this is why I am asking questions... How do I know I did it right and didn't just create some toxin for my chickens ?!?!

 

[LindaB220]

And this is why I am asking questions... How do I know I did it right and didn't just create some toxin for my chickens ?!?!

Go back up a couple of posts and see my post. That is a Fermented Feed Fact page for all your questions. I have 15 11 week olds. I feed 4 c am and pm. So about 1/2 c daily for my girls. Also, if I have a lot of leftovers I mince up and feed in pm and put out just a little FF. Hope this helps. I don't have any qualms or worries about penicillin overdose or whatever. Fermented feed is the best discovery I EVER made on this forum. Thousands of people are doing it successfully. Don't pay attention to the naysayers. IMO

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Leslie I have been reading and I also have a family of five and a full farm. Most people aren't saying how much feed for the amount of chicks I have. I asked questions that i felt weren't answered completely.


Thanks to everyone else for clarifying.

I understand. I'm sure we are all busy here. Reading is much faster than typing is -- there are a lot of very good answers to the question of "how much" ... even in the past 20 pages of this thread. It's a very popular question with no one answer (I learned that the hard way myself!). My comment was meant to help you find a good set of helpful answers the fastest way possible for everyone. There really is no substitute to reading through this great thread for info.

I wish I knew a good way to suggest people read a few pages of this thread without making them upset.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

I understand. I'm sure we are all busy here. Reading is much faster than typing is -- there are a lot of very good answers to the question of "how much" ... even in the past 20 pages of this thread. It's a very popular question with no one answer (I learned that the hard way myself!). My comment was meant to help you find a good set of helpful answers the fastest way possible for everyone. There really is no substitute to reading through this great thread for info.

I wish I knew a good way to suggest people read a few pages of this thread without making them upset.

Don't worry about people getting upset. If they have a question and someone on here takes the time to answer it then that's great. If the individual asking the question needs to read back some pages to find the answer and gets upset about it, I say oh well. Too bad for them, they can either read or get over it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

And this is why I am asking questions... How do I know I did it right and didn't just create some toxin for my chickens ?!?!

Unless that poster comes back with some additional info to add to that statement, I'd consider that post to be a little on the alarmist side. I've been doing lots of research on the benefits of fermented grains ... traditional methods, etc. ... and that "problem" has not surfaced in my research. But I'll certainly do some digging into it myself.

 

[subhanalah]

I understand. I'm sure we are all busy here. Reading is much faster than typing is -- there are a lot of very good answers to the question of "how much" ... even in the past 20 pages of this thread. It's a very popular question with no one answer (I learned that the hard way myself!). My comment was meant to help you find a good set of helpful answers the fastest way possible for everyone. There really is no substitute to reading through this great thread for info.

I wish I knew a good way to suggest people read a few pages of this thread without making them upset.

perhaps quote the posts you are mentioning, or provide a link to them.

It's much easier for the member to search their own posts than it is for another member to search through the thread.

As for how much feed to how much water? I keep it dry, if it is giggly by the time you want to feed, it's too moist. I just add more feed and serve it this way.