FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Exotica]

You made my day!

You are very kind, you know that?

I'm just being honest!!
You're improving so many birds lives with your advice and by advocating FF.

Just wanted you to know how grateful I am - we all are!

 

[bustedchicks]

I have been using fermented feed for well over a year now and wouldn't have it any other way! It is so easy. Empty 50# bag in 32 gallon trashcan, fill with water almost 2/3 up the 'can, STIR, STIR, STIR. It takes about 3 days for it to cook, just keep stirring it. When the barrel is 1 scoop distance empty, add new 50# bag add water stir. Takes about a day to recharge. The less amount of old the longer the new batch will take. Always stir!

Now my question is this. The area in which I need to keep the feed has changed a bit and the wild yeast from the feed is causing powder mildew and some mycelium growth in soil. So I need to keep it covered so that the spores can't escape.
How should I keep it covered without ruining the ferment? I was thinking a trashcan lid with a hole for a ferment bung like for beer brewing. That makes the most sense to me. Any suggestions?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[feathersaloft]

I've been having fun with my ferment.
Every time I go in the feed store, I check out the busted bag pile.

Anything resembling bird seed or chicken feed gets added to the bucket. Sweet feed would work too.

Anything like cat food or dog food goes into the treat bucket. I'm not fermenting things with meat (or meat byproducts)

I'm thinking so long as it is at least 75% layer pellets, the rest doesn't much matter.
What do you think?

 

[bustedchicks]

I'm thinking so long as it is at least 75% layer pellets, the rest doesn't much matter.
What do you think?

Sounds good to me. Have you ever tried em-1? My flock goes bananas over the food when I use a bit of that.

 

[Sidhe13]

My FF is absolutely full of maggots! Still ok to feed out?

 

[TLove99]

I have tried FF a few times. I have a two quart jar i use and when it's ready I save the liquid to use for the next batch. Leave the lid off the jar most of the time. Two or three times a day I put the lid on and give it a good shake. On the second batch after day three I always get a very thin layer of white mold covering the top of the liquid. I end up pouring out the liquid and starting over. Should I keep it covered to avoid mold? Thanks

 

[Sidhe13]

Just stir it in.

 

[shodack]

I just got my first bag of layer pellets and have been feeding it to the 5.5 month olds for just under a week, fermented of course. Well, the ferment is very different than the grower/finisher was... but it's wet, anyway!
The chickens seem very un-interested in it. Three of the four have just started laying.
In the last 5 days they've only finished up their dish of food once. Usually it's eaten up every day!
They get a small amount of veggie scraps, but otherwise don't get tons of treats. They don't free range but they have a large open pen. Do I just need to wait it out?

 

[Beekissed]

Feed less until they clean it up. Initially they really attack the stuff, but then it seems whatever nutrient deficiency they had been living with has been satisfied and they no longer need as much food to stay well fed and nourished as they had previously....and that's where your savings start. Not because the food is wet, not because there is less waste....it's because they have to eat less total food to get adequate nutrition.

 

[monkcat]

My FF is absolutely full of maggots! Still ok to feed out?

I had that happen this summer when I didn't snap the lid down tight. The food wasn't "off", it's just an extra source of protein. They were digging through trying to find them. LOL