Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Lacy Blues]

I know this is a crazy question, but I am fermenting grains for our pigs and chickens and then adding in each specific dry mix of sprouts, fish meal, etc. to the ff. My question is does anyone make their own dog feed? Our dogs love licking the bowls after we feed the chicks and pigs. Thanks!

There is a fantastic book, if you're really interested in making your own dog food:

"Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" It doesn't cover fermentation but I think that for some of the vegetables you could use sprouts or even fermented sprouts/vegetables.

The times when my dogs have gotten into the fermented grains here at my house, they haven't been able to keep them down once eaten so if I was going to ferment for my dogs, I'd probably use rolled oats or rolled barley. It's up to you though.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
I have never fermented for the dogs simply because I don't feed them any grain... they get homemade raw yogurt, vegetables, raw meat, and raw chicken necks.
When I switched to a raw diet for them years ago due to one of them having allergies I discovered they were all healthier on this type of diet.
I don't think dogs were ever designed to eat grains. just my opinion...

 

[Kilsharion]

I agree about dogs not exactly being grain eaters. The amino acids, macro and micro nutrients, etc are different in a meat diet than a grain/omnivore diet. They can eat an omnivorous diet; but, their bias is toward that of a carnivore. It's one reason I try to limit the amount of scratch my one "scratch happy" dog ingests.

 

[Zootopia]

I have been soaking one of my dogs morning kibble in the back slop of the big kids Fermented grains. She had been loosing weight as it got hot and I thought I'd try to give her a healthier gut. Just started last week, we'll see if it helps. Her poop looks firmer already.

 

[RedRidge]

I have been soaking one of my dogs morning kibble in the back slop of the big kids Fermented grains. She had been loosing weight as it got hot and I thought I'd try to give her a healthier gut. Just started last week, we'll see if it helps. Her poop looks firmer already.

Assuming there are no health problems sweet potatos are great for weight gain in dogs.

 

[Lacy Blues]

The grains used in this book's recommendations are all cooked grains and very few of them. I think it is based on the idea that they need some of the more complex carbohydrates and also that they never ate them themselves but when prey is killed by wolves or what have you, they consume the digestive tract first.... getting their pre-digested or fermented grains that way.

 

[swirler]

but when prey is killed by wolves or what have you, they consume the digestive tract first.... getting their pre-digested or fermented grains that way.

This is highly contested. Many people believe that this observation was based on a misinterpretation - wolves actually go for the liver first, and that when (lower-in-the-pack) wolves do eat intestines, they tend to shake out the contents first.

My seven-year-old Labrador was last fed grains (deliberately!) when he was about eight weeks old, and he's as hale, hearty, lean, shiny, and fit a Lab as any you ever did see. Grains and carbs are very clearly not a requirement in a dog's diet, however well adapted they are, as scavengers, to managing to get by on whatever's available.

We're off topic, though, so to get back on topic... the weather has cooled down massively here over the past couple of weeks, and my ferment bucket is a bit quiet and sad. Has anyone tried using a brewing belt around their bucket in winter?

 

[Kilsharion]

the weather has cooled down massively here over the past couple of weeks, and my ferment bucket is a bit quiet and sad. Has anyone tried using a brewing belt around their bucket in winter?

I have not; however, I used a thermal pad that's intended to be used for herps. I have a lot of stuff left over from my reptile rescue days so it sees a lot of unconventional use. I keep my FF outside at all times - and, the thermal pad kept the ferment going great even in the cooler months. I'd imagine a brewing belt would function just as well- probably even better.

 

[swirler]

What temp does your herp thermal pad hold at?

 

[Kilsharion]

~70 or so. I control it with a proportional thermostat.