Fermenting feed

[cori1023]

Hi BYC peeps
Can chick starter feed be fermented?
.. Is it too soon? And if it can.. Directions
TIA

 

[azygous]

A word of caution on feeding FF to chicks. They have a tendency to walk and wallow in their food. It's a good idea to bring the consistency down to firm oatmeal so they won't drown in it if they fall into it. A cover made of half inch hardware cloth is a really good idea to keep the chicks out of the FF and from making a terrible mess of themselves, but for safety, also.

 

[piopio123]

A word of caution on feeding FF to chicks. They have a tendency to walk and wallow in their food. It's a good idea to bring the consistency down to firm oatmeal so they won't drown in it if they fall into it. A cover made of half inch hardware cloth is a really good idea to keep the chicks out of the FF and from making a terrible mess of themselves, but for safety, also.

good point azygous!
I give it to them in a shallow, yet deep enough plate to retain the food, and I place a jar or something in the center of it so that it creates a "ring" of food. That way they can not drown or walk through it pooping etc..

 

[azygous]

My flock prefers FF on the dry side. If it puddles in their bowls, they are far less enthusiastic about it.

The notion you need a layer of water on the top of you ferment is a fallacy. FF doesn't mind one bit to be like cookie dough or biscuit dough as it ferments. It does it just as fast, just as well as a sloppy, wet mix. Stirring frequently, at least twice a day is key.

If you could eliminate the step of draining liquid off before you feed your FF, wouldn't that be liberating? Just mix dry to water in a ratio where you don't see any standing water and it has a nice biscuit dough consistency. As FF ferments it will release water and become wetter. I add enough dry crumbles to keep the consistency the chickens and I prefer.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I start feeding fermented feed to my birds from day one. It gets them off to a very good start. I feed a whole grain feed, but I know people who ferment commercial feed as well.

Here are some helpful links:

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html
http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/05/why-and-how-to-ferment-your-chicken-feed/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them/5900

 

[piopio123]

I also gave my chicks fermented chick starter right away, and they love it!
I have what I guess Milliefleur called a whole grain starter. It contains different sizes of ground grains, very fine to just sort of cracked. So they get a variety and the soaking/fermenting softens the larger pieces well. The first day (they arrived) I gave them some of the more mushy sediment (the fermented finely ground bits) thinking the others were too big and they loved it. But the next day I did give them the whole mash and they gobbled it up no problem. I gave them a tiiiny bit of grit in case they needed it for grinding, may not have been necessary. They are doing very well, they also like yogurt a lot (one in particular).
So in conclusion, I agree the common chick starter which is very fine can still be fermented, but it will be pretty wet when given to them.

 

[mobius]

Mess-free (hopefully) fermented food feeder for chickies (my little invention):

 

[Beekissed]

I also give my chicks fermented feed right of the bat:

You don't need to keep the water over the feed to get LAB growth in the feed. No matter what anyone says, that's a fallacy. Most who are doing this are not keeping water over the feed at all.

" In the vocabulary of microbiology, lactic acid bacteria are “facultative” in that they that do not require oxygen, but are not inhibited by its presence; in contrast, certain other bacteria (for example Clostridium botulinum) are “obligate” anaerobes that require a perfectly anaerobic environment."

Please don't tell people their chickens will get sick if they don't cover the food with water as it's just not so. That's an untruth and it scares people away from FF rather than encouraging them to use it. The feed containers will not grow mold overnight and make the birds sick and mold will not contaminate the feed bucket, nor will it cause the feed to go sour or rotten....a highly fermented feed will smell sour or almost rotten in the summer months, but that is not caused by bacteria or mold growth at all, it's due to increased acetic acid which is the by product of fermentation and sometimes by the type of meat proteins used in the feed.

Please, please get the facts straight before instructing others?

 

[Beekissed]

I'm no expert but I would not ferment medicated feed. Your basically making a chemical soup causing the medicated feed to leetch out.

I would suggest fermenting scratch grain and feed the medicated dry.

I'm confused as to how amprollium would "leach out" of the bucket of feed. Fermenting isn't introducing any other chemicals into the feed, so the only "chemical soup" would be caused by the amprollium itself. Fermenting the feed can save the feed and render it still good for feeding, whereas since the feed is already wet, she can't very well "feed it dry", now can she?

The medication in medicated feed is pretty nigh useless anyway, so fermenting it won't make a bit of difference.

 

[Beekissed]

My whole point was that this could cause higher concentrations of medication after sitting in a bucket of water for few days.

If it's not an issue show me the research....

Many people here on BYC have already used medicated feed in their FF and have reported no issues. As there is no research done on the practice, it's not likely you'll see any "research", but I'm game....if it would likely be an issue, show me the research.