Is fermenting pellets really beneficial?

[Perris]

It sounds like my chickens should be able to get enough breakfast from foraging in the summer as our property is big with some forest and grassy areas.
But in the summer they still ate a good amount of feed, which was available all the time, even though they were foraging a lot rotating areas. I know they prefer whatever they can find from foraging over feed. So I thought they just couldn't find enough to fill them up.
Have you noticed any difference in egg production when you fed them in the morning and when you didn't?
What time do you feed them in the afternoon or evening in summer?
Another worry is that they might expose themselves to danger more to forage when they're hungry than they're not.
I'll have to find out from experimenting though.

It's hard to identify causes of variability in egg production when they free range and go broody; there are lots of possible causes, not least hidden nests, so it may appear that they are laying fewer than they actually are.
I feed at dawn and an hour before sunset, whatever the day length.
The roos' job is to lookout for trouble and warn them if danger threatens, and mine do that job better every year. The ones that expose themselves are the independent types, who wander off on their own, or juvenile cockerels, who are sometimes reckless.
That's a good idea to see life as an experiment; be prepared for some losses and enjoy the wins. Good luck!

 

[Lilbitsnpieces]

It's a good idea to give them fermented feed in the morning in the winter. I am more inspired to give them at least soaked feed if note fermented for breakfast while it's cold.
I'm also trying to give them something with more protein and/or carbs before they go to bed like chicken scratch (wheat, oats and corn) and sunflower seeds. I give them a bit of cat food when it gets very cold as they're cheaper than mealworms.
Not feeding them in the morning during summer sounds interesting. If I could be sure that my chickens can find enough from foraging, I'd like to try that, too.

Come Summer...If you are concerned about their ability to find enough..you could place a few boards on the ground..insects will collect under them...then call the girls and flip them over. Smorgusboard! Since I have so many sometimes I place a small pallet on ground..I find them easier to turn...fill gaps with wood chips or grass clippings or leaves..same principle bugs will gather! I let it sit a day..then cal the girls and flip it..they quickly scratch and devour any hidden "treats" then I simply refill the gaps with the scattered material, adding more as needed...

 

[Shalker]

How do you ferment chicken feed pellets without it turning to mush? I have had success fermenting grains and they love it and even produce more eggs. But when I tried pellets it all just disolved.

 

[NatJ]

How do you ferment chicken feed pellets without it turning to mush? I have had success fermenting grains and they love it and even produce more eggs. But when I tried pellets it all just disolved.

It does turn to mush.
So then the chickens get fermented mush.

 

[Rurumo]

How do you ferment chicken feed pellets without it turning to mush? I have had success fermenting grains and they love it and even produce more eggs. But when I tried pellets it all just disolved.

If you ferment pellets, they turn to mush, that's just part of the deal. When I've fermented pellets or cumbles in the past, I didn't keep them submerged in liquid, then pour it off like a lot of instructions say. I just treated it like sourdough, added some sourdough starter/enough water, and let it ferment for 24/48 hrs-no pouring off. It's just another way to ferment-I've done mash the way most people here do it, without the starter, but I do like the sourdough method because I always have starter around and I'm usually trying to find something to do with it lol.

Also, because I love studies so much...there are several out there that looked at mycotoxin "mitigation" via sourdough fermentation-https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0023643820314286. Just a little tidbit for sourdough fans, good to know considering virtually all grains have some mycotoxin contamination.