Kombucha scoby for the girls?

[BirdIsTheWurd]

Love this thread! I am a newbie with chickens, but a seasoned pro with kombucha

Is it ok to feed them the scoby if they are only 1 month old?

I have made my kombucha with all different kinds of teas and never noticed a difference in flavor. I find that throwing in some frozen pineapple after brewing gives it a nice flavor after about a week of letting it infuse.

I made a face cleanser out of a scoby in my blender once, and I also use them in my compost... but now that I have my girls I'll have a better use!

 

[galanie]

It's fine to feed them at any age, but be sure it's cut or broken up small enough for them to swallow. And for babies, that they have some grit first. If you don't notice a difference in flavor, then it's too sweet! hehe. I don't like sweet drinks so I'm not growing kombucha at the moment but my son still is, and I'm still giving the girls that treat when there's an extra scoby!

 

[Gemstatemom]

heh heh - you can literally find out anything here!
I have a large scoby from my 2.5 gal continuous-brew kombucha setup. I tried to give it away, but no takers. So the girls will get it. I think I will have to whirl it in the blender to break it up, as it is about 12" in diameter and 1" thick. But I'm happy to see someone else has blazed the trail on feeding this to their hens. I wasn't sure if the fermenting nature of the scoby would create an adverse reaction in their digestive system.


So excited - my buff orp ladies have started to lay (Chicks from end of May). 22 hens are yielding 11-12 eggs a day in the middle of our cold snap -it's been single digits to slightly below zero the past week. I think the heat lamp on 24/7 has influenced their laying! ( I had a light on a timer for them so they got about 13 hours of light each day, but maybe it wasn't enough)

 

[pdirt]

Yes, you could use kombucha vinegar instead of ACV, with very similar benefits. In fact, it's the cheapest and easiest way I know of to make your own vinegar!

Wonder if it would be a good additive to chicks water, kinda like ACV?

 

[LostnFound]

Awesome, I got 2 mamas a month ago and have tons of babies and new moms I've been breeding up to gift to friends and now give to the farm. I use ACV in waterers for dehydration and heat stroke so if I can just let a few extra jugs go I can essentially make my own cleaning solution for the property and keep the animals healthy! Sweet, and I found the mamas take shapes so I'm going to get a heart shaped jug to start making love filled health tonics. FYI kombucha needs a happy environment to be healthy much like us and our animals, pretty cool to test like the water crystals or rice theories on energy by Dr. Emoto. I also started a mealworm colony in February, I did their 3rd cleaning and put them outside last month and they are going nuts so I can give the girls treats every day. I highly recommend them if you have allergies because now I can monitor our no corn/soy/wheat concept all the way down to the worm bedding. Now anyday we should get some eggs

 

[onmelissa]

That's what I was wondering! I was about to do a search when I stumbled upon this thread.

 

[TeamChaos]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm wondering if I were to add some kombucha to the ladies' waterers while it's hot out if it would cut down on the amount of slime that develops in a day. Anyone have experience with that? Thanks.

 

[pdirt]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm wondering if I were to add some kombucha to the ladies' waterers while it's hot out if it would cut down on the amount of slime that develops in a day. Anyone have experience with that? Thanks.

If you let a batch of kombucha completely mature, it will turn into vinegar. This kombucha vinegar is great stuff to use in the waterers, and for household cleaning or a hair rinse. Depending on the temperature, it will take 2-4 weeks to make kombucha vinegar.

 

[FaerieGlynne]

Digging up an old thread here but how about scobies being fed to the ducks. Anyone have experience or advise?

 

[FaerieGlynne]

So this may sound silly, but I found this study
http://www.uaiasi.ro/revista_zoo/ro/documente/Pdf_Vol_55/Lovita_Adriani.pdf
And basically when ducks were fed kombucha it deceased fat and cholesterol in the meat.
I have no intention of feeding my ducks 25% kombucha, of course. My question is maybe it isn't good to feed it to them in the winter when they need the extra calories? Thoughts?