PROBIOTICS for you and your chickens

[Daphne16]

Quote:
my kefir is on the counter, kombucha in the cabinet next to the acv.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
my kefir is on the counter, kombucha in the cabinet next to the acv.

But what is in YOUR BATHROOM??!!!

 

[Daphne16]

Quote:
my kefir is on the counter, kombucha in the cabinet next to the acv.

But what is in YOUR BATHROOM??!!!

I am hoping nothing, but you never know with a teenage boy in the house

 

[dlecolst]

Quote:
Basically you can just leave unpasteurized apple cider or apple juice (not bottled) out at room temp for 6 months and it turns itself.
The quicker way is to start with 1/2 acv raw unfiltered with the mother and 1/2 unpasteurized apple cider or apple juice (frozen is great) cover with a cloth and let sit for a few weeks.

So do you made the frozen juice according to the directions and then make a 50/50 mixture with the mothers ACV?

 

[Daphne16]

Quote:
Basically you can just leave unpasteurized apple cider or apple juice (not bottled) out at room temp for 6 months and it turns itself.
The quicker way is to start with 1/2 acv raw unfiltered with the mother and 1/2 unpasteurized apple cider or apple juice (frozen is great) cover with a cloth and let sit for a few weeks.

So do you made the frozen juice according to the directions and then make a 50/50 mixture with the mothers ACV?

Yup

Oh and I got into the acv, kefir and kombucha thanks to byc.

 

[dlecolst]

Thanks Daphne. That's what I thought, just wanted to be 100% sure.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
But what is in YOUR BATHROOM??!!!

I am hoping nothing, but you never know with a teenage boy in the house

you're not kidding! I have a 16YO myself!

 

[brandislee]

Quote:
my kefir is on the counter, kombucha in the cabinet next to the acv.

Sounds like my house- kefir and sourdough on the counter, kombucha on the top of the cabinet... I also have water kefir and a ginger bug on top of my fridge. And I actually have a spontaneous ACV mother growing on my generic (not raw) ACV in the bathroom, the stuff I use to rinse my hair. My probiotic pets...

I had to resurrect this thread again, because I can't find something and it's really daunting to have to fully search a 98 PAGE LONG thread! I swore I read on here of someone who continuous ferments their kefir... in the fridge if I remember correctly? I may be wrong about that last part. But the reason I'm looking for it is that I'm about to give up on kefir. No one in my family likes it (and we all have other probiotics that we like, so I don't really push it), and I hate to keep brewing the stuff just for the chickens at the price I'm paying for my milk right now. But I may be willing to keep doing it if I can work out a way to not have to strain and restart it each day.

Or would my chickens get enough probiotics from raw ACV? Because that I really need to start making, and we WOULD use that- I use it to soak grains and any time I feel any illness coming on I lightly coat a spoon in honey and shoot the ACV off the spoon- I swear that, if I'm diligent about doing it every few hours, I can get rid of a cold in less than a day.

Anyway- thoughts? Would it be worth keeping the kefir up for the chickens, or would it be just as good to give them our excess buttermilk, yogurt, and creme fraiche as well as some raw ACV?

 

[Erica]

Hi Brandislee,

If I find myself using up too much milk for kefir, I just fridge the thing... You can alternate days, one day in the fridge, one day out. It slows down production but still lets you keep a routine.

I've also taken to kefiring skim milk made from cheap milk powder... I had to 'train' the grains to accept the stuff but they seem to be thriving on it now, and making kefir that smells almost the same as fresh milk kefir. It's one way I'm improving a fairly indigestible product (powdered milk) and producing bulk kefir without breaking the bank.

As for not liking it... Have you tried it with honey and cinnamon? I started mixing it with half plain yoghurt to slightly round-out the taste... Kefir can be a little too acidic. Gradually I removed the yoghurt and now we have kefir alone (with the honey/cinnamon) as a really lovely smoothie-type probiotic drink. My fussy son thinks it's fab and so do I (finally, after a long time thinking it was a bit too yeasty).

Back to chickens... Yes, I'd keep doing it if I were you... But I'm a believer. I feed a home-made diet to my birds and they didn't seem to be getting enough methionine until I began souring milk in bulk. It's a great way to add animal protein. Then again if your chickens are on a commercial diet they'll be getting enough methionine (artificial of course... made from petrochemicals... oops, fell on the soap box again

).

 

[Daphne16]

I am not huge into the taste of kefir, but it sure does make an awesome smoothie. I am going to be fridging mine on and off too because it just devours milk.