Chopper923
Songster
You can use the liquid to start a new batch. I read that you can continue the process for weeks, some do it for months. The key is to keep adding water and food. I think the longest I've done it is around 12 or 14 days. When I decide to start over, I will take the remaining liquid out to the coop with me, grab some of the leftover feed that is too small for the chickens to pick up, and mix the two together and give it to the chickens right away. It might not be fermented, but it makes the feed easier for the chickens to eat because they can actually pick it up. I posted pictures of the jars again...look at how much they've expanded in 7.5 hours (1st pix were around 2:15 today, and I did add some more water after taking those 1st pix since there was less than an inch of water above the feed...I think when the feed isn't covered with water for a certain amount of time, mold can start to form.) I have 38 hens, and they will polish off a little bit more than the amount that is in the black strainer in the picture. It doesn't look like much, but it's thick and heavy. I only do this once a day, and probably 3 or 4 days a week, so I think my girls look at it as a treat.
Usually by day 3 it is ready...it will have, what some call, a yogurt-type smell. My kids gag if I mix it when they are standing next to me - they certainly don't think it smells like yogurt! 
Drain the liquids to be used for fermenting your next batch. I was nervous about doing this at first, but it's really quite easy. There's lots of info online about the health benefits and different ways of doing it. (Great videos, too!) I love that it promotes gut health, fills the girls up, and helps with minimizing waste as I mentioned earlier. Oh, and it's easier for them to digest. The girls picked here and there at it in the beginning, and now they all come running. From what I understand, after 30 minutes or so of it sitting out for your chickens, it starts to lose it's health benefits (the live bacteria), so it's good to start off small and see how they do. (In my picture of the 3 jars, I will be adding more feed to the one jar tomorrow and then I will stir in an appropriate amount of water to make sure the grain is covered.) Hope you get a chance to try it!
