(1st post) questions about fermented feed additives

[MJWarner]

I want to begin fermenting for my 9 week old flock, one cock and 12 pullets. My goal is to prepare them for laying the best eggs possible, and for great health. I plan to use New Country Organics Soy Free Wheat Free Layer, which are grains, and I have also purchased Fresh Eggs Daily brewers yeast w/ garlic, as well as their kelp.

Can I add the kelp and brewers yeast to the ferment and then begin the process, or should I wait until the feed is fully fermented to then add and stir in?

Oh, and I guess I better state that this is my first post. I started with chicks the second week in January, they have moved from the brooder to the coop, and are on lockdown until this weekend, which is also my target date to begin feeding the ferment daily. They will also have full access to their all flock Nutrena mini pellets 24/7.

First time chicken mama, so learning a lot through the site, y'all have so much clucking knowledge.

 

[DobieLover]

Welcome to BYC.

are on lockdown until this weekend

Why are they in "lockdown"? Are they locked into the coop only or the coop and the run?

Can I add the kelp and brewers yeast to the ferment and then begin the process, or should I wait until the feed is fully fermented to then add and stir in?

I would add the fines to the mix after you drain the fermented feed off. Fines tend to settle to the bottom of the fermented grains and solidify like cement. Mixing them into the drains fermented feed will coat the feed and get them into the birds.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I will defer to @DobieLover re: fermented feeds. While I'm not opposed to them, I've not found the alleged benefits in reduced feed consumption to in any way approach claims, though I don't dispute the greater bioavailability of certain vitamins as result - they just don't seem to be vitamins my birds have particular need for.

I do still ferment on occasion, consequence of pre-mixing wet mash (which I do feed) for my wife to dump out to them when I aam travelling away from the homestead for several days. As Dobie said, mix in anything you wish as an "addition" just before service. Much easier to measure, no chance for it to settle out.

 

[MJWarner]

That makes sense about the fine particles settling to the bottom, thanks. I had not thought of that, I was focusing on whether the fermentation process would destroy the benefits of the additives. I will stir them in when I feed them. I still plan on having their all flock pellets available to them, this will just be a small, extra morning feed, since I don't want to have leftovers each day that the flock can't consume.
DobieLover, they are on coop lockdown. Two reasons, first being to coop train them to their home, there are no older birds to show them the ropes. Second, we have a family of hawks in the neighbors tree, and we are still in the process of closing in the top of their 24ft ×38ft yard (run). Issues such as our circa1948 ladder breaking, and waiting on a new ladder delivery, combined with both my husband and myself being well past retirement age, have complicated the original one week lockdown plan. Fortunately for the flock, the coop is a generous 8×8, and as they are still 1/2 size chickens, they have plenty of room to frolic in there until us oldsters can attach the remainder of the overhead.

 

[MJWarner]

U_Stormcrow, I tend to agree about the reduced feed idea. A lot of the fermented feed is just adding water to the bulk of it, and filling them up on water doesn't make sense in a nutritional way to me. Saving feed by fermenting is not what I am looking to do here, but reading about the availability of partially broken down grains and increased ability to get more of the nutrition from those grains made sense. If they can utilize more of the elements in the feed, because fermenting makes them release while in the chicken's digestive tract, then I hope their health will be the best, and the eggs they lay will contain more of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrition, as well as packing them with flavor for us. I tend to focus on long-term goals when planning things like having chickens. So healthy birds, long life, great layers, awesome eggs, and sustainability. These are the things I am focusing on