Adding water to chicken layer feed daily is this ok?

[Rammer1961]

Hello chicken friends! I have added some water to my 5 hens pellet layer feed. They eat it all up really quickly and love it. Heres my question, is it ok to offer a free choice wet pellet mash daily? I Wasnt sure if the hardness of the pellets is necessary for the gizzard or crop or something! One gal has a broken beak tip and the soft pellet is great for her. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and time!!

It's nutritious to soak the feed in water, helps break down the nutrients for the birds as well as probiotics too... and like U_Stormcrow said, helps them digest it and get more out of the feed plus their also consuming the water absorbed in the feed. I've been feeding my young girls (13 weeks old) fermented starter with whole grain supplement now for 4 weeks and they look forward to it every afternoon when I get home from work. I have 3 containers to soak the feed in. New batch (day1), 2nd container (day2), 3rd container (day3) ready to feed to the girls on day 3. BTY... the girls won't eat as much cause they are getting more out of the feed when they digest it and your feed will last about 25-30% longer saving you money. I also keep dry chick starter in the CoopWorx silo bin for them to eat at will too.

 

[Evenflo09]

Oh thats great to read. I tend to hover, so leaving the mash for about 2 hours is reasonable. Cold winters here do have me supplementing their feed to up their protein. Adding an occasional scrambled egg to the mash with hot water is a wonderful application. Do you have cold winters? if so, what are some of your winter additions to the mash to help with cold and general comfort for chickens? thank you, just tryin' my best over here!

You can add oatmeal to it in winter to help them stay warm, and it helps with pasty butt and diarrhea. You can also just make a special treat of oatmeal mixed with warm water. My chickens love it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You can add oatmeal to it in winter to help them stay warm, and it helps with pasty butt and diarrhea. You can also just make a special treat of oatmeal mixed with warm water. My chickens love it.

the high beta glucans in oatmeal actually contribute to sticky poops and pasty butt. We need those for our digestion much more than chickens do.

I'm not saying any oatmeal is bad, I'm saying keep the rates of inclusion low if you do choose to use it.

and for most, chances are it doesn't get cold enough for long enough that you need to change what you feed your birds in winter. Alabama, for instance, doesn't get severely cold (for birds).

 

[Evenflo09]

the high beta glucans in oatmeal actually contribute to sticky poops and pasty butt. We need those for our digestion much more than chickens do.

I'm not saying any oatmeal is bad, I'm saying keep the rates of inclusion low if you do choose to use it.

and for most, chances are it doesn't get cold enough for long enough that you need to change what you feed your birds in winter. Alabama, for instance, doesn't get severely cold (for birds).

I don't feed mine oatmeal on an everyday basis, but everything I read said it will help pasty butt, and I had three chicks who were small and stunted and I helped by supplementing with a little wet warm oatmeal and they caught up with the others. My last statement was an occasional treat.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Went to TSC and purchased some yesterday. Also got a holder for it separate from their food. They went to town on it and got me to wondering. How much is enough? I don't want them filling up on grit and ignoring their food. Or, do you suppose THEY know how much to eat? I wound up taking it out of their brooder just in case. Figured I would put it in there daily for a few minutes.

I was taught that when introducing grit to chicks to sprinkle it lightly as if salting their food and then gradually allow them full access.

That is what I do. Adults are probably less of a concern, but chicks can gorge on new and novel things, so to slowly introduce them to grit I sprinkle a tiny pinch on their food every few days. By the time they're ready to move to the next size of grit (at around 8 weeks or so) they don't seem as prone to gorge, so I leave it in a cup at that point.

 

[roxanne]

Thank you. I suppose my knowledge about fermentation goes something like this:
- take pellets, put in container (not many for 5 hens)
-cover with water about 1/2inch
-place lid hand tight
- store in cool dry place
-stir 12 hrs later and again for maybe 2 days
- use a strainer to remove feed and throw the liquid away

I have no idea if this is anywhere near accurate. Can anyone polish my approach? Thank you

That’s how it works in our coop! It’s like a sour dough starter, so when you scoop out some of the feed to give to your hens, just add some more of the feed to the mix and the fermenting will keep going. I keep a 2 gallon plastic container going all year long adding feed and water when needed.

 

[MarcyG]

There is a good article on fermented feed here on byc but I don't remember the name of the article. I'll try and find it.
I believe @DobieLover ferments her feed.

I've used the fermented feed instructions I copied and pasted into a PDF (attached), which I got from the Chicken-Chick website. I use Scratch 'N Peck organic feed when I ferment the feed. My apologies if this is against the rules.