Am i fermenting too much? Help new to this :)

[workindog]

I have 19 chickens. I have two 5 gallon buckets going. 1 day apart, one is officially a little over 24 hours in, the other was just made. So 3 days until i can try it with my chickens.

Did i make too much? Will it go bad?

Also, when i take feed out, do i feed from the one bucket and then add more when its amost gone and wait another 4 days or after I have SCOBY can I add daily.. ive read a lot but havent seem much on how and when to revamp it.

Ty

 

[mixedUPturk]

I have 19 chickens. I have two 5 gallon buckets going. 1 day apart, one is officially a little over 24 hours in, the other was just made. So 3 days until i can try it with my chickens.

Did i make too much? Will it go bad?

Also, when i take feed out, do i feed from the one bucket and then add more when its amost gone and wait another 4 days or after I have SCOBY can I add daily.. ive read a lot but havent seem much on how and when to revamp it.

Ty

When i did it i used an indoor trash can and i had alot of birds to feed. Im not thinking it will go bad but if you filled both buckets it is alot for only 19 and i think youll have to experiment with it to find exactly how much to give them. Maybe after the scoby is good you can just do half a bucket adding to the one u took from each day on rotation giving 24 hrs each time. Your on the right track. i understand second guessing yourself as u start the process but i hope you like it! I found alot less waste

 

[Perris]

you can try it now - it won't have all the benefits yet but it's perfectly good feed, a sort of wet mash. They also might not take to it immediately if you don't expose them to it before it's full strength! It's an acquired taste for some birds, like pickled foods for us.
Pay attention to how much they eat - you could try measuring out to start, if they want more give more, if there's some left over reduce by that amount next time and so on, and you'll soon be able to gauge what quantities your birds need.

 

[workindog]

Yeah its definitely going to be a learning curve for me. And knowing all it needs after the scoby ia 24 hours was exactly what i was wondering. Ty both so much for your help!!

 

[workindog]

And suggesting offering some before its fully ready to get them used to the taste, great advice!!! I literally just gave them some

 

[workindog]

Seems like they might be liking it

 

[Percheron chick]

I just keep one bucket going. Kind of like sourdough starter. Feed breakfast and dinner and then replace the dry feed and water. Stir and let it sit overnight. Try to keep 1/2 old for the next batch.

 

[jlwquilter]

I also now use just one bucket - and it’s not l even a bucket. It’s a half gallon plastic food storage thing - like Tupperware but not that brand. I started out using a 5 gallon bucket but found for my 20 birds it was too much, too heavy and just plain not necessary. I also like being able to put the plastic food storage thing in the fridge if I want/need to.

Once you have the ferment going the newly added feed ferments quickly - like the sourdough example given. For me it now ferments within hours - maybe not full strength but certainly good enough for one feed while the rest ferments more for the feeds after that.

I got good at guessing how much to make for a few days and then the hens got really hungry. Then a few days later they ate less. So I learned to make a guess and give more if needed and if there’s extra I scrape it into a plastic bowl and leave in the coop for the day - they actually eat it all within an hour or so. If the extra is from the evening feed then I scrape it back into the ferment storage tub or into another small container that I can cover and refrigerate until the next morning to feed them.

One thing I do that I don’t known if others do is this: after I slop the wet FF onto the feed pans I stir in more of the crumbles (I use flock raiser that I can only get in crumbles) to make it the consistency that my birds prefer (kind of like drop biscuit batter). I figure the fermented liquid is good for them too. There plenty of liquid left to ‘seed’ any newly added feed, which I only need to add every other day or so.

I read when I was researching FF a website that suggested 1/3 each of feed, scratch and BOSS. I’ve changed that to be more like 80% feed and a couple handfuls of scratch and BOSS. I felt like they were getting too much treat food disguised as regular food with the original recipe.

I’ve also learned not to stress over it too much - lol!

You’ll find your balance after a few days or a week and what works easiest for you and best for your flock. I’m so glad I decided to try FF!