Backyard Brahmas!!

[carcar80]

not much trouble at all. Pour feed in bucket. Cover with water. Add 1 cup buttermilk. Cover with a scrap piece of wood. Stir occasionally. It takes about 3 days. Its well worth it. And ur chickens will thank u for it

So you use a five gal bucket? Do you fill feed within a few inches of the top? And where do you store this? Is it something you can keep on a screened porch where it gets hot or...?

 

[Junibutt]

Amen! I'm putting off trying it too.

Definitely will be after our summer trip- can't expect a friend to be sloshing through slop for me.

Yeah, I will probably do that after my planned trip in early July. By that time, they probably would have sobered up a bit too!

 

[bumpercarr]

Fermenting: Put feed in bucket (about 1/2 full should allow for expansion), fill bucket with water. After everything settles and the feed has absorbed water, add more water so that the feed is at the bottom and there is a few inches of water over the feed. Add buttermilk, I usually put in a quart in a 5 gal bucket, but you can adjust up or down to "taste" (yeck). Cover and let sit for a few days, usually 3-5 days. Scoop out feed to give to your chickens, add more feed and water to the bucket. Once it has started fermenting you can just add more feed and water everyday to keep your supply up. Make sure you smell the feed....if it smells yeasty or bad in anyway, dump it and start again. Chickens will eat 1/2 to 1/3 less feed if you are feeding fermented feed. I know some skip the buttermilk, I think it just takes a little longer if you don't add it. Buttermilk should have live culture, most of the time it is labeled in the supermarket that way.

I'm sure everyone has their own formula, this is just the one that I have used in the past with success.

 

[carcar80]

Okay the only part of that that confuses me is, wouldn't it have a "yeasty" smell naturally, since it's fermenting?

 

[carcar80]

And do you have to keep this inside the house? That's the part I'd be out on..

 

[bumpercarr]

Okay the only part of that that confuses me is, wouldn't it have a "yeasty" smell naturally, since it's fermenting?

It would not smell yeasty, yeast ferments into alcohol, which can also be fed but I prefer not to feed but to feed lacto-fermented feed. Although the fermented feed will have yeast in it, the overproduction of yeast starts producing alcohol. It has a touch of a sour smell, hard to describe almost a little like ACV, maybe sour buttermilk? The buttermilk is just used to get the bacteria into the feed faster to start the fermenting, as I said, you don't need it if you are willing to wait an extra couple of days. Oh, and the bucket should be covered tightly, this is an anaerobic process (airless).

I keep mine in my coop/shed. It really depends on the weather where you are whether you are comfortable with it outside or not. I haven't made it yet this year but I did feed this last summer mostly because I was worried with the heat and wanted to make sure that they had enough water. Last summer I had one batch go bad on me, but it was really, really hot and humid. When I switched back to regular feed, the chickens didn't like it very much for a while. They really wanted the fermented feed back.

I read some good articles on this last year, but I don't remember where I found them at. If I find them again, I'll post the links.

 

[bamadude]

Do not close it up. It will explode. I fill my bucket up halfway. Cover my feed by 3in of water. Add a cup of buttermilk. Stir everyday and add water if the feed peaks up above the water level. I lay a piece of plywood on top. It is not an alcoholic ferment. More like a claasen pickle ferment. It nor aerobic because its under water. Every1 should be doing this. Even wet feed has advantages over dry feed.

 

[bumpercarr]

Do not close it up. It will explode. I fill my bucket up halfway. Cover my feed by 3in of water. Add a cup of buttermilk. Stir everyday and add water if the feed peaks up above the water level. I lay a piece of plywood on top. It is not an alcoholic ferment. More like a claasen pickle ferment. It nor aerobic because its under water. Every1 should be doing this. Even wet feed has advantages over dry feed.

Mine never exploded, but again, it depends on a lot of different things. I'll try the non covered method this summer, I hate having to pull that bucket cover off every day, twice a day.

 

[SpeckledHen10]

I'm getting 5 Brahma three week old chicks tomorrow! 4 hens and a rooster. SO excited!!

 

[cabinchicky]

Fermenting feed bucket keep it open due to exploding, good to know. be my luck either hubby or son would close it n I would get slimed. may think on this idea more.