Best way to ferment my feed

[Kimberly4403]

So i started a ferment feed batch today 100g my mix and 100g crumble from breeder so still a 50/50mix. Hope the cod liver oil will be ok to ferment..
How will i know when ots ready?
I covered it with water and added 1tsp braggs organic ACV to kick stsrt it.

 

[Kimberly4403]

"When I get down to only having about a single serving left in the bucket, I add new water, stir, and then start mixing in my feed. That’s backslopping"

Taken from the article that was posted on this thread im gonna try this idea that way its easier to add the cod liver oil 1ml per 100g of dry feed

 

[Beekissed]

So i started a ferment feed batch today 100g my mix and 100g crumble from breeder so still a 50/50mix. Hope the cod liver oil will be ok to ferment..
How will i know when ots ready?
I covered it with water and added 1tsp braggs organic ACV to kick stsrt it.

You don't need to keep it covered with water at all and you'll wish you hadn't added so much water when you go to feed it....it's much easier to feed a dryer mix and you'll experience less problems with it. You also don't need the ACV to get it to ferment and it will make acetic acid as a by product of fermentation, so adding the ACV is just doubling down on acetic acid, which is also not necessary.

 

[Kimberly4403]

Oh well ive been reading a bit and most people on this forum started with ACV and i had it on hand so i used some. Im only just starting out i kinda had to combine everything i had read as i couldnt get a straight forward response/step by step process to do it.. I only have 3 chicks so they wont eat all this at once so i was hoping to follow tgat backslopping point so next time i wont put so much water

 

[triplepurpose]

i personally like the results of innoculating with a small amount of (og, unpasteurized, unfiltered) acv. i find it gets the ferment going in a nice direction consistently, regardless of recipe ingredients, and helps a lot to prevent mold growth. i dont add it every time, just occasionally "as needed" when backslopping, or if there isnt any left over to backslop.

if you are worried about how the cod liver oil will fair in or affect the ferment, you could always add it to the tray when you feed...

i also wouldnt recommend making it so wet. its harder to eat and they will fling a lot of it around. as i mentioned in my earlier response, i recommend only adding enough to make a paste like consistency--it should be stiff enough you can stick a chopstick upright in it and it wont fall over. in my ecperience this ferments well (wont bubble over or separate), is easy to scoop and least messy, and most readily eaten by the chix.

 

[Kimberly4403]

i personally like the results of innoculating with a small amount of (og, unpasteurized, unfiltered) acv. i find it gets the ferment going in a nice direction consistently, regardless of recipe ingredients, and helps a lot to prevent mold growth. i dont add it every time, just occasionally "as needed" when backslopping, or if there isnt any left over to backslop.

if you are worried about how the cod liver oil will fair in or affect the ferment, you could always add it to the tray when you feed...

i also wouldnt recommend making it so wet. its harder to eat and they will fling a lot of it around. as i mentioned in my earlier response, i recommend only adding enough to make a paste like consistency--it should be stiff enough you can stick a chopstick upright in it and it wont fall over. in my ecperience this ferments well (wont bubble over or separate), is easy to scoop and least messy, and most readily eaten by the chix.

So do i need to start over or could i just add in some dry mix when serving? Then wjrn backslopping i wont add as much water?

 

[azygous]

Back slopping refers to continually adding dry feed and more water to the existing mixture. However, you dilute the benefits of the fermented mixture by adding dry feed too close to feeding it out. It's best to add dry feed to your ferment after the final feeding of the day, giving the mixture a good twelve hours to ferment before the next feed out.

The way I do it is to have two buckets going. As I get down to the last half in a bucket, I start the second bucket with a spoon full from the first bucket. After starting the very first bucket, I don't add ACV any more.

It's also a very interesting phenomenon that as a bucket of FF ages, it releases water, so the mixture becomes more soupy. When this happens, I add more dry feed to the mixture after removing the amount I need for feeding. I try to only add dry feed when it can have several hours to ferment before it's fed to the chickens.

I've arrived finally at a formula for the perfect (for me) consistency. I place seven quarts of water in the bucket and add twenty-one cups of dry feed plus three cups of BOSS. Sometimes I will also add three cups of scratch grain. Mix and add a glug of ACV for the initial batch, stir a couple times a day, and the first batch will be ready to feed on the third day.

After that, you can start a second bucket or just keep adding dry feed and water to the first bucket, also known as back slopping, and you can feed from it after the most recently added feed has fermented for several hours, preferably twelve.

It sounds like a lot of bother, but after doing it for a while, it becomes so routine and effortless, you won't even think about it. I've been feeding FF for about four years, and the results are just short of spectacular.

 

[Kimberly4403]

Yes i know wat backslopping is im saying instead of adding more water i could just add in a bit more dey feed until i get consistency?? Also im on day 2 of fermenting should i add some more dry mix now?

 

[Kimberly4403]

DAY 2 of fermenting smells very yeasty like sour dough smells really good actually so thats a good thing.. I know the traditional thing is to leave it for 4 days but when it smells yeast does that mean its ready to serve from?

 

[triplepurpose]

Yes i know wat backslopping is im saying instead of adding more water i could just add in a bit more dey feed until i get consistency?? Also im on day 2 of fermenting should i add some more dry mix now?

looks tasty!

sure, thats what id do.

btw i never wait 4 days either, we just mix it up and start using it at the next feeding, and continue till its used up, which takes maybe several days here, but in the tropics things also ferment faster. it gets more sour the longer it sits and the nutrition changes of course, but thers no magic moment when it becomes "ready", since its feedable from day one. how much you backslop also shortens the process. backslopping doesnt have to involve liquid if you have a solid state ferment, so dont get hung up by that: it just means using a bit of active culture to start another batch is all.

theres a lot of different ways to do this, were just trying to help you by explaining what we each do. youll figure out your own rythm of what works for you.