Chickened out on Fermented Feed but ...

[harmonyp]

After doing a bunch of reading on feeding fermented feed to chickens, I decided to try it out. My issue is consistency in available temps. My house (and available places to do this) seems too cold in winter, and way too hot in summer. I'm also not able to only give it to them for 30 min at a time then take it away, and they just never rushed to it to eat enough in 30 min to make it worth while.

But, in the process of doing this, I did find that by just mixing their crumbles with water and making a crumble-mash, brought them to their food much faster and with more enthusiasm than just feeding dry crumbles. So now daily, of the three feeding stations I put out for my 17 hens, I make one a water-moistened one, and do leave it out all day. They absolutely love it, and do prefer it over the dry, although they still do a good job on the dry.

I started and stopped the fermented 3x. They didn't seem to have any preference for it over just the wet-down crumbles, and I was just - afraid it'd go bad.

Interested in others' experiences.

 

[igorsMistress]

This has also been my experience. I feed at least one meal per day wet year round although it end up fermenting over night in my house. They still rush to it, but my flock never liked their feed fermented for very long.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I started and stopped the fermented 3x. They didn't seem to have any preference for it over just the wet-down crumbles, and I was just - afraid it'd go bad.

Interested in others' experiences.

I did only FF for a couple years... there was zero savings and zero health improvement to my flock. It doesn't make sense to me anymore after tons more research to unformulate an already formulated ration. You DON'T get something for nothing, period.

FF *may* be more beneficial if your flock has health issues. Otherwise, IMO... it's HYPE.

Wetting with water to make a mash is a great alternative!

Some links to threads with more complete explanations on my part..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fermented-feed-question.1270864/#post-20425104

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/does-fermented-feed-work.1239875/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fermented-feed.1311380/

Good luck!

 

[PirateGirl]

I have found my experiences with FF varied with different types of feeds I started with. Some seemed to lend itself better to the process than others.

 

[Acre4Me]

My flock loves wet feed. In fact, loves it pretty wet, like a pancake batter, best. This is the primary “treat” they receive -wet feed! I’ll add in scrambled eggs sometimes, sprinkle some seeds/scratch/similar on top, or mix in rehydrated alfalfa pellets for greens.

when it has sat out in warmer weather, and has “fermented” a bit, they will not eat it. But, I have not done actual fermented feed (clean container with feed+water, sit for x time, feed) bc I am not interested in the time or mess involved. In addition, those microorganisms are altering the nutritional profile and why would I pay for good feed and then alter it away from the formulation? I figure they can get microorganisms from the ground, the garden, and bugs. If I want additional probiotics for them, they seLl the little packets to add to water.

anyway, wet feed is highly enjoyed by my flock!! It is really cute to take a small paper plate out to a momma hen and chicks and with wet feed in it. Momma knows what it is and clucks excitedly to her chicks to tell them to “eat up, this is good stuff!”. she lets them all eat some first, but she joins right in!

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I started wetting their feed after I bought a bag of crumble feed that was basically dust. They love it. I think I spend more money on feed as a result.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I do fermented feed in the morning (whole grain mash), dry feed all day (pellets), and wetted feed occasionally (pellet dust and leftover bits). As they much prefer the mash feed they prefer the FF over the dry pellets.

My main goal is to get them to eat all their food with as little waste as possible, and I think we've cut it about as close to 0 as we can get.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

I also started with trying to ferment, but when I got to the point that I had enough chickens that they'd eat the entire bucket in one day, it just became no longer feasible to have several buckets going all the time. I never stopped making mash, though. It really continued out of habit and now I just regard it as part of normal chicken care, lol. I feed only wet food now, with the exception of baby turkeys who don't always recognize what they see as food. I use a five gallon bucket and generally make a bucket every day and a half. I free range a lot and scoop an allotted amount in the morning and evening. The bowls are often pecked clean, but any leftovers just get gobbled up the next day.

 

[CindyinSD]

I used to ferment. I do think it saves on food, though not because fermenting somehow increases the energy in the feed. It doesn’t seem that it does this, or even could do this. The most one could get out of fermentation is to add something to the intestinal flora and if they like pickles, perhaps to the flavor.

That may be important if the flock is fed or treated with antibiotics or other things that might harm their inner microbes. Or, if the poor birdies are kept in a factory farm setting without normal ground contact. For our pampered poultry this doesn’t seem like a “thing” (unless, perhaps, if some of us use a lot of herbicide.)

Fermenting saves on feed for my birds because they don’t waste so much, scratching it out of the dish. One thing I ought to have realized would be a bad idea: don’t put wet, let alone fermented, feed in a metal dish. (BAD CHICKEN KEEPER! BAD!)

Another unfortunate aspect of wet feed is its depressing tendency to freeze solid in the dish. It was during the girls’ first winter that I stopped with the wet feed. I do make up a fermented batch for brand new babies in the brooder. If they’re out with Mama, they’re not gonna need extra microbes.

TBH, I’m getting tired of them wasting so much food. If the weather ever warms up, I might at least go back to soaking their feed.

 

[sunrise.superman]

I do FF with Scratch n Peck feeds and mine love it. No waste...they eat it right to the last morsel...and I do start w less dry feed to ferment than what I'd use without fermenting. I tried using the same amount and they didn't quite eat it all so I backed down the amount a bit. If I put dry out now they will only bother of the fermented is gone. And they do NOT appreciate any pellets now. They want the Scratch N Peck type grains.