Duckweed for chickens? [and] Fermented feed question.

[subhanalah]

Does anyone feed duckweed to their chickens? I have a fish tank full of the stuff and I used to feed the extra to my goldfish, but all of them passed away of congenital health problems (fancy goldfish). Now I'm overrun with the stuff, and my chickens seem to like it. Are there any problems with feeding it to them?

Also, I started a FF today and I'm wondering how often you stir it, if at all after the initial set up? I know it's supposed to be an anaerobic process, so wouldn't stirring slow down the fermentation?

I also added some duckweed and sprouted wheat grass to the FF, that should be fine, right?

I put three capsules of Primal Defense probiotic into it to start it. Has anyone else used this? I don't have any yogurt or buttermilk, so figured it would work for the lacto-fermentation starter. Is there anything wrong with this reasoning?

 

[Trefoil]

Does anyone feed duckweed to their chickens? I have a fish tank full of the stuff and I used to feed the extra to my goldfish, but all of them passed away of congenital health problems (fancy goldfish). Now I'm overrun with the stuff, and my chickens seem to like it. Are there any problems with feeding it to them?

Also, I started a FF today and I'm wondering how often you stir it, if at all after the initial set up? I know it's supposed to be an anaerobic process, so wouldn't stirring slow down the fermentation?

I also added some duckweed and sprouted wheat grass to the FF, that should be fine, right?

I put three capsules of Primal Defense probiotic into it to start it. Has anyone else used this? I don't have any yogurt or buttermilk, so figured it would work for the lacto-fermentation starter. Is there anything wrong with this reasoning?

I have fed duckweed when I had it. Its good for them. You can stir the FF whenever you walk by it, the feed should be covered with at least an inch of water, but some will float, stirring it means the same feed isn't always at the top and doesn't seem to slow down the fermentation. Fermenting the duckweed won't hurt it, but I would think this time of year they would appreciate it fresh. I don't know about the sprouted wheat grass. I didn't use anything to start mine and it took a while, let us know if the probiotics speeds it along.

 

[subhanalah]

I have fed duckweed when I had it.  Its good for them.  You can stir the FF whenever you walk by it, the feed should be covered with at least an inch of water, but some will float, stirring it means the same feed isn't always at the top and doesn't seem to slow down the fermentation.  Fermenting the duckweed won't hurt it, but I would think this time of year they would appreciate it fresh.  I don't know about the sprouted wheat grass.  I didn't use anything to start mine and it took a while, let us know if the probiotics speeds it along.

how long do you consider a while? And you base when it's "done" on the bubbling and smell, right?

Here are some pictures of the Primal Defense bottle.

I just noticed it has an iron supplement in it, will this be too much iron for the chickens? 1.8 mg per capsule.

ETA: from my post below
On the iron issue, I found that rooster booster poultry cell has 400 mgs per cc of fluid,and the dose is 1-3 cc per bird, per day, so I think I'm okay as far as that is concerned! I'm pretty sure it comes from the oat grass and barley grass in the capsules

 

[subhanalah]

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[subhanalah]

I have fed duckweed when I had it.  Its good for them.  You can stir the FF whenever you walk by it, the feed should be covered with at least an inch of water, but some will float, stirring it means the same feed isn't always at the top and doesn't seem to slow down the fermentation.  Fermenting the duckweed won't hurt it, but I would think this time of year they would appreciate it fresh.  I don't know about the sprouted wheat grass.  I didn't use anything to start mine and it took a while, let us know if the probiotics speeds it along.

Well, when I disturbed the pitcher to take a picture and replaced it on the counter, it started bubbling like a volcano! About 24 hours and I have bubbles. It smells very yeasty! Is that bad? Will it consume the yeast? Has it gone bad already?

How frustrating.

On the iron issue, I found that rooster booster poultry cell has 400 mgs per cc of fluid,and the dose is 1-3 cc per bird, per day, so I think I'm okay as far as that is concerned! I'm pretty sure it comes from the oat grass and barley grass in the capsules.

My chick feed doesn't say how much iron is has, does anyone know how much iron is in the Purina chick starter? Do they use brewers yeast as their "niacin supplement" in their ingredients list? Perhaps that would explain the yeasty smell.

 

[Scooby308]

I have read that duckweed is an excellent food in its own. I plan on an aquaponics system in the future and duckweed will be used to feed the fish and my chickens.

 

[subhanalah]

Learn from my mistake, don't put it in your fermented feed, it traps all the air being released and makes it overflow! Lol