Experimenting wtih fermented feed

[azygous]

I have never in fours years of fermenting had mold. Just keep it stirred and it won't develop.

I also ferment Purina Flock Raiser. I leave the residue in the empty bucket, add my water and dry feed, and it's got a decent ferment going within 24 hours, and it will be perfect by 30 hours.

I find it's passed its peak when the consistency is compacted rather than fluffy. It also has a very our smell and bleeds liquid rapidly even after stirring, although it is fine for feeding. You just don't want to have more than one feeding left when it gets to this stage.

I keep my buckets in my kitchen year round. Kept at 70F, it ferments very quickly.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have never in fours years of fermenting had mold. Just keep it stirred and it won't develop.

I also ferment Purina Flock Raiser. I leave the residue in the empty bucket, add my water and dry feed, and it's got a decent ferment going within 24 hours, and it will be perfect by 30 hours.

I find it's passed its peak when the consistency is compacted rather than fluffy. It also has a very our smell and bleeds liquid rapidly even after stirring, although it is fine for feeding. You just don't want to have more than one feeding left when it gets to this stage.

I keep my buckets in my kitchen year round. Kept at 70F, it ferments very quickly.

Thanks for the indicaters. Sometimes I have to ask my family how it smells since I have kinda gone nose blind to it.

I used to keep my buckets indoors until chicken math got a hold on me.

Only planned to have 3 birds in the beginning of this year. Now have 48 and a broody with an unknown clutch #. And so many more breeds of interest! My outdoor temp stays between 50 and 60 degrees. dropping to maybe 40 in the winter. I have heard of some testing the PH of the FF.

 

[tmarsh83]

I haven't started using FF to any real degree yet, but am interested in getting it going. What type of feed is everyone fermenting? I tried a couple batches of fermented grain,they loved it. But as a new chicken daddy, I don't trust it yet. Gonna do some more research.

I am using the Nutrena Country Feeds 18% all flock. I had stayed away because it seemed like a hassle, but I wanted to cut my consumption, and I'm looking at doing meaties next year, and wanted to maybe give it a go with them, so I started a little over a week ago. Neophyte alert! LOL

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I may start using the excess as a starter for the next batch, but I like the idea of that goodie juice being in the compost pile too. I'll probably do a little bit of both, starting with fresh water every couple weeks or something.

The containers I'm using aren't that big, but I can use even smaller now that i'm getting the idea of ratio and amount they are eating in a day. They stretched 1.5 days of rations to almost 3 days as of this morning, I was pretty impressed with that.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm just trying to keep enough water in the bucket to keep the feed sealed off from air, but I like your addition of additional dry before feeding it.

I can pour the excess off, without wasting much of the feed, into my compost pile, then add some more dry to soak up the excess liquid the night before I plan to feed it.

I think that is what I will try anyway. That will give it roughly ten hours to absorb the bulk of the liquid but not long enough for it to dry out or mold.

I have two buckets going as well, and I think I will continue to use two buckets for the "deep water" fermentation, then transfer to smaller bucket that I have for the dry down.

That should work. Thank you.

If you like using the extra water, you can continue doing this. There is really no need to keep water standing over the feed. You might like to simplify things. When I mix my ferment, I simply take the bucket that I have just scooped almost empty. I fill it half full of water, and then pour pellets/crumble into the water until the pellets are close to or at the top of the water. (Or when the mix is no closer to the top of the bucket than 2"). Give it a stir, and it's good to go for tomorrow morning. When mixed about 50/50, the consistency should be just about right so that your ladle will stand upright in the mix.

I am using the Nutrena Country Feeds 18% all flock. I had stayed away because it seemed like a hassle, but I wanted to cut my consumption, and I'm looking at doing meaties next year, and wanted to maybe give it a go with them, so I started a little over a week ago. Neophyte alert! LOL

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I may start using the excess as a starter for the next batch, but I like the idea of that goodie juice being in the compost pile too. I'll probably do a little bit of both, starting with fresh water every couple weeks or something.

The containers I'm using aren't that big, but I can use even smaller now that i'm getting the idea of ratio and amount they are eating in a day. They stretched 1.5 days of rations to almost 3 days as of this morning, I was pretty impressed with that.

Making FF is very similar to making sour dough bread. When you get a good ferment going, to dump it all and start over with fresh water is simply destroying the well developed scoby that you have produced. You can use the extra liquid in the compost pile, but again, it is like throwing a good product away. Just like you would not go to the grocery store to buy veggies to feed to your compost pile, it would also be a waste of good product by dumping the "juice" in the compost. Let the soil and chicken poo, as well as all of your garden debris feed your compost. Save that good scoby to feed your FF. Eventually, you will settle into a routine where you have the perfect blend from day to day, and if on any given day you have too much"juice" you can just add more dry feed when you next mix it up.

 

[NickyPick]

I do mine in a 35 gallon drum - filled about halfway with the feed. I have a "drain bucket" that I use in the morning. It hangs over the feed drum and I'll put a couple of scoops in the bucket and let it drain off the excess while I'm feeding the horses. Then it's ready for me when its time to go feed the hens. I just add more feed & water every couple of days when it starts getting low. It's been going on for over 3 years now.

 

[crescentson]

There's a good plan, Nicky! I'll be trying that set up.

 

[NickyPick]

Here's some pictures of my set-up. I have 50+ hens, so small buckets just don't do it for me.

 

[KSH1]

I'm guessing I'm not the only one new to fermenting this time of year. I'm using New Country Organics starter mash so I do want the nutrition in the powder to go into the birds, but they're not into soup. They like the fermented feed when it's drained, but then the drained-off water is left with a bunch of the nutrition! I'm curious why all of the instructions I've seen say to keep the feed completely covered in water when clearly some members here have success not doing that. Any insight? Could I make it safely with a more dry mix, or am I better off adding feed to thicken it closer to when I'm going to use it, even though the added feed won't have time to really ferment? Or am I totally misunderstanding when you all add feed or how long fermentation takes? The chicks are a week old and this is my first foray into fermentation, obviously, so I've still got a lot to figure out! Thanks!

 

[paneubert]

I'm guessing I'm not the only one new to fermenting this time of year. I'm using New Country Organics starter mash so I do want the nutrition in the powder to go into the birds, but they're not into soup. They like the fermented feed when it's drained, but then the drained-off water is left with a bunch of the nutrition! I'm curious why all of the instructions I've seen say to keep the feed completely covered in water when clearly some members here have success not doing that. Any insight? Could I make it safely with a more dry mix, or am I better off adding feed to thicken it closer to when I'm going to use it, even though the added feed won't have time to really ferment? Or am I totally misunderstanding when you all add feed or how long fermentation takes? The chicks are a week old and this is my first foray into fermentation, obviously, so I've still got a lot to figure out! Thanks!

When I used to ferment, if it was super soupy, I would just add a bit of new/dry when I was dishing it out. Yeah, those new pellets/crumble wont ferment. No biggie. It is like 5% of the feed you are dishing out. They will at least absorb the soupy water from the fermented feed and still get those vitamins and bit of bacteria/yeast to the birds.

I did keep mine pretty soupy, and just used a kitchen strainer to scoop so most of the water would drain out. Like this kind.