expired kefir?

[blueberrychickens]

I bought some kefir back in late April and it got pushed to the back of the fridge & is now expired. Would it Ben OK to give it to the girls in my flock? Also would kefir in general be beneficial to a hen w sour crop?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't feed spoiled or moldy items to chickens. Moldy feed can kill chickens.

Look up the "sour crop cured with monistat" thread if interested...I have no experience with sour crop - also look up olive oil soaked bread and massage.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

I make kefir for my husband and myself from organic, low-heat pasteurized, non-homogenized milk.

I have a hen that has had chronic sour crop for two years!! So bad, that she was constantly eating, I suppose because she always felt hungry because she wasn't digesting food fast enough. Her crop stretched SO big, that it hung really low and then that just compounded the problem because the food hung too low to flow through her crop, so it just sat there and soured even more! When she got really uncomfortable, she would eat and eat on dirt and sticks.

Many times I have separated her so that I could control her food intake and medicate her to get rid of all the bacteria growing in her crop. But, after the gazillionth time, I decided I was done with that!! No more hours spent nursing her!! (I know it sounds bad, but I was frustrated!!_)

I started feeding fermented feed about a month ago. Right after that, I had to separate her to let her clear out again....I know, I said I wasn't going to, but I wanted to give the fermented food an opportunity to get a foot-hold before I gave up. All she was given was FF (very wet) for a couple of days....then I added some lentil sprouts.....then, one day we had some "extra sour" kefir because I forgot to strain it on time, and I didn't want it to go to waste.....aha! I'll feed it to the chickens.... THEY LOVED IT!!!!!......I gave the hen her own in her isolation pen. I got to thinking how good it is for us, so maybe it will help her like it has my husband. So, I kept giving it to her with her FF. Now she has re-joined the flock, and has made a lot of progress!! For the last week, her crop has been SO much smaller than usual for her!! She is eating normally, not gorging herself. Her crop is still stretched out, but she isn't filling it so full every day! I'll still give the girls some kefir about twice a week. I can't swear that it was what worked, but it surely didn't hurt!!!

I'm still taking her progress day-to-day, but it is looking promising. She is much thinner than she should be, but hopefully with the good flora building up in her gut, she will start absorbing and utilizing more of her food.

Sorry so long winded....lol

 

[blueberrychickens]

Thank you so much shancarl1971, this girl has always had a problem w her crop. She sounds a lot like your girl. She drank so much water yesterday that she could hardly walk without toppling forward over her huge crop. I had to tip her down and get her to vomit( so gross!) But then she felt better and was able to walk normal again. I have her seperated from the rest of the girls and will try the ff and kefir for a while & see how she does. This hen is over a yr old and has never laid an egg either! She's a speckled Sussex and she's a sweet sweet girl. I'd hate to see her suffering anymore. I also gave her a dose of the monistat and I'm gonna try that too.
How do you ferment feed? Do you just soak layer pellets for a few days in water?

 

[ShanCarl1971]

I used to give mine meds too, but I think it just makes things worse for the long run. It kills ALL the bacteria, both good and bad!! That's why I went just with the FF and kefir. I kinda figure if I can get enough good bacteria in her, it may overpopulate the bad. Also, with the good bacteria built up in her gut, she will absorb more nutrition from her food and not feel the need to eat constantly. (This is my theory anyway) The first couple of days that I had her isolated, I gave her small amounts of food, twice a day....not really even enough for maintenance, but I wanted all that leftover nasty stuff in there to pass through. After I was sure it was all gone, I started feeding her "normal" amounts of food. (all FF with the sprouts and kefir....changed the combos up with each feeding) And NO corn!! I ferment scratch too, but didn't give her any of that. And I haven't put any corn out for the flock since I put her back with them.

I was making mine vomit fairly regularly, because she would get SO full, then it would sour, and she would balloon up when things got nasty in there. Sometimes she would gorge on so much dirt and stuff, that I couldn't even make her vomit. I would have to withdraw food and just leave her with water, just to get it to loosen up a bit. I have resorted to tubing water into her just so I could massage it and loosen it up a little. (I'm talking about this like it's in the past....but in reality, she has only been back in the general population for a little more than a week....lol)

So far, she has been doing well since I put her back with the flock. With the isolation time and the time she has been back in, she has been "sour-free" for about two weeks....a major record for her!!

 

[pdirt]

I bought some kefir back in late April and it got pushed to the back of the fridge & is now expired. Would it Ben OK to give it to the girls in my flock? Also would kefir in general be beneficial to a hen w sour crop?

The cool thing about fermented foods is that once they are fermented, it's not real easy for them to go bad, or at least not quickly. Fermented foods ferment quicker at room temp and much more slowly in the fridge, so that expired kefir is probably fine, especially if it expired recently and not a year ago. If it smells like kefir and maybe simply smells a bit extra sour, no problem. If it smells moldy or like death, toss it.