Fermented bedding for brooders

[yakitori]

I just wanted to share the fermented bedding I'm testing in my brooder. I had the idea after watching a Chinese girl on youtube doing something similar for her brooder. If anyone else has tried a similar method, it would be great if you could share your experience!

My idea was to mimic an active deep litter, which breaks down waste continuously. For my bedding, I inoculated fine pine shavings with bokashi bran. I thought that adding these good fermentation bacteria will prevent bad bacteria from growing in the bedding as well as assist in effectively composting waste (poop, food spillage etc)

I mostly used expanded pine pellets for a fine pine shaving texture. I also adde some regular large texture pine shavings. After leaving it to expand out, I mixed in 2 tablespoons of bokashi bran. The bedding has a dampness to it, akin to that of nice rich potting soil.

(pine pellets)

(after adding water)

Okay, maybe I lied when I said "brooder". I have a 1.5lb satin hen acting as heating pad... but hey, it works just the same
(fresh bedding on day 3)




It's been 9 days since I set up the bedding, It's holding up great and smells healthy. There's a lot of poop in it by now, but it doesn't show at all.




To be honest, I didn't find bedding ingestion much of an issue. I scattered rolled oats on the bedding for my chicks on day 2 and by day 3 they were extremely adept at picking out rolled oat pieces from the bedding. Regardless, whether you put paper towels over the surface for the first few days or not, it's imperative to provide chick grit for this set up as a preventative measure.

Did I mention you can also plant things in this? The mugwort on the left must have been tasty, because that was demolished in a couple of hours. The patch of grass however, is still barely hanging on today - 6 days later. (Photo taken on Tuesday, grass planted on Monday)



The cage I'm using is approx. 18in x 30 in, so my chicks will outgrow this brooder before the bedding expires. But if made deep enough, I have no doubt that this bedding will last an entire brooding cycle and beyond

 

[Chicalina]

What about the dampness and respiratory problems?

 

[yakitori]

What about the dampness and respiratory problems?

I’ve heard that correlation often, but I don’t think I’ve read about the science in detail. Does dampness cause respiratory problems due to mold?

My chicks (past and present) have spent time outside on natural soil/litter that are not much drier than the fermented bedding. I’m guessing a healthy substrate won’t present the same issues bred by those of an unhealthy substrate with bad bacteria?

Sorry if I sound dumb, these are just speculations on my part

 

[yakitori]

Ooh, I may have created misconceptions about the bedding. If you can imagine it like potting soil where the surface is dry, and it gets damper if you dig down further. It’s kind of like that...

 

[ladybrasa]

This sounds really interesting!

You said the chicks aren’t really eating the bedding. Do you feel this might be because they have a hen to show them what to eat, or any chick, mom or not, wouldn’t be inclined to eat it?

 

[yakitori]

This sounds really interesting!

You said the chicks aren’t really eating the bedding. Do you feel this might be because they have a hen to show them what to eat, or any chick, mom or not, wouldn’t be inclined to eat it?

I think if you start them on it right away, they are less inclined to see it as food.

I used the same type of bedding for my last brood (4-8week chicks without a hen). only last time I use it fully dry and found that it got quite dusty toward the end.
They were curious about it at first, ate some, then stopped on their own. Bedding is probably just not very tasty. I think having treats directly on the bedding also helped them differentiate tasty from non-tasty. They would eat it as much as they would eat the dirt they pick around in.

Of course, it’s possible to have all kinds of chicken personalities. I have no doubt there’s one out there that loves to eat bedding just like that odd kid at school who loved to lick glue

 

[Chicalina]

I’ve heard that correlation often, but I don’t think I’ve read about the science in detail. Does dampness cause respiratory problems due to mold?

My chicks (past and present) have spent time outside on natural soil/litter that are not much drier than the fermented bedding. I’m guessing a healthy substrate won’t present the same issues bred by those of an unhealthy substrate with bad bacteria?

Sorry if I sound dumb, these are just speculations on my part

I think it's more to do with the ammonia from droppings, plus moisture which means they have a damp humid ammonia rich environment and that can burn their airways plus allow respiratory infections to take hold. I am no expert but I understood this was was basis of always ensuring a dry coop and good ventilation. Perhaps with an open cage like you have, you are ensuring good ventilation plus if good bacteria break down the poop quickly then maybe there is less ammonia. I just don't know, but it's a very interesting experiment and thank you for sharing it.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[yakitori]

I think it's more to do with the ammonia from droppings, plus moisture which means they have a damp humid ammonia rich environment and that can burn their airways plus allow respiratory infections to take hold. I am no expert but I understood this was was basis of always ensuring a dry coop and good ventilation. Perhaps with an open cage like you have, you are ensuring good ventilation plus if good bacteria break down the poop quickly then maybe there is less ammonia. I just don't know, but it's a very interesting experiment and thank you for sharing it.

Let us know how it works out.

ooh, that’s interesting.

My actual run is closer to a true deep little system. I don’t smell the poop in there, wet or dry. I rarely add material in there anymore, the chickens mix it up and the poop is magically gone. I’m not entirely sure fermentation composting works the same way though. I’ve only ever fermented food before

 

[Chicalina]

ooh, that’s interesting.

My actual run is closer to a true deep little system. I don’t smell the poop in there, wet or dry. I rarely add material in there anymore, the chickens mix it up and the poop is magically gone. I’m not entirely sure fermentation composting works the same way though. I’ve only ever fermented food before

Yeah, also in my open run it's dirt and gets wet and composts down and I add the coop shavings when I clean that out and they compost down too.

In my covered run it stays dry and always a great dry dirt dust bath area, plus any droppings just break down too.

In my coop, I have deep litter shavings which I clean out completely about every 3 to 4 months. It stays very dry, and poop just sort of dries into crusts. I also have a poop board that I clean about once a week or two weeks, covered in DE, a thin shavings layer and some sanitising powder.

This is just the way I do things and it suits me and my damp climate.

Always open to learning better ways to do things. Deep litter is literally the most amazing method for me. And its great insulation in the winter.

No idea how it would work if I made it damp, and I've voiced my concerns about that above. It would also rot the wooden coop/shed quicker.

 

[yakitori]

18 day (?) update.
Checked the bedding yesterday, and it seems to have mostly dried out. Decomposition is definitely going on - when I dig the bedding up, I can see a layer of white bokashi mold (beneficial, non harmful fermentation mold). Apparently this is an indication that everything is breaking down as it should.

Chicks are hyperactive, happy and healthy