Fermented Feed for chicks: How much how often?

Lel's Lil Acre

Chirping
Sep 22, 2017
27
34
71
Northern Michigan
I know that you can use fermented feed with day old chicks, but my question is: How much do you give per chick (I will have 7 easter eggers, 2 cuckoo marans, 2 speckled Sussex and 1 Colombian rock cross) Do you leave it for chicks all day? Twice a day or three times a day as much as they will eat in x amount of time?

I read about 1/2-3/4 cup per adult bird (but watch to see if they are still hungry and incresse if needed) but I haven't seen anything on babies :/

Thank you in advance!
 
They should still have food constantly available. As long as it's at the cool end of your brooder it will be fine to have it out all day, or you can keep adding some as they eat it during the day. Might be an idea to have some dry crumbles on the side too, just in case they take a little while to get a taste for it.

It depends on the birds as to how much they will eat so you may have to play around until you figure out how much they will consume/how much you need to make.

Enjoy your babies.
 
The important thing is to not put it in a container that they can get mired in. Give them enough that they always have some available. You might do a combo of crumble and FF to start. Chicks are like little kids. They make a horrible mess, and they play in their food. So, keep an eye on it. If it gets soiled, replace it. If it's too soupy or too deep, they might get trampled into it. A chick who's done a face plant in a soupy bowl of FF is a chick who is in trouble.

I start by giving them a plop of it on a paper plate or a shoe box lid or something similar. Then, as they grow bigger, I put it in a shallow bowl.

By the time they are 2 - 3 weeks old, they should be doing fairly well with it, and can be fairly civilized if it's placed in a trough with a spinning dowel to keep them from walking in it.
 
I put mine in an ice cube tray and had it out for my chickies during the day. I cleaned out the excess at night. It took a few days, but I got the hang of how much they ate and could judge it better and waste less.
 
I found a pic of my brooder set up. Fermented in a chick waterer base on the left, dry on the right and the waterer.
20170224_080912.jpg
 

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