Fermented feed in winter??

[The_Flock]

Hello peeps. I'm feeding my girls fermented scratch and they are loving it.
BUT...it's very cold here, often at or below -10°C. Today it is -18°C and the feed is frozen. I drain it really well before I take it to them. And then I break it up when it freezes and the girls still eat it.
Are there still as many benefits to it if it's frozen? If not, then what do you guys do to keep your fermented food thawed in winter?
Thank you and I hope you have a great day.

 

[Alaskan]

At cold temps I find that higher protein feed (18 to 20 % protein) gives the best results.

Scratch is usually pretty high in starch, but low in protein, which is why it is usually seen as a treat, not a complete feed.

I would buy a layer feed (if they are laying) or an all flock feed if they are not laying.

 

[RebeccaRN]

Hello peeps. I'm feeding my girls fermented scratch and they are loving it.
BUT...it's very cold here, often at or below -10°C. Today it is -18°C and the feed is frozen. I drain it really well before I take it to them. And then I break it up when it freezes and the girls still eat it.
Are there still as many benefits to it if it's frozen? If not, then what do you guys do to keep your fermented food thawed in winter?
Thank you and I hope you have a great day.

Can you keep your bucket indoors? Your fermenting bucket i mean.

 

[The_Flock]

Can you keep your bucket indoors? Your fermenting bucket i mean.

Yes I ferment inside. But the feed freezes after fermenting when I feed them. It takes about 30-40 minutes for the feed to freeze. I can break it up easy enough, and they go wild for it again. Lol.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hello peeps. I'm feeding my girls fermented scratch and they are loving it.
BUT...it's very cold here, often at or below -10°C. Today it is -18°C and the feed is frozen. I drain it really well before I take it to them. And then I break it up when it freezes and the girls still eat it.
Are there still as many benefits to it if it's frozen? If not, then what do you guys do to keep your fermented food thawed in winter?
Thank you and I hope you have a great day.

Fermented feed is over rated and irrelevant! I did so for a flock of 82+ with NO changes to health, cost, waste.. etc.. except.. I wasted a WHOLE lot of my time!

Use a formulated ration (Flock raiser w/ oyster shell on the side or layer) which often has probiotics already in the mix..

Scratch.. should be fed at less than 10% total daily intake.. contrary to popular belief.. corn does NOT keep birds warm.. feathers and calories do.. don't diminish the nutrition to accomplish that.. MANY feeds are already made primarily with corn.. but have the added vitamins, minerals, and importantly amino acids.. that scratch will not.

Fermenting essentially predigest carbohydrates..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-feed-good-idea.1428752/page-5#post-23534698

Good luck on you winter time adventures!

Edit.. if your fermenting well.. there is NO need to drain.. that's a wasted step.. just add more feed and keep it stirred.. mold never grows on top, just scoby.

 

[The_Flock]

At cold temps I find that higher protein feed (18 to 20 % protein) gives the best results.

Scratch is usually pretty high in starch, but low in protein, which is why it is usually seen as a treat, not a complete feed.

I would buy a layer feed (if they are laying) or an all flock feed if they are not laying.

Oh yes...that's a good idea. Do you ferment too? I looked up quite a few different types of feed to ferment and scratch was one of the types talked about alot. My guess is because of mostly whole grains. I'm going to be adding pumpkin seeds, and millet when I'm a but more comfy fermenting.

 

[The_Flock]

Fermented feed is over rated and irrelevant! I did so for a flock of 82+ with NO changes to health, cost, waste.. etc.. except.. I wasted a WHOLE lot of my time!

Use a formulated ration (Flock raiser w/ oyster shell on the side or layer) which often has probiotics already in the mix..

Scratch.. should be fed at less than 10% total daily intake.. contrary to popular belief.. corn does NOT keep birds warm.. feathers and calories do.. don't diminish the nutrition to accomplish that.. MANY feeds are already made primarily with corn.. but have the added vitamins, minerals, and importantly amino acids.. that scratch will not.

Fermenting essentially predigest carbohydrates..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-feed-good-idea.1428752/page-5#post-23534698

Good luck on you winter time adventures!

Edit.. if your fermenting well.. there is NO need to drain.. that's a wasted step.. just add more feed and keep it stirred.. mold never grows on top, just scoby.

Thank you so much for this info. I've already taken a look at the link you shared and there's so much info there. I'm gonna take my chances with fermenting, for now and see how things go.
I've been keeping the feed covered with water and feeding after 24hrs. If there is no water above the feed then I add more water and stir. Should I not be adding more water then and just stir? I like that idea. Lol. Plus I'd like a scoby.

 

[RebeccaRN]

I ferment scratch but use it as a bedtime treat. I have regular feed out free choice plus they free-range all day.

 

[PioneerChicks]

Appropriately disagreeing, I have witnessed for myself while fermenting that the chickens both eat and consume less. And if you believe pickles have benefits, I don't see why FF wouldn't. Fermenting and pickling are similar.

But I understand that there is a wide range of opinions here. If somebody else has had a different experience, that is understandable.

When fermented grains freeze, it sort of "breaks" the ferment. Maybe it would help if you could get the chickens to eat all the feed in 10-20 minutes?

 

[Alaskan]

Oh yes...that's a good idea. Do you ferment too? I looked up quite a few different types of feed to ferment and scratch was one of the types talked about alot. My guess is because of mostly whole grains. I'm going to be adding pumpkin seeds, and millet when I'm a but more comfy fermenting.

No, I don't ferment.

Also, I worry that making chickens eat frozen icy feed increases their nutrition requirements since they have to warm up the feed before they digest it.