Fermented feed: interesting development

[The Kooky Kiwi]

I don't make fermented feed specifically for my chickens.. but at this time of year I regularly steal a bucket of fermented maize from the stack that we make for our dairy cows.

When making our fermented feed, the success or failure of the final feed quality is very much influenced by the quality and age of the grains you start with. And yes it's quite common for your animals to love some feeds and refuse to eat others.

So my advice is to first research and use the grains that give the desired nutritional values.
Then ensure that your grains are the correct level of dry vs wet content.
Then consider your fermentation method - putting inoculants in can be more expensive but often result in a higher quality product (consider using yoghurt type cultures and/or probiotics for additional health qualities).
Ensure that your fermented product is either fed immediately or stored correctly to maximise preservation of the nutritional values and avoid spoilage.

As an additional mention - we specifically use green maize and silaged maize for adding body condition to our cows (they tend to convert the feed to weight and condition gains rather than towards producing more milk). I have noticed that it has the same effect in my chickens so I feed it only for that purpose and only when needed. It needs to be said that this is not a feed option that should be overfed..

 

[dandy_one]

if your fermented feed is more than 3 days old, is it still safe to feed as long as the feed is underwater? please advise. thank you in advance.

 

[rosemarythyme]

if your fermented feed is more than 3 days old, is it still safe to feed as long as the feed is underwater? please advise. thank you in advance.

Doesn't need to be under water. I feed anywhere from 1 to around 6 days old, depending on how big of a batch I make.

 

[dandy_one]

thank you rosemarythyme for the information, it is appreciated

 

[Sally PB]

My go-to treat for my chickens is their food, wetted into a mash. They gobble it like candy, so I want to try fermented feed. I used to feed Nutrena Naturewise All Flock. I switched to Kalmbach Flock Maker, because it's organic. One thing I noticed was the smell of both when wetted. The Naturewise had a funny smell. Kalmbach doesn't.

 

[kerbotx]

Fermented feed isn't fully fermented until day 3 or 4, depending on the ambient temperature... My favorite article on the matter: https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/
Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but another option if you prefer a submerged mixture is to strain off the excess water the day you serve it, then use that to jump start the next batch.

 

[Tonyroo]

I use to make fermented scratch grains, did that for a year but got lazy and stopped. My chickens gobbled it very fast. I been giving them plain yogurt once a week.

 

[ChookieG]

I used Purina chick crumbles first. That, they almost ate.

When they grew older, I switched to Scratch & Peck grower, which is whole grain. They're still eating that, usually moistened for the cohesion you mention! But if I ferment it, they will not touch it all.

I tried 1 day, 2 day, and 3 day fermentation for each. None seemed to hold much appeal for them.

Yeah my chooks don't really like it either but if it's the first thing you give them in the morning they may take to it...especially if it's scratch grains.

I ended up feeding them home-made yogurt mixed with crumbles instead which also contains active gut-friendly bacteria.

 

[AntiqueB]

Mine enjoy plain Greek yogurt, too!

 

[fuzzyfarmer]

I have been "fermenting" my chickies' starter crumbles since they were about a week old. I sprinkled regular dry crumbles on top to get them to eat it at first. That worked, so I did that with any new food I introduced them to, like yogurt, which they'll now eat without me doing that.

Maybe it's the brand of crumbles I'm using (Dumor starter crumbles; it was the only non-medicated one I could find locally) but I get freaked out when it starts to smell sour so I've only been "fermenting" for about 24 - 48 hours.

How can you tell a good bready/yeasty smell from one that's gone bad? If I give my chickies sour-smelling mash, will it make them sick? Or will they just not eat it?