Fermented feed: interesting development

[kerbotx]

"Sour smelling" doesn't really mean anything - just avoid mold and any alcohol-smelling mixture. The sour smell will mellow as it ages into days 3 & 4. Give it the proper time to develop, and you'll get accustomed to what is a "good" smell versus a "bad" one

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I've never personally tried it, but what I have heard was that you should only ferment enough to feed your flock for 1-2 days or it will go bad. I would try it.

Depends entirely on environment. Here in warm, humid, FL, it takes less than 12 hours for Kahm yeast to make a thin layer across the surface of any feed not completely submerged in water. Its not harmful, and may in fact prevent other yeasts and mods from effectively colonizing the slurry, but it takes over before the fermenting has far proceeded.

By four days, I find the bottom of my ferment almost liquid and well progressed, even where the feed has not been fully submerged - so thin it pours more like melted milk shake than the loose oatmeal my birds prefer.

In other, colder and drier environments, I understand it can take up to three days or so before a good ferment is going, leading to the practice of scooping fermented feed from a source bucket, then immediately "feeding" it an equal measure of fresh to begin fermentation in the existing culture.

 

[Rangergord]

This year I am going to try a drier oatmeal texture instead of the submerged back slope method. I find straining out the excess water is tedious. I noticed a lot of comments about yoghurt cultures in this thread. Nothing wrong with yoghurt for chickens but it’s NOT the right culture for fermented feed.
Why? Yoghurt is a thermophylic culture that needs a temperature higher than human body temp. 103 degrees F plus. Unless you use an incubation chamber this temperature is just too high. The correct temperature is Room temperature 73- 75 degrees F. Using a buttermilk culture. Buttermilk or probiotic supplement pills can be used as a starter inoculant or just keep the feed at room temp until a natural culture develops on its own. These cultures are termed mesothermic below human body temperature. This culture will produce Lactic Acid Bacteria LAB, result in a low pH reading that inhibits disease in the chickens and contamination by other organisms in the feed. Temperatures lower than room temp tend to produce cultures in which yeasts predominate. I tried using an apple cider yeast culture for a while and my hens went nuts for the resulting fermented alcoholic feed. They became very aggressive, like a mean drunk. I learned that this is also not the right culture to provide the probiotic benefits of fermented feed even if drunk chickens are a bit entertaining.

 

[Rangergord]

Just one more point about the difference between a thermophylic culture and a mesothermic culture. When the temperature drops below human body temp a thermophylic culture dies. A mesothermic culture at body temperature continues to live and colonize the digestive tract. That’s exactly what you want.

 

[fuzzyfarmer]

I tried using an apple cider yeast culture for a while and my hens went nuts for the resulting fermented alcoholic feed. They became very aggressive, like a mean drunk. I learned that this is also not the right culture to provide the probiotic benefits of fermented feed even if drunk chickens are a bit entertaining.

Good to know! I was wondering if people had tried this and thought about trying it.

 

[Tonyroo]

It's better to research culturing methods and practicing it. Why bother going through the hassle of making it to have turn out different from what you thought it should be.

 

[Rangergord]

It's better to research culturing methods and practicing it. Why bother going through the hassle of making it to have turn out different from what you thought it should be.

Yes, absolutely. I have read quite a few of the papers on the subject. I had also heard of people feeding chickens leftover distillery mash and had live apple cider on hand so I could not resist experimenting. Their aggression was surprising, They would fly right at me to get more when I came to feed them!

 

[ChookieG]

Mine enjoy plain Greek yogurt, too!

They've gone back to loving fermented grains again.. but my recent fermentation has gone rogue as it smells like vomit! (see https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/vomit-smelling-fermented-feed.1465842/) if interested.

 

[Iheartbirds]

I tried fermented feed. But my hens would not eat it. I tried it at 1 day, 2 days and 3 days. They would not touch it. Is there a type of feed that ferments better than others?

I use Manna Pro organic layer pellets. It takes about 3 days for the fermenting to start. It needs to reach that sour smell before it's fermented. It didn't take my 2 spoiled girls to take to it and they would give me grief if they missed a day. Just be sure to keep it covered with at least 3" of water and stirred thoroughly every day or twice a day, which will keep it fermenting instead of getting moldy. I strain about 1/2 for each of them in the morning and again in the late afternoon. It needs to be strained. If it's soupy, they won't be able to get bites of food. They need water but they won't take in more than they need, so they'll abandon the effort to eat it. They always have access to the non fermented dry feed and go through about a qt of that a week between them.