Fermented feed qty for young chicks

[SB907]

I have 8 bantam chicks hatching this week and would like to start with fermented feed right away. Trying to figure out how much food per chick per day, so I can make sure to prepare the right amount of starter and minimize waste. Obviously they will eat more as they grow, but approximately how much would you estimate per chick per day during the first week or so? I am planning to have dry crumble available at all times and FF twice daily.

 

[saysfaa]

Fermenting is VERY flexible... I would start with a pint of dry feed in a quart jar add enough water to cover the feed and let it work at room temperature. If the chicks haven't hatched by the time it is ready, take a quarter of it to start another jar at room temperature and put the first jar in the refrigerator. When the chicks are hatched, dried off, and ready to start eating, spoon out enough from the first jar to keep feed available all the time. It will probably take days to finish the first jar unless they waste a lot of it. That is okay.

As the second jar starts to work, slow it down some by putting it in a cooler place or slow it down a lot by putting it in the refrigerator. When the first jar has a half a cup or so left, add more feed and more water and start feeding from the second jar. Or refill it from the second jar and put more feed and water in the second jar.

If they start eating it about as fast as the renewed batch ferments, start making the batches a little bigger.

It is really hard to say how much food per chick per day because it will start with very, very little and increase pretty fast.

 

[DobieLover]

Just start up a ferment of chick starter like this:

Maybe not that much but you get the idea. Add cold, clean water until it's soupy and stir it a few times a day to degas it. I leave mine in the sink or pantry. After three days, it will be ready to feed. I pour out about half of what is in the container and add enough dry to the soupy ferment to get a good consistency to feed it. Then add more dry and more water to the ferment container and mix well and let it start bubbling away. Mix a few times during the day to keep it from expanding too much and oozing over the edges of the container.
Just pour out what you want and mix it with some dry starter to get a good consistency to feed and put it out in a trough to feed it:

You'll have to loosen it up several times a day as they will get in there and pack it down then have a hard time eating it.
Just add more when they need it.

 

[azygous]

I feed fermented feed to chicks, but start them the feed sprinkled over the bottom of the brooder when I first get them. Most chicks don't understand how to use a feeder, preferring to hunt for loose food on the floor. I make available the FF in a very small diameter cup so as to discourage chicks from wading around in it. FF on down is impossible to clean off.

I also make the FF as dry as possible. It will ferment just fine without making it soupy. For the feeder, I take a small tin like Fancy Feast cat food comes in, glue the can to a scrap of lumber so it won't tip, and that way the chicks won't walk in it. For a lot of chicks, I glue several of the tiny cans onto a longer board. The tiny diameter cans prevent chicks from making a mess of their brooder and themselves.

 

[SB907]

Thanks for the ideas. Any idea how much a bantam sized chick will eat per day? 2Tbsp?

 

[azygous]

They each eat about a teaspoon the first couple days. By the end of the week, maybe twice that. Keep doubling the amount each week, but the chicks may decide to eat more. It depends on their rate of growth. Expect them to eat continuously all day. Adult chickens can get by with two feedings per day, but chicks lack that capacity for the first three months.

 

[Percheron chick]

The first week they will barely eat. One cup of dry is more than enough to start with. I started with a qt jar for 50 dp chicks and never ran out. It quickly grew to a gallon. I always back slop. One bucket. Keep adding feed and water to same bucket. I try to keep the bucket around 50/50. Old to new.

 

[SB907]

They each eat about a teaspoon the first couple days. By the end of the week, maybe twice that. Keep doubling the amount each week, but the chicks may decide to eat more. It depends on their rate of growth. Expect them to eat continuously all day. Adult chickens can get by with two feedings per day, but chicks lack that capacity for the first three months.

Thanks, this gives me a good idea of how much to start with. I’d rather start small and supplement with dry crumble than make too much and have it get too sour and have to throw it out! Feed is expensive!

 

[azygous]

You shouldn't ever need to throw out fermented feed. Simply add to it to refresh the ferment. Think sour dough starter. Very similar. The ferment can be slowed down by refrigerating it. To speed it up, place the ferment in a very warm spot. On occasion, after misjudging and running low, I will put the ferment bucket next to my wood stove, and I will have a ferment over night.

 

[saysfaa]

If it gets too sour, you can add any or all of: vinegar, feed, and maybe water. It will then right itself. I find it harder to manage very small amounts.