fermented feed question

[trudyg]

I started feeding fermented feed a week ago to get more probiotics into the chickens, who possibly have vent gleet that I'm also working on (no smell, so is it really VG?). Anyway, fermented feed can't hurt and may help, so I'll try it.

I have read that they eat a lot less feed if it's fermented. Mine are eating more at this point. I was putting 2 scoops of flock raiser in the feeder before. I put 2 scoops into my bucket, added water and let it ferment. They finished it off within 30 minutes and, that evening, they swamped me hoping I was bringing more! They free range and it's summer, so they're getting bugs, etc, and shouldn't be hungry. I gave them the same amount and they finished it in 30 minutes. Next day, same thing. They're now getting 4 scoops per day instead of 2. This has gone on for 4 days now. Do you think they'll get over the 'new' and settle down? Maybe they didn't eat so much before since it was dry?

Also, the poop load has doubled. I usually scoop 1/2 of an ice cream bucket of poop from the sand in the morning. Now my bucket is full. And there is more splashy poop than there was before.

My treating for potential vent gleet is only bath, trim, cream up with monistat and try to get some inside the vent on the worst ones. They were wormed with wazine, repeated on day 9 with no change in droppings with fermented feed starting 2 days after. A month or so ago, I had a fecal done and treated with levamisol (sole source of water for a day, 3 total treatments a week apart).

Any thoughts? I plan to continue the fermented feed since they all really love it and (big reason) the olders are letting the youngers eat right alongside them now. Before, the youngers were chased away until the olders walked away (still plenty of food and they got to eat, went in with full crops). I just find this odd. I had hoped to settle in to one feeding per day and fewer poops.

 

[DobieLover]

I have been feeding fermented feed since my day old chicks arrived. Once they were 8 weeks old, I switched them over to a homemade version of fermented feed.
I think yours are eating like little piggies because they really like it.
Just ferment your normal daily ration and feed 1/2 in the morning and half 2 hours or so before roosting time and monitor their weight. Adjust accordingly. Their droppings will stabilize.
I can't offer any assistance on the VG as I have never had to deal with that. But I would recommend continuing the fermented feed. It just makes the feed much more nutritious. And during the summer months, it increases moisture intake for the birds.

 

[PirateGirl]

I'm speculating they really like the FF so are eating more as soon as you feed in the morning and possibly eating less while they free range, whereas with the dry feed perhaps they would eat more free ranging and eat less of the dry feed. Just a thought.

 

[Perris]

You might give their digestive systems a little more time to adjust; I expect it'll all come good. The key thing is, they're loving it! It's a real bonus that they share better on it; how interesting! I don't know anything about VG so can't help there, sorry.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

When I did ferment... NOTHING but... for 2 years... their was NO significant decrease in consumption... and I think that is mostly relevant to people who have a lot of waste to begin with.

During that time... I discovered... bringing enough feed to last free choice the whole day worked best or it was thought of as a treat and I got swarmed at the door and they hurried to scarf. Left all day... it became treated as food instead of hand delivered fun. Never an obese chicken in the bunch. And I simply collected at night to add to the back slop for the next day. It worked well!

Many feeds already have probiotics added in, even some that don;t spend $ for fancy labels... just read the tag. Also IMHO... our bodies have their own biom... with a balance of all kinds of bacteria... we are fully inhabited by them... Once you reach balance... that's about it... you cannot eliminate all the bad, it just isn't possible. The body in good condition WILL maintain balance... but if you are already throwing all the tricks up your sleeve out... what will you do when someone needs MORE help?

Our feeds ARE formulated to meet the needs of our chooks by experts in poultry nutrition and regulated by the FDA (I believe)... fermenting changes that balance somewhat... you don't get something for nothing, EVER. Some vitamins may increase, but they never mention what decreases.

I had ONE hen that got vent gleet even though I did only FF and NO cruddy treats since I'm a tight wad... you can't fight genetics.

I feel like fermenting is fun to do. I think it's a great treat and enrichment. And I do think it CAN benefit birds who are struggling or immunocompromised. But feeding it long term did NOT have an overall effect on my feed bill or the general health of my flock! It took a serious toll on my time and energy though when doing it for 82+ birds. I completely quit FF for a while... and felt like people who are hard core kinda fear monger other into believing that not fermenting is SOMEHOW providing less than for our birds. It simply ISN'T true!

Anyways... I DO still enjoy fermenting and giving as a treat/supplement. But I don't buy all the hype about savings and health benefits after doing it for 2+ years.

Hope your flock recovers quickly and things settle down for you... Sounds like you've had a go of it.

 

[trudyg]

Thanks all. It is kind of labor intensive, but I'm changing water and scooping anyway so just one more thing. There's only a problem if I need to be away--I have no one who I could ask to do this kind of work. SiL is happy to come over and feed/water since he drives right by on his way to feed/water his cows, but scooping or wet feed no, I wouldn't take that much of his time. He's such a good guy and will do anything for anyone, I'll bank that goodwill until I really need something. And yes, there is much less waste. They bill so much dry feed out of the feeder and then you have concerns about mice and other birds. I'll stick it out for awhile and see what happens

 

[trudyg]

BTW, I use a 4' long plastic gutter as a feed trough. Seems like the FF gets dried on the edges. How often do you suggest cleaning it out? I'm thinking of getting heavy rubber bowls from TSC, so could carry it back and forth and hose it out when I'm putting water in my FF pail.

 

[PetesChicks]

The feed savings I noticed with FF was less waste. I sift through the feed (a huge waste of time right there, but it’s time watching Chicken TV so that’s ok) and all the fine powder goes into a bucket for making FF, the rest goes into a bucket for feeding dry. I give 8 scoops a day for my 8 girls, and they have dry 24/7.