Fermented feed question

[ak rain]

Wixychixy
I am just in research stage.
It needs oxygen meaning not airtight. Did you have tight lid?
I want to try and am worried about this too . My bread sourdough starter is doing ok so I figure I can do this
Ak rain

 

[wixychixy]

I was wondering if maybe I hadn't added enough acv or something. I only put a teaspoon in a 1 quart bowl.

 

[wixychixy]

Wixychixy
I am just in research stage.
It needs oxygen meaning not airtight. Did you have tight lid?
I want to try and am worried about this too . My bread sourdough starter is doing ok so I figure I can do this
Ak rain

The lid wasn't airtight. I am wondering about the amount of acv I put in though. I added one teaspoon to a one quart bowl. Maybe it wasn't enough?

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

I read and read on those threads about it... In the end, I put some scratch grains in a glass bowl and covered them with warm water. That was it... I put it where I knew my wife would never find it, but inside the house to keep it warm... Right next to the laundry detergent above the dryer.

I am about two weeks into it, there is no smell, I mean if you put your nose to it, it smells like sour cream, but you don't smell it when you are walking past or anything.. you really have to put your nose to it.
I keep a slotted spoon next to it, and take it out and feed the chicks four or 5 spoonfuls of it, then go back in and dump more scratch grains in, and add water to cover over completely... I am probably doing everything "wrong".. But it works and that is about all I have time for.

I leave the liquid as starter.

 

[leesbunny]

I have been fermenting for about a year now and absolutely love it and so does my flock. I started doing it for my meaties. Well, my layers were jealous. It is not my sole source of feed though. I always leave out free choice dry food. The more fermented they eat, food consumption goes down considerably. I just have a pail of fermenting feed in the laundry room. It was in the garage until it got too cold out there. I also have another pail of fermenting scratch that is their bedtime treat.

The pail is an old pail from deck screws, about two gallons. I add about 2-3 glugs of raw ACV, and the rest water. Cover the feed totally with water. You may have to add more as the feed absorbs. I also throw in calf manna or catfood, depending on what I feel the flock needs. I do not cover it with a lid or cloth or anything. If I go through the laundry room, I stir it around. Sometimes when I am making more ACV, I throw some of the mother in with the feed. I drain it into a wire colandar, because I don't make so much. To encourage the layers to eat it at the beginning I through a little bird seed in when serving.

I think the problem that everyone has with it going bad is that it needs to be stirred every once in awhile. The smell should not be horrible, but what is horrible to some is not to others. I read once it should smell like pickled corn, but I have no idea what that smells like.

Now, we are on the second batch of meaties. They are almost 3 weeks old. I have been feeding the fermented feed from day one. About every other day I mix in a couple hard boiled eggs and mashed garlic. They get a big bowl of ferment about 3 times a day, but also have dry food avail at all times.

When I have chicks or meaties, the ferment is meat maker or chick starter, or both. When I only have the layers, then I ferment the layer. I also want to add that the overall health of my entire flock has improved on this method.

P.S. Angie, I only live about 10 minutes south of you in P.F.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote:
I want to eat your chickens!

I miss being able to raise my meat birds the way that makes them (and therefore the eventual consumer) happiest...

About fermenting: I'm keen to try deliberate fermenting but had been doing it accidentally for a while. I used to free range my chooks and I'd give them ACV in the water often but expect them to obtain most of their own feed, like grasses and insects, etc. I would get coarse grain mix with corn, black sunflower seed, red sorghum and barley or wheat or millet; then I'd add copra or wheat bran and kelp granules, and random things like honey or dried herbs or a bit of cold-pressed oils or spices... then I'd add water and mix it, then throw it out to them. At first, having been raised by the people I bought them from on pellets and crumble, they were madly ravenous for the wet mix.

Then I noticed after a generation or two that they only ate what they needed for a light breakfast before they went freeranging, and left it till the next morning. This kept happening even when I reduced the feed more and more, thinking I was feeding too much and it'll go bad or soured. So I'd throw the soured mix and replace it with less. So because there was less, they stopped eating it on the first day and they started to scratch it into the dirt and leave it, where it fermented quicker... Which I thought meant they didn't want it at all! But the next day or so they'd diligently dig it up and eat it, and soon I notice the ones who buried their wet grain and dug it up later were healthier than those who just took it as I fed it, unfermented. Some chooks always eat whatever is in front of them, usually the commercially bred layer types, which I'm not a fan of; they are usually too feed inefficient, less hardy, less long-lived, the list goes on...

 

[Angiebubs]

leesbunnys: Wow Hi neighbor!!! Trying to guess where your at LOL Are you east of "C.L."? I am south of Amery near Little Falls.

I love hearing everyones story about FF.

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html has been of tremendous help in understanding what is actually happening when adding ACV. Per what I am reading, you can use nothing and it will ferment or you can add LAB (Lactic Acid bacteria) to get it started (Buttermilk or yogurt etc with active cultures). ACV creates alcohol; LAB creates Lactic acid also known as priobiotics. (Also says that you should use no more than a Tbsp ACV per gallon and half of feed). Really some great reading if you have the time. I always want to know why!

 

[leesbunny]

Yes, I am just north of Prairie Farm. I have only lived up here a short time, and I do not know where little falls is.

 

[Angiebubs]

I just moved here myself 3 years ago (From Twin cities suburbs-12 yrs (prior to that; California-bay area for 18 yrs...then prior to THAT- I grew up in a lil small town in southern MN). I am about 8 miles W of Amery

 

[LilBeaverDoms]

leesbunnys: Wow Hi neighbor!!! Trying to guess where your at LOL Are you east of "C.L."? I am south of Amery near Little Falls.

I love hearing everyones story about FF.

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html has been of tremendous help in understanding what is actually happening when adding ACV. Per what I am reading, you can use nothing and it will ferment or you can add LAB (Lactic Acid bacteria) to get it started (Buttermilk or yogurt etc with active cultures). ACV creates alcohol; LAB creates Lactic acid also known as priobiotics. (Also says that you should use no more than a Tbsp ACV per gallon and half of feed). Really some great reading if you have the time. I always want to know why!

I think the problem that everyone has with it going bad is that it needs to be stirred every once in awhile. The smell should not be horrible, but what is horrible to some is not to others. I read once it should smell like pickled corn, but I have no idea what that smells like.

I willl have to agree on the stirring... My batch was going swell until I decided not to mess with it ONE day. Then when I went to give it to them the next day it smelled horrible. So, I just dumped the whole bowl out there and those chicks absolutely tore it up

.
I figured one day of souring wasn't gonna hurt them with all the junk they have dug out from under the oak leaves. Not a single sign of distress in any of them.
So this time around, I got some natural ACV and put a shot in the water with the new batch. It started bubbling just as fast as the 'nothing added' batch, and there is a slightly more 'pickled' smell than the last batch. But the chicks are eating it too, though it hasn't really fermented yet.