Fermented feed question

[lauranickerson]

Cover the feed with a towel to keep them out?

Hey, now that's an idea. Didn't even think of that. Thanks!

 

[lauranickerson]

Wow! That's a Petrie dish. Good call to toss that. It looks more like spores than mold, but yeah...good call.

What is the difference? Excuse my ignorance.

It was pretty nasty stuff. When I scooted the bucket into the light to get a picture, it bubbled like it normally should, but the bubbles wouldn't pop. That's why it looks like that. Whatever the while film stuff is was keeping the bubbles from popping.

 

[ash10383]

Quote:
I mix my own feed of whole grains with Kelp as the only mineral so I guess I will do some research to see if one of the grains is particularly high in magnesium.

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha e Laura,

According to Beekissed, that is "mother" floating on your FF. Although, that one looks like "grandmother". I get that in my FF all the time and I just stir it in. Donʻt throw it out.
Aloha, Puhi

 

[tankerman]

Not sure why fermenting feed would be different than lacto fermenting amything else?

Fermenting crocks are airtight with water seals around the top to allow gas to burp out as fermentation occurs and to keep bad bacteria from forming.



We do a fair amount of fermenting of food at home, but haven't tried chicken feed. Am curios if ferment feed makes chickens taste better?

 

[Angiebubs]

I do know it cuts down the amount of food they eat by around half. Not sure what I will do during the winter-dont want to log this stinky stuff from the garage all the way out to the barn daily....

 

[pdirt]

That looks like Kahm yeast to me. It's harmless. I sometimes get it on my lacto fermented pickles, and while it creates a different flavor to my pickles that I prefer less, I still eat and enjoy them. As long as the pH is low enough, it's fine. If you're getting alcohol forming, the yeasts are overpowering the LABs (lactic acid bacteria). Labs don't need oxygen to grow, but yeasts do. This is why sourdough starters need to be stirred often, to create more bubbly yeasts and hence sourdough "booch". Add some ACV or even better, some live cultures from lacto fermented pickles, sauerkraut, kefir, water kefir or buttermilk. DON'T stir your FF until the alcohol smell goes away and after that, don't stir it as frequently or as little as possible. Do scoop your FF from the bottom of the crock, if you can. You could also boil the alcoholic FF in some extra water for 10-15 mins to burn off the alcohol, feed it to them and start over with a new batch. The cooked FF will still be far more nutritious than dry feed even though it won't have much live bacteria left. Also, if you never see any bubbles in your FF, that's perfectly okay. As long as it smells sour and not alcoholic, you're good. The sour might take anywhere from a day to over a week to develop, depending on lots of things, but mostly temperature.

Also, is this mold or the mother? It was my batch I mentioned earlier that smelled of alcohol. I tried adding ACV, but it didn't do much, and when I came back to it a couple days later (I kind of forgot about it because I had a different batch), it had this while film on the top. Didn't smell that great. I threw it in the compost pile and soaked the bucket for 2 days with bleach water just in case. I feel like that batch was a total failure because after making a batch in it before, I finished the batch, quickly rinsed it, and put the bucket away with the top on. It was still wet inside when I put the lid on, with some food remnants in there. When I went to go use it the second time, it had fuzzy mold in it. Rinsed it with AVC water, but the batch turned into the grossness mentioned above. Thought bleach water would be a little more effective. So far so good. Lots of bubbling and smells like it should. Just worried about the fruit flies. EDITED because I forgot the picture. Here's the batch I forgot about. I want to say it's mold, but I'm not sure.

 

[pdirt]

Also on weird smells...if your FF smells really truly horrible, like sewage or just completely foul, you'll know it and you should compost it. Generally though, fermenting will create some strange smells in addition to sour. Strong butryic acid (the distinctive smell of butter) can stink in higher quantities than found in butter, but it's simply an unpleasant smell rather than wretched or putrid. Butryic acid often shows up in LAB ferments. Heck, some stinks of ferments are considered delicacies, take Limburger cheese or natto (soybeans fermented with bacillus subtilis). The first time I tried natto, I could barely get it down ( I enjoy food adventures) and now it tastes like a delicious sharp cheese to me.

 

[pdirt]

CA-Urban,

Are you still fermenting the Scratch n Peck Grower? Did you find the fish meal in it getting stinky in FF? I just started a "normal" batch of FF and am curious about that. I've been fermenting for months with a starter called EM, and it takes a minimum of two weeks to ferment and is much drier. No bad smell, just sweetly earthy and pickled smelling. I've been happy with it but was curious about trying the method everyone here is using.

Hello all,

I'm a San Diego, CA newbie to BYC and to chicken keeping in general.  I read http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html and I want to start fermenting Scratch and Peck non-GMO Grower feed (17% protein) for my three 11-week-old pullets.

I tried to read the "Fermented Feeds for Meat Birds" thread (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds), but 555 pages was a lot to take in . . . what I did read there suggested the containers needed exposure to the air and to use only a cheese cloth or towel on top. Is that suggestion only for the Apple Cider Vinegar fermenting?  I thought the Lacto fermenting needed an air-tight container?

I was hoping to use a 2L Pickl-It container http://www.pickl-it.com/ for Lacto fermenting feed for only 3 chickens, but now I am worried about the possibility of mold given the prior cheese cloth recommendations.

I am also worried that maybe the 17% protein content of the Scratch and Peck grower feed is too high?  The Natural Chicken Keeping blog said 16% should be fine . . . but again, I'm new to all this.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha,

Plain ole soaking is the easiest method and free. Just add water. Keep it covered in an inch of water. The chickens will love it.

kden, Puhi