Fermented Feed Questions

[Blooie]

Good plan! I'm afraid I'm too lazy to do even that much. I have a 5 gallon bucket. I put equal parts water and feed, plus a splash of ACV in it and stirred a couple of times a day. After the 3rd day I stirred, then I feed, then re-cover loosely. Repeat until ff is almost gone. Then I add equal parts feed and water, stir the pot to bring the already fermented into the new mix and it's ready for the next day. No need for more ACV - it's in there. I'm just too lazy to do more than I have to, though!

 

[snow5164]

My sense of smell is off and on, I'm scared if I just let it sit it will go sour and I won't notice. That's why I like the start fresh every 3 days method . Also I like feeding them twice a day because they love me for it!!!

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[pdirt]

Thank you for posting that picture! We are making a gutter feeder too. Do they seem to walk through it? My 10 girls are moving outdoors hopefully this weekend....depending on whether or not we have thunderstorms that impede our ability to finish fencing their run area. My better half was going to put the gutter on brackets and attach it to the outside wall of the coop (making it easily removable of course for cleaning), but I think I like the mobility of yours better.

One or two of them might temporarily walk through it, but it doesn't bother me. Mostly they just chow down from the sides like you would want them to do. Rarely do they poop in it.

I love being able to move the feeder around to different areas if I need to separate the problem roo from the picked-on roo (he pesters the other roo around food in particular).

If any dry feed is left over in the gutter at the end of the day, I just dump it into their treadle feeder so as not to attract rodents.

Currently we don't have any chicks nor plan to have any for a while. It can be a problem when little chicks get feed caked to their little feet. It can make a hard crust than can take some soaking in warm water and carefully nimble fingers to scrape the crud off. I have a a couple different feeders for chicks, which are now in storage, so I can't give you photos. One is a trough, with a spinning rod thingy above it...they can't get into the feeder (once they are about 10-14 days old) and if they try to get up on the rod, it spins and they fall off. The other is your typical trough chick feeder with feed holes along each side, this one works great for the younger chicks.

 

[snow5164]

What can we use to feed the fermented feed? Not plastic, not metal because the vinegar causes erosion??i am currently using my butter plates because they are glass and that's food safe.

Am I over thinking it? I am new at this remember.

 

[pdirt]

What can we use to feed the fermented feed? Not plastic, not metal because the vinegar causes erosion??i am currently using my butter plates because they are glass and that's food safe.

Am I over thinking it? I am new at this remember.

Plastic is just fine. It won't react with the acids in the feed. Think of all the gallon bottles of vinegar stored in plastic (more acidic than FF). Stainless steel is an okay metal to use as it would take a very long time of extended contact with an acid to make much difference to the metal. (I once made sauerkraut in a stainless steel stockpot...no issues after 6 weeks in the pot.) You do NOT want to place an acid or acidic food onto galvanized metal. Some feeders and rain gutters are made from galvanized metal...it will rust. Galvanized metal tends to look gray with a "flakey" looking appearance.

 

[Blooie]

Get thee to the nearest thrift store and pick up an assortment of glass pie pans. That should work perfectly. I'm feeding 30+ chickens at the moment, all of various ages, so I had to get creative with the covered gutter feeder.

 

[cmak]

I have 28 9-week old pullets of various breeds. I just started fermenting their feed about 2 weeks ago. I have two 3-gallon food grade plastic buckets that I keep in rotation, so when one is gone the other has been fermenting about 2 days. I am pretty sure that the feed isn't always truly fermented because of the quick turnaround, but it's close. As soon as I get the bucket I'll be starting a third to increase the fermentation time. I just feed it in a steel pan, but I'm planning on building a hanging pvc feeder soon. (I try to keep everything off the floor because someone will walk through it or knock it over).

My biggest concern with this process is whether or not they are getting enough feed. I offer grit free choice and scraps every day or so. Unfortunately we don't have a mature yard so they have nothing to forage yet, and their run is pretty barren. I feed the FF about every 12 hours (I work 12 hour shifts), and they act like they are starving. I'm not sure if they are really that hungry or if they are wanting treats. As soon as I walk in the coop the swarm me. This morning Lacey pecked my finger so hard she drew blood! (In her defense I was taking too long putting down the feed pans). I'm not exactly sure how much I'm feeding them, it seems like a goodly amount as it takes them at least an hour or more to finish it. Since they eat with gusto I'm thinking they like it. Am I just raising a super spoiled flock or do I need to up their eats?

Thanks!

 

[Percheron chick]

Put out some dry feed. If they are truly starving, they'll eat it.

 

[cmak]

Gave them dry feed plus the FF a few days ago and they ate all of both. All I had handy was the little baby chick feeder though. So I increased the amount of FF at each feeding, thinking that would do the trick. Still ravenous. Tomorrow I will dig out the big 10 lb feeder and give them a few pounds of dry feed along with the FF. I'll start measuring the FF too, just to see just how much they're actually eating. I thought FF was going to cut back my feed costs, but so far I have been mistaken. We'll see what happens. Thanks for your response.

 

[weezilgirl]

I'm confused.

1. Do you feel grown chickens FF?

2. When you say chicken crumbles, is this the baby chick feed?

3. Can I do this with laying pellets, mixed with chop? (cracked corn. they love cracked corn and do well on it)