Fermented Feed... They seem like they are starving and then binging

[PioneerChicks]

I feed FF once per day. They act like they are starving, but they are not. Chickens are tough creatures. You can also feed twice per day, and some people offer FF as free-choice during the day.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

One way to check that:
weigh each chicken, or at least specific ones that you can recognize, and write down the weight.

Then feed the fermented feed once or twice a day, while letting them have free-choice dry feed.

After a week or two, weigh those same chickens again and check against the weights you wrote down. If they have all gained a noticeable amount of weight, then they really are eating more. But if they have not gained weight, then they really do need that much.


No, it wasn't enough.

Feed tends to at least double in size when you get it wet, so that was probably only 1/4 cup each when it was dry.

A common estimate is 1/4 POUND per laying hen per day (or more for large breeds).
Someone weighed a few feeds once, and 1/4 pound is about 3/4 CUP of feed.
(It varies from one brand to another--weigh some of your own food, dry, if you want to be sure.)

So 1/2 cup wet is probably about 1/3 of what each birds needs per day. They would still need to eat about 2/3 the usual amount of dry food to make up the difference.

If you want most of their food to come from fermented feed, take a scale and weigh out 7 1/2 pounds of food per day. That should be at least close, although they may need more yet if they are large breeds. (After you weigh it once, you can measure how many cups it was, if you prefer not to use the scale every day.)

Very good info thank you! It didnt even dawn on me to weight the feed lol.

I can also weigh a few of the girls and see if they gain weight. Excellent idea!

 

[linguini]

My tenure in FF feed was short (3 weeks) since my chooks weren't really into it after two weeks. I stopped FF, and just give them wet feed. However, during those three weeks, I did have a successful pipeline going. Here are some tricks that helped with the production:

1. I used empty plastic mixed nuts (or almond) containers from Costco for fermenting. Each container holds about 2lb dry feeds, a daily ration for my 8 chickens. So I was able to experiment with different amount of water for fermentation. Since it took about 3 days to ferment from start, I had 4 containers fermenting at all time. I kept them all in front of our heater outlet, with lids lightly covering the container. Everyday I used one container to feed them twice a day, and then refilled the container. This way I didn't have to worry about how much wet feed to scoop out. ( I used some leftover liquids from our Kombucha brew as starter since I didn't have any apple cider vinegar, it worked very well for fermenting!) Once I had the FF going, I never washed the container, just continue to refill dry feed and water each day).

2. We installed a gutter along the base of the run to use as a wet feed feeder (it's cheap! $5 for a 10ft gutter, we cut the gutter into two sections, nailed the gutter to a 2x2 wood bar and mounted on the wall). It works very well, the chickens can't scratch the feed, no waste! It's also equal access to all, pecking order does not interfere with access.

They also have access to unlimited dry feed in several PVC auto feeders with oyster shells and grits on the side. But as long as they have the wet feed, they won't touch the dry feed. They can also go out to the extended yard during the day, but there is nothing but snow for them to peck now!

 

[Chris2018]

Hi guys! So i thought id try fermenting feed to save some money and for the health benefits. I used a locally milled mash and let it sit a few days and it started bubbling and smelling sour, so it was ready to go.

I didnt worry about draining the water (it was pretty thick), so i gave my 30 chickens about 15 cups (half a cup each). For a test, i took their free access feed out and tried just the fermented feed ration and some kitchen scraps for about 3 days. They were also let out to free range. By the 3rd day, they acted like they were starving when i would feed them, or if they saw me outside, they came begging for food.

So i put the free choice food back in their runs and continued with the fermented feed ration each day. After about a week, I noticed They were eatting almost as much of the free choice as they did before i started giving them fermented.

I have since quit the fermented feed idea for now, they are back to their free choice feed only, until i find out how to manage it better.

What am I doing wrong here? Are they looking at the fermented feed as a treat, and over indulging? How do you guys manage the fermented vs. Free choice feed?

There can be a number of reasons for you birds acting hungry.
What is most likely happening is that the hens aren't getting enough calories from the fermented feed.
You see chicken eat to fill a caloric need (they don't eat because there "hungry") and if the calories in your fermented feed is too low then they need to eat more feed to try to meet there needs.

I myself don't ferment my feed but I do a 7 day "fermentation" of Whole Oats and then mix that with there Scratch Grain mix. To be honest the only reason I ferment the Oats is to breakdown the hard to digest husk of the oats.

If your wanting to help improve the gut health and over all health of your birds you could simply do a 7 day fermentation of whole oats in Apple Juice (100% pure Apple Juice) and feed daily or wet a days feeding with low sodium Bone Broth and offer it to them once or twice a week.

Note -- Use good Bone Broth (Organic works well) some of the cheaper "bone broth" is nothing more than water and bouillon cubes and does nothing of the gut and over all health.

 

[DobieLover]

Morning! out of curiosity on this FF. My chicks are not laying yet but tired the FF and they will not eat it. They will try and leave it. I have a leghorn,a turken, an ISA, a RIR, an EE and 2 GLS. None will eat of it. I check for consistency and made changes and still not helping. I want them to be the benefits of FF. They will not even touch the dried mealworms. (I do not even touch them) They stay on the floor and my dog eats them. Any advise?

What are you fermenting, are the feeders clean, what type of feeders are you feeding the fermented feed in and do they have access to forage?

 

[PurpleCArTires]

Morning! out of curiosity on this FF. My chicks are not laying yet but tired the FF and they will not eat it. They will try and leave it. I have a leghorn,a turken, an ISA, a RIR, an EE and 2 GLS. None will eat of it. I check for consistency and made changes and still not helping. I want them to be the benefits of FF. They will not even touch the dried mealworms. (I do not even touch them) They stay on the floor and my dog eats them. Any advise?

Just a theory... They dont realize its food lol. My chicks are super weird about new stuff and wont touch it until my silkies try it first (they are surrogate mothers to my babies). Try adding a layer of dry crumbles ontop of the wet mash. Thats how i got my babies to start eatting the FF. I dont give them FF full time, but now when they see it, they go crazy about it. Infact they usually eat anything i put in that same bowl.

 

[NatJ]

They will try and leave it....I want them to be the benefits of FF.

How long has this been going on?
Many animals will try just a little bit of new feed, then wait a while to see if it makes them sick, then eat a bit more the next day when they have decided it really is safe.
So you might just need to offer small amounts for several days, so they can learn it is good to eat.

You mention the benefits of fermented feed. You can get some of those by just serving the feed wet. (That keeps the chickens from scattering dry feed all over, so it reduces waste and saves you money. And many chickens like the wet food better than dry food.)

If you really want them eating fermented feed, maybe start by serving wet feed, and if they eat that you can serve wet feed that is a little bit fermented. If they eat that too, then serve them food that was fermented a little bit longer. Work up gradually, until you are serving it at the level of fermentation you want, and the chickens are used to it.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

What are you fermenting, are the feeders clean, what type of feeders are you feeding the fermented feed in and do they have access to forage?

Well, they eat organic starter. It rained and it got wet as I was getting them inside. The GLS had to bring into the house and dry them out because they got really wet. The other are bigger and went into coop. So I decided, since it was wet, minus well do FF. It was served in the rubber containers they always eat out of. They outgrew the other plastic one. They do have a little temporary area in front of my kitchen to be free. Kind of 12 x 15 area( not good at measuring). Their run will be 12 x 22 once it is finished.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

I feed FF once per day. They act like they are starving, but they are not. Chickens are tough creatures. You can also feed twice per day, and some people offer FF as free-choice during the day.

I was feeding once a day too. In the morning, id put it out and it woukd be gone in less than 20 mins. Do you think 1/2 cup (wet) per bird is enough for them? Should i measure the 15 cups out dry? Thanks!

 

[Mamatomany123]

I'm about a week into feeding fermented feed. At first it was a little watery and I noticed they were acting like they were starving. Yesterday and today I made it more of an oatmeal consistency and they seemed to fill up nicely. They didnt even finish it this morning. I also think they need to get used to the idea of eating just2x a day (or once, whatever you do) instead of all day. Are you giving them high quality feed?I know someone who thought fermented scratch was food enough and it definitely is not.