Fermented feed vs dry feed

[Squishychicken]

So one benefit for FF (fermented feed) is that the birds eat less of it. Well I am testing this idea out.

So I have 43 birds in 3 pens.
30 standered hens, serama cockrels, serama roos and bantams.
3 ducks
And 10 seramas (3 hens 7 chicks)

Dry food:
The pen of 30 eats 4-4.5 quarts a day
The pen of ducks eats .75 quarts
The pen of seramas eats 1 quart.

And FF I have yet to test

Today I am measuring and giving FF.
Pen of 30 has 4 quarts
Serama pen has 1 quart
And duck pen has .75
I will give FF for 3 days straight measuring and recording feed amounts and reporting here. After this test I will average out the feeding amounts and then feed dry feed for 3 days then average the amounts and compare the 2.
If I add any feed to the pens I will post here or any left over after the day.


I feed purina flock raiser and just ferment that and add pellet vitamins.

For dry food I just feed the feed

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for me!

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Wouldn't a more accurate way to measure how much they eat is to, say, fill up your feeder full and weight it...... then at the end of the day, weight it again to see how much is gone?

 

[Squishychicken]

Yes but what about the fermented feed? Water would add extra weight....

 

[Tesumph]

Just to clarify, are your measurements of FF before or after adding water? 1 quart of dry feed is more condensed food than 1 quart of FF, yes?

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Sure, but can't you do some simple math to even things out? Like say, 1 lb of dry feed = 1.5 lb of fermented feed...... etc etc? And then do a bit of math? However you decide to approach this, I'm keeping an eye on the thread.... will be interesting to find out the results.

 

[Tesumph]

Yes but what about the fermented feed? Water would add extra weight....

You could measure out the dry proportions, add water/ferment, weigh it, and then reweigh after feeding. Calculate percentage eaten.
Then use the same amount of dry feed without fermenting, weigh, reweigh after feeding.. then compare percentages.

 

[Squishychicken]

When I was trying to decide how to do this I thought of 2 ways the above way and the below way but with y'alls inputs which ones is better to do?

I'm going to take a bucket add however many quarts say 7 (just an ex.) And fermented that see how long it takes for them to eat it.

Then I'll feed that same amount 7 quarts but in dry food and calculate the days.

 

[Squishychicken]

I was also trying to make it easy to without having to weight and reweigh food 2 times a day and calculate percentage.

 

[Tesumph]

When I was trying to decide how to do this I thought of 2 ways the above way and the below way but with y'alls inputs which ones is better to do?

I'm going to take a bucket add however many quarts say 7 (just an ex.) And fermented that see how long it takes for them to eat it.

Then I'll feed that same amount 7 quarts but in dry food and calculate the days.

Personally I’d go with what I said if you want to have nice number results.

Choose a constant amount, let’s say 6 quarts. You will also need to weigh your empty feeder and subtract that from the weights (or zero it out from the scale).

For dry feed days, measure out 6 quarts into the feeder and weigh it, let’s say that’s 8 pounds.
Give that to the birds and take it up at the end of the day. Weigh it, let’s say you have 1 pound left.
That’s 1/8=0.125, or 12.5% not eaten (87.5% eaten).

For fermented feed days, measure out another 6 quarts. Ferment that, add it to the feeder and weigh it. Let’s say that’s 15 pounds (I have no idea what it would be).
Give that to the birds, take it up, weigh it at the end of the day. Let’s say you have 4 pounds left.
That’s 4/15=0.267, or 26.7% not eaten (73.3% eaten).

Then you can say that your birds ate 87.5% of 6 quarts of dry feed, which is 5.25 quarts..
And 73.3% of FF, which is 4.4 quarts (when measured dry).

That’d be the scientific way, with your different days averaged at the end. If you’re just going for anecdotal evidence then whatever is easiest.

 

[Squishychicken]

I'm more of trying to see how long 7 quarts of FF vs 7 quarts if dry feed lasts

Which one lasts longer and which on dosent.
I think I'll do both. First mine then what you suggested....