Fermented feed

[DebD]

For those of you who feed your chickens fermented feed, I would like to know how you feed it to them. Some people just throw it on the ground while others feed it to them in a pan (which makes a mess). Has anyone come up with a way for all of them to eat it at the same time (like a hanging feeder dispenses dry feed) and without mess? Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've always fed in small shallow bowls. They're very tidy about cleaning up inside the bowl and out. What are yours doing that makes a mess?

Another idea I like is a long trough like a modified rain gutter.

 

[DebD]

Actually, we've only been researching (always try to do that before asking questions...) and just wondered how other people fed them wet feed. I like the idea of each of my hens having an equal share of food when they eat so I like the trough idea...like pvc pipe cut into a trough, right? And, since you personally use fermented feed, do you measure out the same amt as you would if you were feeding dry? Also (sorry!), do you have feed available all day or feed the fermented only? Thank you so much for your time!

 

[NatJ]

do you measure out the same amt as you would if you were feeding dry?

I'm not DebD, but wanted to point out: adding water makes it the feed heavier, and letting it sit in water causes it to swell up and seem bigger. So you'd have to measure the dry feed before fermenting it, if you want to match how much the chickens would otherwise be eating (calories, protein, etc.)

 

[DebD]

So, it really doesn't mean you feed less and save on food? I want to do it in order to soften the outer hull and make the nutrients more bioavailable but thought it might mean feeding less also...bummer.

 

[NatJ]

You might be able to feed a little less, but the differences aren't very big, according to anything I've read.

The chickens already add water (drinking) and let it sit (crop, gizzard, etc), so fermenting just gives it a little head-start on what would happen anyway inside the chicken.

If your chickens are throwing feed around and wasting it, then you can certainly save a bit by stopping the wastage: different feeder, pellets vs. crumbles, serve the food wet so they can't fling it around, etc.

A few articles that I've seen mention feeding "half" as much chicken food--but they also mention that the chickens aren't wasting as much feed by spilling it on the floor, so I think that's where the big savings are.

How much are your chickens eating at present? 1/4 pound per adult hen per day is a common guideline. If your birds are going through a lot more than that, look for where/how it's getting wasted (lost in the litter, eaten by rats at night, etc.)

 

[DebD]

Actually, my chicks are only 11 weeks old and eat as much starter/grower as they want. They don't waste any out of their hanging feeder but, as I was researching fermented feed, I was just curious how people on this forum feed it to their birds. You can't pour it into the standard self-dispensing feeders or even the long troughs with holes. So, I was trying to get some input on what people use to feed wet feed to their chickens.

Your comment about amounts of feed leads to another interesting question. Two schools of thought out there...feed layers all they want vs feed according to weight. I wonder how many people do the free feed vs restricted feed.

 

[NatJ]

Your comment about amounts of feed leads to another interesting question. Two schools of thought out there...feed layers all they want vs feed according to weight. I wonder how many people do the free feed vs restricted feed.

I think the how-much-per-hen numbers originate in literature for commercial production. In those cases, they offer as much as the chickens want, but they need to know how much feed to buy each week, and they're quite good at reducing wastage. They're also feeding small chickens. So someone might have backyard birds that eat twice that much (big chickens, a bit more waste), but ten times that much would indicate serious waste.

as I was researching fermented feed, I was just curious how people on this forum feed it to their birds. You can't pour it into the standard self-dispensing feeders or even the long troughs with holes. So, I was trying to get some input on what people use to feed wet feed to their chickens.

I've never done fermented feed, but I've done wet feed lots of times. Usually, I'd use some kind of bowl--a dog dish at first, later an emptied sour cream container (the short 8-oz kind), the bottom inch or two of a plstic milk jug (cut the top off), a container that used to hold lunch meat or Cool Whip, etc. Put some feed in the container (no more than half full, but less is fine). Add water until it's above the level of the feed, let it sit a few minutes for the water to soak in, serve to the chickens. Crumbles soak up the water faster than pellets do.

As long as you don't feed too much, the chickens will pick every bit out of the container. I re-use the container until it's so dirty (chicken poop) that I no longer want to touch it, then throw it away and use a new one. (That's why I prefer to use containers that are already "trash"--I don't feel bad throwing them away later.)

 

[DebD]

That's an idea! Do you feed them that container-full instead of their dry portion or in conjunction with?

 

[NatJ]

I leave the dry feed available all the time, but I give them the wet feed as a treat, or in bad weather. Sometimes I feed wet feed twice a day (breakfast and dinner), sometimes once a day to lure them back into the coop at bedtime, sometimes on a whim because I want to watch them run toward me and gobble it up, somtimes I go for months without doing it, sometimes I do lots of small feedings in a day because I'm bored or because I'm teaching them to come when called.

In winter, when the water freezes, they get thirsty--and then they won't eat either. That's why I first started feeding wet feed (food + water, and they eat it fast before it freezes.)

In summer, if they don't drink enough in the heat, they also won't eat enough--and wet food fixes that too, because it's feed + water + they gobble it up.

For how much to make, I measure with either the serving container ("this full") or the feed scoop, based on how much they ate the last time. I don't want extra sitting around to go bad, and I know they can fill up on the dry food if I underfeed with the wet.