Fermented Feed

[happyhippiechik]

I just started fermenting my chicken feed. I had to stop the free feeding because every critter within a 10 mile radius thought we had a free buffet going and invited all their friends, and relatives. Anyway, I have 10 hens, 5 in each of two coop/runs. They DO NOT get along. So, how much feed should I put out? Should I offer it twice a day? More? Less? I'd say I've been giving them about 2 cups of fermented in the morning. The rest of the day they forage in their large runs and I bring them out greens and scraps from the kitchen. Does this sound like enough? One group is about 14 months old and the other is about 7 months. All are laying.
Thanks so much!

 

[wlhtx]

I'm in the same boat you are. I am on about day 3 of feeding fermented food to my flock. I have two buckets going. One with layer pellets and scratch for my group of 12 older laying hens/rooster, one with starter/grower and scratch for the 35 babies/teenagers. I feed the older bunch once a day, but they also get to free range during the day. For the babies/teenagers, I feed twice a day - but they are still in brooders.

I'll be honest in that I am still on a trial and error basis with portion sizes. For the older bunch, I am giving them about 2 cups in the evening, when they come back into the coop for the night. Sometimes they eat some of it before going to bed, sometimes not. But since I started this, it's been gone by feeding time the next day. They don't act like they're starving when I come out, so I assume they are getting plenty between the ff and free ranging. I also give them a few table scraps daily, but it isn't a large amount...

For the smaller groups, I use the red trough type feeders with the cover on top. I used to fill those up twice a day with dry crumbles, but now I see that if I fill them up in the morning, there is usually some left when I go to feed again in the evening. Unless they have pooped all in it, I will leave that in the feeder and just top it off with a little more. Maybe I'm giving them too much?

My chickens overall do not seem thrilled with the ff. They eat it, but so far they haven't been tearing into it. I'm hoping that they develop more of a taste for it over the next few days/weeks, but even if they don't I'm not really that worried about it. I find that I'm not having to dump loads of dry crumbles every day, so I think that the waste with this system will be considerably less. They can either eat it or go hungry, in my opinion!

 

[happyhippiechik]

My older girls are tearing into it, but they do that with everything, except carrots. They hate carrots. The younger ones are taking a little longer to adjust but they're that way with everything. The do get plenty of other stuff I bring out during the day as well as crickets and mealworms so I'm not worried they're starving. I'm just hoping I'm doing the ferment right.
Thanks for your input!