FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Pent]

I get some fuzzy stuff in it sometimes, usually on the sides where it splashes. Every once in a while when I drain out some, I dump the extra liquid and add new feed and water on top of the bit of FF that was left in the bucket. I take off the lid while its mostly empty, and clean the lid and the sides before I add the new stuff. Kicks it right back off.

 

[sarahsunshine]

Thanks. I just cleaned off the sides of the bucket and then filled'er up again. It seems to be OK and not growing back so far.

I wonder what other people's experience is with this?

 

[Beekissed]

OK, so I've been feeding FF for 2 weeks now, and one of my buckets started getting a little white fuzzy mold on the inside of it. It's not the red or black that I have heard about, but I don't like the idea of mold... If this white mold an OK mold, or should I toss it and start over the whole bucket? I've been storing the feed in an outdoor shed, and it doesn't get very hot here (central Alberta/ Canada - we are lucky to get 30C(85f) a couple times a summer and this has not been one of them!

It happens to us all and it is no problem...I just scrape down the sides of the bucket each time I feed and all the fuzzy, if any, is absorbed into the FF..never to be seen again. My scoop seems to be the worst place for it and I knock it off or just immerse it in the FF. It's never been a problem. I just washed out my bucket and scoop for the first time in a year and discovered very little actual mold growth except on that scoop... that mold is ever present in any FF that is left out of the moisture of the FF.

I wouldn't worry about it, just keep it from advancing by scraping your sides down and keeping it knocked off the scoop.

 

[sarahsunshine]

OK.. two responses! Great! That is what I suspected, but I just wanted to double check.

Thank you!

 

[RoseMarie1]

I've fed mine dry a couple times lately. It's obvious that they do not get nearly as excited about it, but they didn't have a hard time eating it.

OK thanx

 

[bruceh]

i found this thread kinda late but on time . however, i want to report my findings of fermented feeding. bee turned me on to fermenting over a year ago . i am not one to pull punches. i report facts. i have a tested method to report with a years worth of findings. the fermented feed is a winner in my book. this flock was raised on fermented feed and unpasteurized apple cider vinegar in the water since day 1. my findings are I DO NOT HAVE SICK BIRDS. plain and simple. i do not have cocci, mg, bacteria infections, worms etc. i have healthy, stress free nice shiny feathery birds that thrive.. my flock consists of a layer flock of 45 birds not including my show birds. i raise all my birds including the show birds on pasture. not a chicken tractor, open area.
the birds are more alert and have a certain pep in their step. i have raised meat birds on this feed and baby chicks out of the shell.. my findings are chicks raised from day 1. the chicks feather faster and fuller . growth rate is not stunted in any way in fact the chicks seem to thrive.much better.
i raise natural no meds what so ever.no medicated chick starter . it not at all necessary .i will post picks of my birds when they finish molt they are a site to be seen. in my flock i have white birds leghorn cross.. these birds shine like they came out of a car wash. the colored birds black sex links , heritage rhode island reds,. production reds, lavenders am's, ee's ,Colombian rocks and some barnyard mixes shine like rays of sun, the undertones really come through.
now for eggs. the eggs produced on this feed are the best. nice full yolks and shells that you need a chisel to break. the weight is heavy. a small egg is like a paper weight. when the hens lay the eggs for the most part they are clean. i could wipe them off and put them in a carton and no one would now they were not washed.
if you want nice looking ,healthy birds you can be proud of this is one step you do not want to skip.



bruce h

 

[sarahsunshine]

Excellent - I will be doing this when I get chicks next year.

Now, how do you deal with maintaining FF in the winter. A couple of people are asking in a separate thread.

I am from central Alberta - we frequently get a cold snap that stays at -25 (day) to -40 (night) for 2-3 weeks each winter. Lights and insulation can keep an area warm enough for chickens, (particularly a roost). I don't think my husband will approve of traipsing feed in and out of the house, though, just to keep it warm, and not heating a shed just to keep feed warm enough to ferment!

 

[Beekissed]

Excellent - I will be doing this when I get chicks next year.

Now, how do you deal with maintaining FF in the winter. A couple of people are asking in a separate thread.

I am from central Alberta - we frequently get a cold snap that stays at -25 (day) to -40 (night) for 2-3 weeks each winter. Lights and insulation can keep an area warm enough for chickens, (particularly a roost). I don't think my husband will approve of traipsing feed in and out of the house, though, just to keep it warm, and not heating a shed just to keep feed warm enough to ferment!

It's really no mess or fuss...at least, it wasn't for me. I kept my bucket in my bedroom with a garbage bag spread on the floor to protect the carpet. I kept it first in the cabin on the hard wood floor on a rug but it got too warm there by the wood stove. In my bedroom, which is the coldest room in the house, it was just perfect.

It is no different than my whole process when I keep it outside. I carry dry feed in a 1 gal. ice cream bucket and place it into the FF bucket ...dump it in, fill up the ice cream bucket with water from the kitchen, dump it in...stir. Use same ice cream bucket to transport wet feed back to coop each morning until the FF bucket level goes down enough to add more dry feed and repeat the process. It's the exact same process I use in my coop all the other months and there really is no mess, no slopping and no fuss in this manner. My coop is about 50 yds from the house anyway and I'm making the same journey...just carrying a 1 gal. ice cream bucket in my hand each day..and on some days I carry dry feed back with me.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy and unless you are slopping it about like a kid making paper mache, it shouldn't be much of a mess or inconvenience.

 

[22qZoo]

Is there anything that might be in a scratch mix that should not be fermented? I got a new bag of scratch from a feed mill that I can't always get to but when I can I like to make the stop. It has wheat, oats,milo,popcorn,sunflower seeds,peas and peanuts. I was wondering about the peas and peanuts not sure what they could bring to the mix. I was trying to avoid so much corn,at least for the hot part of the summer,the last bag of scratch I got from TSC seamed like it was mostly cracked corn. Any thoughts?

 

[Beekissed]

I've never tried peas and peanuts but I don't imagine there would be a problem. Also..contrary to what myths go around...corn does not heat a bird internally more than any other grain. I feed corn in the ration all year round and see no difference whatsoever in the condition of the bird, hotter or not. It doesn't keep them warm in the winter and it doesn't make them hot in the summer...no more than it does when you eat corn!