FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[kpgoldstar]

They are already so much more active. I like to think its the FF.
My little buff didn't make it today. I thought she was doing better but took a turn for the worst today. Bummer.

Oh no.... so sorry to hear. Condolences on your loss.

 

[niqueie]

Great job of being one of the pioneers in this field. I am glad that I found it as I was researching Chickens. I haven't ever had chickens any other way. It really takes only a few people to affect others for good.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't live where it freezes, but if I did I love the idea of using rice hulls or cracked corn as a warmer base. My friend makes those fabric covered (bean) bags, but uses corn. Heat in the microwave for a natural heating pad for sore muscles and you can even freeze them for the opposite affect. They stay warm for a very long time. You could use rice or beans for the same results. Set your ff feeder on one of those and I would bet it wouldn't freeze for well over an hour. Or multiple feeders like others have mentioned so the lower girls can eat separately from the bossy hens.

My FF isn't freezing up within an hour, even in temps of below zero in the coop, so not sure what your temps are or why yours if freezing so quickly but I can go up there a couple of hours later and still see FF residue that has not been eaten and then the next morning it is gone...every speck of it. No freezing even on the small amounts. Maybe because mine is not so fluid filled and most of the moisture is inside the individual granules of grain.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I try really hard to keep mine from freezing. The chickens will eat it after it's thawed but does it still have favorable bacteria and yeasts? In which case it wouldn't help to ferment other than the less waste from being moist.
I don't have a microscope to determine that but I know many of the bacteria and yeasts will die below 32F.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm fermenting crumble. I'm sure that has something to do with it. And even with several feeding stations, the dominant 2 birds keep going back and forth so my lowest pullet is too intimidated to eat. With only 5 girls, I'm using dog bowls. My flock dynamics are such that a trough would probably not work. Dominant hen has a minion, and they rule the roost. The least EE has a persecution complex, and shies away if she even gets looked at. I do realize that when cull time comes, she'll probably be the first to go... is she low on the pecking order b/c she is not as healthy, or is she not as healthy b/c she is low on the pecking order, and thus has a nutritional disadvantage? Which came first, the chicken or the egg??? And around it goes...

 

[Beekissed]

I try really hard to keep mine from freezing. The chickens will eat it after it's thawed but does it still have favorable bacteria and yeasts? In which case it wouldn't help to ferment other than the less waste from being moist.
I don't have a microscope to determine that but I know many of the bacteria and yeasts will die below 32F.

Sure will...those organisms will go dormant when placed in cold storage and will just reactivate when warmed up. To keep sour dough bread from being too active a person can place the mix in the fridge to "keep it on ice" and slow the metabolism of the organisms and then bring it out and warm it to room temps, feed it and it will take right off.

I keep my bread yeast in the freezer until I need it for bread because it stays fresher and more active that way.

 

[lazy gardener]

I thought that freezing yeast would kill it. Good to know. After throwing out several batches of FF, I discovered that refrigeration would slow it down so it didn't get too strong. Now, I'm a very happy camper and able to control the ferment process so much better.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

My FF isn't freezing up within an hour, even in temps of below zero in the coop, so not sure what your temps are or why yours if freezing so quickly but I can go up there a couple of hours later and still see FF residue that has not been eaten and then the next morning it is gone...every speck of it. No freezing even on the small amounts. Maybe because mine is not so fluid filled and most of the moisture is inside the individual granules of grain.

Is the deep litter in your coop producing heat? Or is the litter in your coop frozen solid?

I think you're right that probably drier or crumblier texture to the FF when it is put out is probably another factor. Even if the FF freezes, the "crumbles" are still crumbly and not stuck together/to the the feeder.

Probably a wooden trough helps ... stuff doesn't freeze to it so solidly because the texture isn't so smooth? Then a bird can peck it out.

 

[Beekissed]

I thought that freezing yeast would kill it. Good to know. After throwing out several batches of FF, I discovered that refrigeration would slow it down so it didn't get too strong. Now, I'm a very happy camper and able to control the ferment process so much better.

I wouldn't throw out the highly fermented FF...that's the most nutritious of all! And they love it the most. All mine is like that after the first day of fermenting because I backslop from my old batch to keep that strong ferment. Whenever I clean out the very bottom of my bottom bucket it's the most fermented, slimy sick looking stuff you ever saw. I dump it on the ground and come back the next day to find that ever stitch of grass is missing from that patch as they have consumed it all and scratched up the grass and soil to get every last drop. Even the dog will lick it up.

 

[lazy gardener]

When mine gets strong, the girls won't eat it. Perhaps it goes back to the fact that I'm using crumble and you're using grains.