FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Faerie]

This is my first experience with chickens ever, but do they grow faster on FF? Mine are only 2 weeks old, but seem more like 3 weeks old when I compare them to pictures of other chicks. They are big, and are getting a lot of their feathers in.

 

[Beekissed]

This is my first experience with chickens ever, but do they grow faster on FF? Mine are only 2 weeks old, but seem more like 3 weeks old when I compare them to pictures of other chicks. They are big, and are getting a lot of their feathers in.

They are getting more nutrition, so I'm going to say "yes". I've noticed a more vigorous, healthier and quicker growing chick when using the FF but I could just be biased.

 

[niqueie]

Fermenting dairy (keifer) helped my daughter kick her yeast diaper rash. She had several ear infections in a row and had 6 months of periodic antibiotics from it. She finally kicked the ear infection but then had destroyed her gut beneficial bacteria that she had a terrible diaper rash that continued for months. After trying every thing under the sun, I added keifer to every meal time and lots of drinks through out the day. In 1-2 weeks it was clearing up. In a month it was gone. I'm so glad that I tried that. Treating symptoms just is a bad way to handle health issues. It's so much better to go to the source of the problems. Unfortunately, some times we can't always treat the source of the problems.

 

[LindaB220]

Cooking is another way to "release" the nutrients in food. I believe that some studies show cooking after soaking, sprouting or fermenting grains can be beneficial, though likewise probably some of the more delicate things (living probiotics) are destroyed during cooking.

Here in the USA we mostly get our ferments from dairy, alcohol, pepperoni on pizza, pickles on hamburgers, and maybe sourdough bread or sauerkraut if like those "sour" things. Oh, and soy sauce, tofu, or tempeh, though I don't believe the industrialized versions of those things represent true fermentation. Yeast for bread is a form of fermentation, though I don't believe it has acted upon the grains enough to improve the nutrition ... it just helps make them more fun to eat. This is likely true for lots of pickled things unless they are traditionally pickled. You can pickle eggs ... not sure how that adds to the nutritional profile of them, though ... hmmmm

Internationally speaking, fermentation is a big deal. A lot of the world's population has traditional fermented feeds ... I'll skip the examples and provide some links that discuss the importance of fermentation both by thing fermented and by region ... so do take a look at the links even if you don't read every word ... the lists are extensive.

The first two were produced by The United Nations. That's how important fermentation is to a lot of the world. I especially appreciate the one on Cereal Grains as that is particularly important to keeping chickens.

This one is about fermenting Cereal Grains ..
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x2184e/x2184e00.HTM

This one is about Fruits & Vegetables ...
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e00.htm

I turned to Wikipidia for a list of fermented milk products ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_milk_products

Here is an overview of Fermentation in Food Processing by Wikipedia ... in addition to the items discussed above, it discusses alcohols and meats and even tea ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_in_food_processing

Happy reading!

Thanks Leslie, I'm big on fermentation for humans as well.

One of my favs is throwing radishes in a jar with 1 t salt and water. Cap and leave on counter 7-10 days then fridge for up to 6 mo. Addictive. I do ferment both kombucha and kefir and love them. Great post.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

LeslieDjoyce- thank you for all the links, whew, that is a lot of reading. Psychological health via gut health is a fascinating topic . I think I am going to try to find some recipes of fermented stuff that I can get the family to eat without them knowing that its good for them.

I agree about the gut/brain connection. I was going to suggest some of the beverages ... they can be sweetened quite a bit, though that's probably not great if you're trying to regrow a healthy gut after antibiotics or have a yeast infection. One of my previous resolutions was to "Eat More Kimchi," but I don't like any of the kinds at the regular grocery store, so I'm not making much progress here. I don't do store-bought beverages on principle. I'll have to start fermenting my own veggies, I think.

Fermenting dairy (keifer) helped my daughter kick her yeast diaper rash. She had several ear infections in a row and had 6 months of periodic antibiotics from it. She finally kicked the ear infection but then had destroyed her gut beneficial bacteria that she had a terrible diaper rash that continued for months. After trying every thing under the sun, I added keifer to every meal time and lots of drinks through out the day. In 1-2 weeks it was clearing up. In a month it was gone. I'm so glad that I tried that. Treating symptoms just is a bad way to handle health issues. It's so much better to go to the source of the problems. Unfortunately, some times we can't always treat the source of the problems.

Yeah ... like she said.

Thanks Leslie, I'm big on fermentation for humans as well.

One of my favs is throwing radishes in a jar with 1 t salt and water. Cap and leave on counter 7-10 days then fridge for up to 6 mo. Addictive. I do ferment both kombucha and kefir and love them. Great post.

The radish recipe sounds so yummy. I might even eat radishes that way!

If you guys want a good laugh, check out this link ... http://kimchius.com/ and watch the video.

This ons is longer, but more informative ...

I gather that's the most desired appliance in Korea. I saw some at the asian market (LOVE that store!!!), but was floored by the prices on them. You could waste a lot of time researching this phenomenon on YouTube.

This one is two parts and is a little long, but it is the kind of thing I like to watch on TV ... Food Tourism ...

Part 1:

Part 2:

 

[luvblues7]

I have a question for those of you that feed FF to chicks. What type of feeder do you feed in. My chicks love the FF but get in it and walk on it and pack it down then don't seem to want it until I get home and stir it and then they go wild again and eat until it gets packed down again. How do you keep them from packing down their FF food? I have made trough feeders out of PVC pipe for my grown chickens and they work great, but not sure what to use for my babies.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You need something to keep them from walking in it.

This is a good option for chicks.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_feeder.html

 

[Beekissed]

I have a question for those of you that feed FF to chicks. What type of feeder do you feed in. My chicks love the FF but get in it and walk on it and pack it down then don't seem to want it until I get home and stir it and then they go wild again and eat until it gets packed down again. How do you keep them from packing down their FF food? I have made trough feeders out of PVC pipe for my grown chickens and they work great, but not sure what to use for my babies.

Whatever you use, you can place a wire "lid" on it from a piece of fencing that lets them poke their heads in to eat but they cannot walk directly into the food. The FF is going to get a little crust on it anyway due to being near the heat source and from the fine ground chick starter's ability to be smooth and mold together tightly. You'll have to give that little stir anyway but the fence lid can help you keep their whole bodies out of the porridge.

 

[Faerie]

I have a question for those of you that feed FF to chicks. What type of feeder do you feed in. My chicks love the FF but get in it and walk on it and pack it down then don't seem to want it until I get home and stir it and then they go wild again and eat until it gets packed down again. How do you keep them from packing down their FF food? I have made trough feeders out of PVC pipe for my grown chickens and they work great, but not sure what to use for my babies.

I feed mine in an ice cube tray.

 

[Beekissed]

I feed mine in an ice cube tray.

Perfect!

Better than what I fed in....a muffin pan! I just placed fencing over it so they couldn't drown in the muffin compartments and could walk on the wire.