FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[pdirt]

Quote:
My understanding is camelina meal is used as plant protein source and also boosts omega-3s. It is in the Scratch n Peck feed we use and we have not noticed any odd egg flavors, in fact our eggs are probably the best I've ever tasted, especially since we started fermenting. We have not eaten any of our chickens yet, so can't comment on that.

 

[Beekissed]

That's the FF!

Makes 'm tasty!

 

[Tikkijane]

The bags are usually sold by weight, not volume ... crumbles used to be pellets, before they were crumbled.

Pellets used to be mash, before they were compressed.

Pellets/crumbles are more processed ... I've read some old stuff that says there are fewer nutrients in pelleted foods because of the extra heat treatments. But I'm not sure if modern processing now eliminates that nutrient shift

The reason we pellet food is so all the ingriedients are mixed well in every bite of food ... mash can settle, or have some parts ignored ... and the powdery supplements get lost. And there is generally less waste with pellets. And very dry powdery foods are not always good for the bird's mouths and noses.

But if you're fermenting food ... serving moistened mash ... then the ingriedients stay more evenly distributed.

Most national commercial feeds don't come in mash ... not in smaller quantities. But some local mills offer it.

That's my point. There is volume loss with pellets because of the added binding agent. My observation is that because of the increase of volume, a bag of crumble lasts longer fermented than pellet. I'd go through a lot more crumble dry.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... Excellent explanation as to... why some feeds are touted and some are not... I may be paranoid here, but I've noticed a few of what I would call "ringers" for lack of a better word, spreading misleading and downright slanderous information about the fermented feed on some of the lesser threads that are asking about them....

When I read their posts I'm thinking they are hired by the major feed corporations for this job...it's classic propaganda against a free way to reduce feed consumption and increase nutrition. Who has anything to gain by that kind of campaign? The feed companies, of course. Notice how all the sudden they are advertising probiotics in their feeds?

If you think a little old chicken forum doesn't have that much sway and pull out there in the corporate world, think again. Two years ago Heinz was not putting mother ACV in the stores. Braggs had the market on it but it wasn't always easy to find. Corporate heard the cry and responded. The cause of the increased need for mother vinegar? You can find it right on these forums. ...

I feel like you're talking about me Beekissed. You have honored me greatly with your kind words so respond I must. The only propaganda I am seeing is people touting snake oil and doubtful magic elixirs for their chickens' bellies. Even Evil Corporations like the Dreaded and Greedy Monsanto don't experiment on lab rats in as cavalier a manner as some of us do when feeding our chickens. As for greed (one of the Seven Deadly Sins) when the Greedy Corporations hear loose money rattling around is when the greedy corporations quickly devises ways to separate that loose change from the consumer. An up tick in demand for ACV complete with the mother bacteria and perhaps the thousands of wee little wiggling vinegar ells in it is but one example.

The greedy corporations are thus able to sell to the consumer (for a higher price no less) the

same ACV product which the greedy corporations now have even less time, and even less money invested in and the greedy corporations can legally call it "New and Improved ACV.

Corporate greed is not really a bad thing, In fact I bet that 99% or more of the people reading this post in one way or the other depend on the money raked in or generated by greedy corporations to keep a simple box of Cheerios sitting on their kitchen table. And if I were a greedy corporation I would be more than happy to sell end consumers the ingredients to make their own laundry detergent. Then the greedy corporations could fire most of their factory workers, layoff all their highly paid advertising staff, and finally cancel their obscenely expensive TV, radio, and print ads. That also seems like a dandy way to me for the same Greedy Corporate soap makers to circumvent the current band in certain states on selling their dish washing detergents. Are you sure that it is not you who is working behind the scenes to aid greedy America corporations?

 

[Beekissed]

I rest my case.

See? I'm not so paranoid after all...we mention them, and they come arunnin'.

Funny how someone who hates FF seems to be hanging around the FF thread right when we are discussing that phenomenon. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Searsmom]

I'm not so sure about that. ACV is simple to make. Just soak some apple peels in vinegar for a couple of weeks. Not too much corporate money in that. I like Bee's approach.

...sorry, not quick enough.

 

[kpgoldstar]

I think crumbles looks more natural to eat. I've never liked the look of pellet food. lol! It's a me thing.

If you ferment your feed, it doesn't matter if it is pellets or crumbles. It will all end up a soupy mash. My chick feed was crumbles but my layer feed is pellets. The pellets become more "compacted " in the ff than the crumbles did.

 

[Tikkijane]

Do you worry about plastic leaching stuff into the food?  I would use glass but with my luck I would break it somehow.  That is just how life is at my house.  Stainless would get heavy. Maybe not in the size I need though.  I think I have a large pot in storage I could use when I need larger quantities.

How much water do you drain off when you feed?  Does it matter if you feed the water too?  

Is there a chart somewhere that says how much to feed per chicken?  I am clueless as to how much is enough for chickens.  I free feed my cats and have a dog that I feed twice a day.  I know what dogs need, but chickens are a lot smaller than a GSD.   I don't want to underfeed.  I know I can't over feed, they will self-regulate. 

I don't drain off any water (neither does Bee) because it's too thick. Mine is the consistency of grout or oatmeal.

 

[Beekissed]

Pssst! I don't think they get paid much...they aren't very good at what they do...could have made more impact by saying, "Oh, yeah? Yo mama!".

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I rest my case.   See?  I'm not so paranoid after all...we mention them, and they come arunnin'.    Funny how someone who hates FF seems to be hanging around the FF thread right when we are discussing that phenomenon.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

You can't call it paranoia if they really are out to get you.