FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[birdlady79]

Thank you... I checked my ff this morning and it's smelling good!! The morning feeding is no problem, it's the nightly feeding I was worried about.... I guess I'll do both so that they will have food at night.... I like the grass idea... I will try it as well....What is the latest at night y'all feed your chickens?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I try to have feed available so they can fill their crops when they put themselves to bed about dusk.
For chicks, the first 3 or 4 days I have 24 hours of light so therefor, feed available 24 hours.
I don't like chicks to run out of feed for at least the first few weeks.

 

[Searsmom]

Does FF work on ducks? I read in one of the threads not to give it to them, so I was just curious. They say to give probiotics to ducklings - I recently had one with an issue - so what's the difference between probiotics and FF? I thought FF is taking advantage of the yeast in the air, like a homemade sourdough starter, seems like it should be the same as probiotics?

 

[Beekissed]

Does FF work on ducks? I read in one of the threads not to give it to them, so I was just curious. They say to give probiotics to ducklings - I recently had one with an issue - so what's the difference between probiotics and FF? I thought FF is taking advantage of the yeast in the air, like a homemade sourdough starter, seems like it should be the same as probiotics?

Plenty of people are feeding it to ducks and geese, so no worries.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Does FF work on ducks? I read in one of the threads not to give it to them, so I was just curious. They say to give probiotics to ducklings - I recently had one with an issue - so what's the difference between probiotics and FF? I thought FF is taking advantage of the yeast in the air, like a homemade sourdough starter, seems like it should be the same as probiotics?

What I have read regarding ducks is this: Ducks have a more specific requirement for the texture of the food ... "moist" is better than either "dry" or "wet" for ducks. It should clump when squeezed, but not be a paste/dough. You can mix in some dry feed to help accomplish the right texture. Some of the "dry" can be nutritional yeast ... that's a great supplement for getting enough niacin into your ducks. Look into the right quantities for the age of your ducks.

 

[pdirt]

I'm feeding an all purpose poultry pellet and topping off the second gallon with a little bit of alfalfa pellets ... maybe a pound of the alfalfa to the 11 lbs of poultry pellets. 

I mix this together dry, then I mix it again as soon as I add the water, and keep mixing every few minutes until it is starting to absorb water. The alfalfa pellets are huge, and they absorb a lot of water, and they require more mixing to incorporate them. I'd prefer to use alfalfa meal, or smaller alfalfa pellets. But the feed store had the big pellets, and I can manage them okay. Then I leave it for a while, and when I feel like mixing it again, that's when I add the extra 1/4 gallon of water.

I'd also love to be working with a "mash" vs a pelleted feed. Maybe during my next feed tweak I'll find a mash ... 

I mix it really well that first and second day until the alfalfa is distributed. I keep it in my kitchen so I can mess with it frequently. 

I'm feeding about 130 birds total. But some of those are ducks and haven't been invited to the FF party yet. I have about 110 birds in the GenPop. They are devouring the 5 gallons of FF ... they also get scratch (dry, tossed in their litter and some out in their pasture) as I'm using a higher protein pellet.

I'll probably start being more deliberate with the quantities of scratch so I have a closer estimate about the base-line protein percentage in their diet. 

I think the universal tidbit from my experience is that a 5 gallon bucket is good for fermenting about 12 lbs of dry feed. 

Wow, that's a lot of chickens!

I mixed up two buckets (I do batches instead of a continuous system) of FF using some alfalfa pellets in the mix. Should have tried a test batch first! I'm guessing I used about 15%-20% alfalfa to the rest feed. They don't like it. I think I put too much alfalfa. I have since read that more than 10% can irritate their digestive tract due to the high fiber. Last night I mixed in about 30% more feed, along with more water and mixed it in with the already fermented feed/alfalfa mix. This morning they loved it and ate it all up much more quickly like they used to.

Another observation I just recalled is that, once moistened, the alfalfa pellets (I have the small ones) expand A LOT. I think that there was my problem...15% pellets becomes more like 40% once expanded. No wonder they didn't like it. Your ratio sounds about right...1lbs alfalfa to 11lbs feed.

 

[birdlady79]

Day 3 and IT WORKED!! I'm super excited!!!

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Day 3 and IT WORKED!! I'm super excited!!!

Yeah! Mine is working too, but mine is more like cooked oatmeal. I'm using Texas Naturals Chick Starter and it is like dry, quick start oatmeal in the bag.


No chicks this week. First chicks will be arriving the end of the month. I will be tweaking the thickness of the FF until then. I think it is perfect right now though so I will only mess with it if it looks too dry or thick.

 

[birdlady79]

I took out the dry feeder when I put the ff in their coop... They wouldn't eat the ff..... I'm going to leave it in today and see if they eat any during the day.... This might take a few days... Lol.. I'm using chick starter from the feed store, not sure the brand, but it seems to be more nutritional than the brand I was feeding them... I mixed some BOSS seeds and a few oats in the ff...

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Wow, that's a lot of chickens!

I mixed up two buckets (I do batches instead of a continuous system) of FF using some alfalfa pellets in the mix. Should have tried a test batch first! I'm guessing I used about 15%-20% alfalfa to the rest feed. They don't like it. I think I put too much alfalfa. I have since read that more than 10% can irritate their digestive tract due to the high fiber. Last night I mixed in about 30% more feed, along with more water and mixed it in with the already fermented feed/alfalfa mix. This morning they loved it and ate it all up much more quickly like they used to.

Another observation I just recalled is that, once moistened, the alfalfa pellets (I have the small ones) expand A LOT. I think that there was my problem...15% pellets becomes more like 40% once expanded. No wonder they didn't like it. Your ratio sounds about right...1lbs alfalfa to 11lbs feed.

There is a feed company that recommends starting layers at 1% to 2% alfalfa ... It didn't say by weight or by volume ... but meat birds can have up to 10%. Another source I read said no more than 3 lbs of alfalfa to 100 birds as a pasture substitute during confinement ... I presume layers. That source said to soak the alfalfa over night and feed it in a trough the next day, free choice.

There are lots of benefits to alfalfa. Finishing meat birds on a diet with a high percentage of alfalfa can really improve the fat of the birds ... more omega 3s. Alfalfa can help reduce salmonella in the flock due to the way it ferments in the digestive tract. Alfalfa has a lot of minerals and can improve hatch rates. It can help eggs be more orange. But a diet restricte to alfalfa is one way to induce molt ...

Some rations already contain alfalfa.