FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Balloonjuice]

Thanks for the tip, LindaB. It would not have occurred to me to use the tea if you had not mentioned it, but it makes perfect sense now that you have.

 

[clankeyes]

Yes, I looked into that also. Not ever going to happen if you're on a budget.

Not for me anyway. Google Gmo feed and you'll see that most are not gmo. Wheat is good, oats are terrific, barley. You'll need to add some meat along with it. Maybe a little ground beef (pattie) or canned tuna or mackerel. Cheap protein. Look info comfrey and mulberry bushes. Both could supply a hugh amount of protein along with your FF. I invested in Azomite a rock dust that has tons of minerals and will last me years for about $30. Research, research Keep away from beets, corn, soybeans. canola.

Yes, I figured SOY, CORN was a no no.. was racking my brain about the protein options. Good ideas.. thinking meal worms ? I have no idea who much that costs. I make my own bread and grind the wheat so I buy that in bulk already. I figured the rest of the grain I could buy in bulk also. I will look up the Azomite rock. I have never heard of that. THANK YOU !

 

[kpgoldstar]

Can we put meat directly into our FF?

I think LindaB was referring to Clankeyes wanting to make her own chicken feed from separately purchased grains and that the formula she was considering was not high enough in protein so some sort of meat or plant protein would need to be added. You can add meat to your ff but it will likely result in a foul odor. Commercial chicken food is nutritionally balanced for our flocks and by fermenting the feed you are making all the nutrients more digestible and more readily available to your birds. You don't necessarily want to add meat.

 

[subhanalah]

Medicated chick feed- yes or no? I read that vaccinated chicks should not have medicated feed.

Any harm fermenting medicated feed? Any reason * to* use it when fermenting? {BK?}

I ferment the medicated stuff. I didn't want to use it, but that's all my feed store carries. I just bought a bag of flock raiser and I'm going to be using that for everyone from now on.

Yes, I figured SOY, CORN was a no no.. was racking my brain about the protein options.  Good ideas.. thinking meal worms ? I have no idea who much that costs. I make my own bread and grind the wheat so I buy that in bulk already. I figured the rest of the grain I could buy in bulk also. I will look up the Azomite rock. I have never heard of that.  THANK YOU !

Mealworms are very fatty. If you wouldn't mind growing your own, dubia roaches are easier than mealworms and superworms and have a better nutritional content.
Many use fish meal to bring the protein up in their homemade feeds.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Medicated chick feed- yes or no? I read that vaccinated chicks should not have medicated feed.

Any harm fermenting medicated feed? Any reason * to* use it when fermenting? {BK?}

Medicated has nothing to do with vaccinations so it doesn't matter.
The medication is a thiamine blocker to starve the coccidia. If the fermenting causes production of thiamine in the feed, it will negate the effect of the medication.
If you keep bedding dry and feeders full, it isn't necessary.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Medicated chick feed- yes or no? I read that vaccinated chicks should not have medicated feed.

Any harm fermenting medicated feed? Any reason * to* use it when fermenting? {BK?}

The conversation about medicated feed has rolled around on this thread several times. ChickenCanoe can probably answer better than me but the gyst was that by fermenting, you dilute the medication "Amprollium" and it somewhat defeats the purpose of purchasing medicated to begin with.

 

[clankeyes]

Can you add Chia Seeds to your FF ? I found this information. ...Because of its nutritional value and stability, chia is already being added to a range of foods. Research has shown that adding it to chicken feed makes for eggs rich in omega-3s. Feeding chia to chickens enriches their meat with omega-3s;

Second IF you can use it in your FF and you make your feed from scratch would it have enough protein or would you still have to add more protein into the feed ?

 

[Tikkijane]

Beekissed,

Regarding your "bucket setup." I use something similar to that for my bokashi compost. The difference, I guess, being that the holes in the inner bucket are for the compost "tea" to drain out rather than allow the water+acv solution into the bucket.

My question is a simple one -- how large should the holes be to form a "sieve?" My holes are pretty large in my compost buckets, probably much larger than the ones you use.

Help?

Bee has moved on to a single bucket- she's using a cooler. And her feed is not runny enough to drain.....

 

[Tikkijane]

Medicated has nothing to do with vaccinations so it doesn't matter.
The medication is a thiamine blocker to starve the coccidia. If the fermenting causes production of thiamine in the feed, it will negate the effect of the medication.
If you keep bedding dry and feeders full, it isn't necessary.

Given that chicks vaccinated for cocci should not have medicated feed because they cancel each other out, and given that FF creates a better gut culture (and yes, dilutes the amprollium) it just seemed redundant and unnecessary.

I'm more interested if it's actually harmful?

 

[Tikkijane]

Yep. Given that we've got new folks and that I can never find the discussion when I need to link to it when I tell folks, I figured I'd ask again. Kind of like keeping it submerged under inches of water.....