FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Tikkijane]

You should look up the bestiality laws in his area and then send him a copy of it! if the laws are prohibitive, tell him where he can seek help. If the laws are permissive or non-existing, tell him you've posted his ways all over the Internet on a chicken discussion forum!!

I mean...WHAT IN THE WORLD other reason could there be for his logic?! I don't usually laugh AT people, but I can't hold this one in!

Hi logic was this: roo gets on female; female lays egg which passes through and is coated by the rooster juice. No, really- he 'splained it to me.

 

[LindaB220]

Just to mention my experience with sprouted grains. I always got mold. I have thrown it out. It gets little white fuzzy mold on it about day 4- 5. I tried more rinsing, better circulation by running a fan, everything I could think of to no avail. It wasn't black or green, but nevertheless, mold. I haven't had mold on my ff since starting it last fall. This has been my experience. I know those who sprout have had great results. Not just for me. I am going to stick with my ff.

If you want to feed sprouted grain along with fermented feed just use it quicker than 4-5 days. You still get a LOT of goodness out of 3 days. Treat it as part of your grain ration instead of trying for fodder.

 

[azygous]

Bee, you suggested I report back with developments with my EE with sour crop.

She has survived it and is slowly getting better, but she still won't eat the FF. How she's survived is a mystery, though she must be getting something when she free-ranges, along with squash and carrots and raisins that I occasionally provide the flock.

This morning, for the first time, I saw her at the FF trough. On closer observation, though, I saw she was just picking out the seeds, and she really didn't stay too long at it.

The past couple days I've had a broody in a wire cage, and I provided some dry chick starter since she wouldn't touch the FF. My EE has been eating that when I let the broody out to stretch.

I wonder if this is a natural, self healing strategy. Maybe there's something about the FF that this recovering EE can't handle.

Any ideas? And why wouldn't a broody want the FF, either?

 

[Nubichicks]

I started my chicks on fermented feed about two weeks ago ( when they were only about a week old). The first time I made it I used medicated chick starter, water and whey from making yogurt. I ended up throwing it away after a week because I thought it got moldy. It had spider web like white strands all over the top of it. I looked on line and read NOT to use whey from yogurt and figured that was the problem and threw it out. The new batch has no whey, just water, and "molded" in only two days. I'm not sure if it is actually mold. I've been skimming it off the top and still feeding it to them, it doesn't smell bad and they still seem to like it. I tried looking up pictures but it didn't really help. I'll try and post pictures of it. I keep it covered with a glass lid, seen next to Rosie, who decided she would help herself to some breakfast!

 

[Tikkijane]

I started my chicks on fermented feed about two weeks ago ( when they were only about a week old). The first time I made it I used medicated chick starter, water and whey from making yogurt. I ended up throwing it away after a week because I thought it got moldy. It had spider web like white strands all over the top of it. I looked on line and read NOT to use whey from yogurt and figured that was the problem and threw it out. The new batch has no whey, just water, and "molded" in only two days. I'm not sure if it is actually mold. I've been skimming it off the top and still feeding it to them, it doesn't smell bad and they still seem to like it. I tried looking up pictures but it didn't really help. I'll try and post pictures of it. I keep it covered with a glass lid, seen next to Rosie, who decided she would help herself to some breakfast!

It sounds like you're skimming off the good stuff. On my FAQ, I have links to pictures of molds and yeasts that got posted here pages and pages back.

 

[Tikkijane]

???

 

[LindaB220]

???

I don't have an answer to your question. On one hand they are ugly but if you live in 95+ degree weather they may be the best thing since sliced bread. ON THE OTHER HAND. He's into gene's so if he is splicing the bald gene into good eggs that's GMO

 

[ChickenCanoe]

HI. I'm newly starting chickens, just got a few chicks. I got the medicated chick starter, the one recommended for pasty butt at the store, and the only one in 50# bags. now I want to start with ff. If I understand correctly, I can't use medicated feed for ff, I need to give this bag away and get something else? I get my feed at southern states.
I started the chicks on acv water today, hopefully it will clear their butts. no mucus or blood, but this is a week old...didn't think i'd be back to 'diapers'! Lol! Thanks for any ideas!!!

It won't hurt anything to use the feed.
Medicated feed won't cure pasty butt.
The medication is amprolium or possibly a sulfa drug which is a thiamine (B1) blocker to limit the growth of the coccidia protozoa in the intestine.
It does nothing else.
Bacteria in the ferment produce vitamin B12
The only conflict I can imagine is if the fermentation increases other B complex vitamins in the feed.
It's also known that the level of thiamine in feed will affect the growth of yeast. The more thiamine the faster the yeast growth. I believe I saw a study where yeast growth was affected by amprolium.
Coccidia are 50 times more sensitive to the limitation of thiamine transport as is the host animal but I don't know if the yeast in the FF is negatively affected.
Still, I wouldn't worry about it. Use the feed.
It's fairly easy to limit coccidiosis by keeping the brooder bedding bone dry and feeders at least half full, precluding the need for medicated feed.
http://www.corid.com/Pages/Coccidia.aspx

Chick grit can help to limit the pasty butt. In the meantime, keep wiping those butts.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't root fibers. It was on top of root base, white and fuzzy. When I pinched it out, it was soft and cottony for lack of a better word. I used wheat and boss.

Same here.

.... A lot of pasty butt is caused by a too hot~ or uneven temps in~ the brooder, so you may want to tone down the heat. After you start the FF for them, you'll not need the ACV in the water any longer, so keep that in mind. Try to mix it very dry if they are already having pasty stool, you won't want them to consume more liquid than they need to do.

X2

Hi logic was this: roo gets on female; female lays egg which passes through and is coated by the rooster juice. No, really- he 'splained it to me.

As silly as his fear is and the fact that the egg is coated with cuticle from the hen, there is a sliver of truth to what he says. After mating, semen is stored in sperm storage glands in the vagina. When each subsequent egg passes, some is squeezed out and then makes it's way up the magnum toward the infundibulum where they will fertilize the next follicle. It's thereby possible some may be on the egg but - big deal. These storage glands are common with animals that don't do the penetration thing: chickens, turkeys, frogs, toads.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1628&context=usdaarsfacpub
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6091084

He still sounds like a hypochondriac.

If you want to feed sprouted grain along with fermented feed just use it quicker than 4-5 days. You still get a LOT of goodness out of 3 days. Treat it as part of your grain ration instead of trying for fodder.

X2
Even grain just soaked overnight is an improvement over dry. I usually just sprout till the little tails start to grow.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

???

Wow! Look at the huge combs on the crossed birds!

Did they say if he was gene splicing, or just cross breeding? Either way, I have mixed feelings about it. They did talk about the benefits of raising featherless birds in factories in hot climates, but I wonder what problems get introduced when you take the scales & feathers away from the birds ... they didn't mention that.

I'm all for helping people produce their own food, but this seems to be a way to reduce costs for factory farms.

 

[LindaB220]

oops