FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[birdlady79]

It may be a good idea to just give a small FF serving first thing in the morning so they get some complete nutrition.
Since chickens eat to satisfy energy needs, they definitely eat less the hotter it gets.

I think that would work better for me bc I work late a few nights and they don't want to eat much close to bedtime... So it waste...... They love their morning time feed.... Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Their crops are empty (or nearly so) in the morning so they feel very hungry. A good morning fill up can take them well into the day.

It's also nice to go to the feeder later in the day and find it empty.

 

[birdlady79]

Their crops are empty (or nearly so) in the morning so they feel very hungry. A good morning fill up can take them well into the day.

It's also nice to go to the feeder later in the day and find it empty.

I've been leaving dry food in coop during the day, I know they eat on it in morning too.... I should probably wait and hang it up bf I go to work? That way they are hungry when I feed the ff in morning...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Your dry feed is still providing good nutrition so how you work out the details, only you can say.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm glad you posted this.... I've noticed feed consumption going down in my flock... It's in the 90's here..... I actually stopped FF right now bc I was scared it would spoil during the day bc they wernt eating it... . I'll start back up and do smaller amounts ....they do free range in morning and at night... I've also been giving cold watermelon and stuff...

The FF won't spoil, so no worries...it may turn a little grey looking the longer it sits but that's not an issue either...they will eat it. You might also just dump out any excess onto the ground in the evenings...sometimes they will then act like you have fed them some new and exotic treat and will gobble it right up. Then just scale down your feedings until they clean it up entirely.

In high forage months I'm barely even giving a cup and a half to the entire flock for the day and even then they will leave some until the next morning.

I'd be a bit concerned that sugar water treats like watermelon might give them the runs, which would make any tendency toward dehydration worse?

Anyone with actual knowledge about that have an informed opinion?

I've never had any get the runs from watermelon but a person might want to feed it in the evenings after they've already had their other food for the day and not on a daily basis....just a sometimes thing, much like anything that is a drastic change in the diet.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

The FF won't spoil, so no worries...it may turn a little grey looking the longer it sits but that's not an issue either...they will eat it. You might also just dump out any excess onto the ground in the evenings...sometimes they will then act like you have fed them some new and exotic treat and will gobble it right up. Then just scale down your feedings until they clean it up entirely.

In high forage months I'm barely even giving a cup and a half to the entire flock for the day and even then they will leave some until the next morning.


I've never had any get the runs from watermelon but a person might want to feed it in the evenings after they've already had their other food for the day and not on a daily basis....just a sometimes thing, much like anything that is a drastic change in the diet.

My flock gets all excited when I dump "leftover" FF out of the feeders and onto the ground. If it wasn't an inefficient way to feed, that's what I'd always do. Silly birds ... they sure LURVE to scratch!

 

[birdlady79]

The FF won't spoil, so no worries...it may turn a little grey looking the longer it sits but that's not an issue either...they will eat it.  You might also just dump out any excess onto the ground in the evenings...sometimes they will then act like you have fed them some new and exotic treat and will gobble it right up.  Then just scale down your feedings until they clean it up entirely.

In high forage months I'm barely even giving a cup and a half to the entire flock for the day and even then they will leave some until the next morning. 


I've never had any get the runs from watermelon but a person might want to feed it in the evenings after they've already had their other food for the day and not on a daily basis....just a sometimes thing, much like anything that is a drastic change in the diet. 

Thank you.... I don't give watermelon daily... When I do give it, it's usually middle of day bc it's so hot....I don't give a ton but never noticed runny poo.... That's great to know about foraging and amounts of food... I'll start working on a simpler feeding plan.

 

[Beekissed]

My flock gets all excited when I dump "leftover" FF out of the feeders and onto the ground. If it wasn't an inefficient way to feed, that's what I'd always do. Silly birds ... they sure LURVE to scratch!

They do...which drives me a little crazy. I have been really getting their watering place, coops, etc. neatened up and all and had placed a small pad of hay next to the base of the waterer~to keep down the dust/mud and also as a place for Jake to lay....that's his fave spot but he likes to lay on the soft hay. They never scratch there ordinarily but just as soon as I put down this little dab of hay they promptly walked over and scratched it to one side to look for bugs.

Same with any landscaping mulch we put down here...we have to stretch and pin down deer netting over it all to keep the chickens from scratching in it like it's some new treat....they would never scratch there ordinarily but watched us spread the mulch, then raced to be the first to scratch it up....jokes on them, the deer netting is a great deterrent.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

They do...which drives me a little crazy.  I have been really getting their watering place, coops, etc. neatened up and all and had placed a small pad of hay next to the base of the waterer~to keep down the dust/mud and also as a place for Jake to lay....that's his fave spot but he likes to lay on the soft hay.  They never scratch there ordinarily but just as soon as I put down this little dab of hay they promptly walked over and scratched it to one side to look for bugs. 

Same with any landscaping mulch we put down here...we have to stretch and pin down deer netting over it all to keep the chickens from scratching in it like it's some new treat....they would never scratch there ordinarily but watched us spread the mulch, then raced to be the first to scratch it up....jokes on them, the deer netting is a great deterrent. 

Good to know about the deer netting! That's an awesome idea!

ETA: NOTHING scratches like a broody with fresh chicks!!! Jokes in me and my chick waterers and my wee bowls of baby food.

 

[Beekissed]

Good to know about the deer netting! That's an awesome idea!

ETA: NOTHING scratches like a broody with fresh chicks!!! Jokes in me and my chick waterers and my wee bowls of baby food.

Wee bowls....sounds so very Irish. That's why I use the nipple waterer for chicks and broody now...she gets a cup drinker on the side and they get the red nipples on the bottom. They all get a "wee" trough with the wire topper so no scratching can be done. Then they are all turned loose after a week to scratch to their heart's content out in the wild.