FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

I just wanted to update on my FF experience after finding the mold on the container.

Canister type container does not play well with a drier mix (think peanut butter.)  The FF touches the underside of the top when scooping it out and sticks on there like mortar - not possible to reach to scrape down.  That area stayed warm and moist and mold grew.  When I kept the FF wet, nothing stuck to the lip, but it was more of a pain to strain.  FF did not mold, but I got scared I would touch the mold when scooping and put it out in the food.

Have been using a small bucket now since then (I carefully scooped food out from middle and transferred it over.)  No mold since then.  Haven't bothered with a lid either.

I'm working on my consistency.  I think it is *better* to start the new mix out wetter.  So, first I add my water to the cup or two left in the bucket and stir well.  Then I add in the chick starter and get it to a consistency like when you first add water to instant oatmeal, before it is cooked.  I stir this up very well.  Normally in 5-10 minutes, the feed has already started to swell, so I stir again.  Then, around 12 hours later, I add more dry chick starter and stir in well to get to the drier consistency I want to end up with.  Feed 12 hours later.  *Better* is just *better to me* and should not mean anything to anyone else.  I just feel like I get the ferment better spread with a wetter mix at first and then I don't really worry about how much dry stuff I am adding in to thicken it up as the ratio of already fermented to not fermented is so high.  I'm getting a lot better about knowing how much starter to add to get to the consistency I want.  I'm making about 3 days worth at a time right now.  The bucket is in with the chicks in 80 degree temps in my house and I can't deal with it getting too sour.

Yeah ... we had a discussion about this a while back. When I'm starting a new bucket I always mix the full amount of water in with the little bit of feed I'm using to backslop ... I stir that up really well before I add any fresh feed. This seems to get the fermentation started better for me, too. Other people report something similar.

I'm much happier using smooth sided plastic buckets. I thought I'd be happier in glass, but nope. Possibly because of the shape of the glass, but also the FF seemed to stick to it more than plastic. I can scrape down the plastic with a quick swipe.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you, ill look at that link. The feed was purchased only a few weeks ago, when the eggs were gathered it was a new bag, but thats trusting that the feed store got it fresh. They special order it for me from their distributor. I just opened a new bag last night.

I didn't mean, when did you purchase the feed, I meant what was the manufacture date. Every bag of feed has a stamped date of when it was produced.
I look at the date before I buy feed or any other time sensitive product including my own food.
I was at a feed store that had packets of vitamins and electrolytes that had expired by 4 years.
I've seen feed at stores that was manufactured over 6 months earlier.
Feed loses nutrients rapidly. Old feed shouldn't be used, especially to breeders for hatching eggs.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I didn't mean, when did you purchase the feed, I meant what was the manufacture date. Every bag of feed has a stamped date of when it was produced.
I look at the date before I buy feed or any other time sensitive product including my own food.
I was at a feed store that had packets of vitamins and electrolytes that had expired by 4 years.
I've seen feed at stores that was manufactured over 6 months earlier.
Feed loses nutrients rapidly. Old feed shouldn't be used, especially to breeders for hatching eggs.

Ill check the manufacturer date on the feed I just got to make sure its good but the bag they were eating at the time is gone. My feed store special orders one bag for me so if it's not good I'll have to wait till the next shipment and hope they get a better bag or switch brands... I think from now on tho I'm going to be buying hilland naturals feed from someone who gets a ton at a time (its too expensive to ship any other way)

 

[chickengirl1193]

I didnt find the manufacture date on the bag... I looked all over and it has the lot number and bag number but no dates. :/

 

[LindaB220]

I didnt find the manufacture date on the bag... I looked all over and it has the lot number and bag number but no dates.

Yeah, I'd go with the other one too.

 

[subhanalah]

I recommend the 90% shade cloth. It's dark green and you can't see anything through it. It just lets rain through. I only have one run that's in the sun midday. That one is covered the length with 90% shade cloth. The rest don't get much sun and at least one flock free ranges. The only problem with the shade cloth is the snow. It will take an 8' wide hoop pen and make two 4' wide tunnels. One of the free range flocks. raised bed with chicken pasture almost ready for the hoop pen. This guy and his brothers are sometimes a problem when they break their chain and come bounding across the field. They're getting shot next time. Only the birds that tend to jump fences (non penedesencas) have to be in the hoop pen to keep them out of the garden and berry patches in season. They get the run of the berry patches before growth and after harvest. The persimmons are there too and late fall/early winter the chickens hunt for them first thing each morning. The jugs are only hanging in the coop at night when nighttime temps haven't dropped out of the 90s, Then they're at chicken roosting height. X2 I try not to serve it till I get a whiff of that sweet sour smell when I stir it.

Dogs tied up on chains? Poor things, you'd be doing them a favor....he's a pretty one though, shame they treat him that way.

 

[subhanalah]

I have a notebook next to the keyboard that I write the thread and post number I want to remember.

notebook? Write? What is this foreign language you are speaking? Lol.

 

[n3kms]

notebook? Write? What is this foreign language you are speaking? Lol.

Yes, those are some organizational skills I think I'm lacking. But would love to have.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Ill check the manufacturer date on the feed I just got to make sure its good but the bag they were eating at the time is gone. My feed store special orders one bag for me so if it's not good I'll have to wait till the next shipment and hope they get a better bag or switch brands... I think from now on tho I'm going to be buying hilland naturals feed from someone who gets a ton at a time (its too expensive to ship any other way)

I occasionally buy at a local feed store or TSC. Most of the time I go in with a bunch of other people on a few pallets.

I didnt find the manufacture date on the bag... I looked all over and it has the lot number and bag number but no dates.

It should be on there somewhere, sometimes encrypted. It can be on the ingredient label and sometimes it's on the seal on the end of the bag. If you call the manufacturer they can tell you how to find the date. The seller should know too so they know when to rotate the stock.

Dogs tied up on chains? Poor things, you'd be doing them a favor....he's a pretty one though, shame they treat him that way.

She has had anywhere from 4 to 7 malamute/husky crosses. There's no fence between us or on her property at all. She has about 20 acres and there's a square 4 acre field between us. Before they discovered I had chickens she used to let them run and she couldn't control them. I'd see her chasing them through subdivisions across the road. Occasionally they'd bring parts of deer home. One morning I let a flock of about 40 - three month old birds out to forage. I walked to the house to fill up a water fount, when I got back, one of the dogs was killing birds in the yard and another was killing them in the coop. I picked up a 2X4 and started wailing on them till they ran off. That was about a week after the above photo was taken when the dogs were stalking me. They killed 9 that day and 4 since. She's paid for them but I didn't want to sell chickens that way.
She walks them early in the morning before I let the chickens out and then they spend the day tethered to log chains. They do break the chains occasionally and come back. I told her, "next time the dogs won't be coming home".

notebook? Write? What is this foreign language you are speaking? Lol.

I have a notebook for each hatching year, one for a garden diary, one for a bee journal.
I really do need to get the stuff recorded electronically, especially a flock journal and a breeding pedigree.

Yes, those are some organizational skills I think I'm lacking. But would love to have.

I'm not that organized. If I was, I'd have the aforementioned breeding record data base completed.

 

[TwoCrows]

I have a question for all you Fermented Feed experts out there.

I started following this thread on and off when BeeKissed first started it, but I didn't read it religiously and I probably should have!

I want to start fermenting feed for my adult laying flock. I can't free range my birds unless I supervise on account of all the heavy infestation of predators. This fermented feed will the the sole rations aside from the once a day table scraps of veggies, meats, greens, fruit, etc...

I also have some 5 week old chicks already in their own enclosure within the flocks coop and run, and in a few months when they are large enough will get mixed into the flock. They are on commercial starter feed.

So my question is, when these chicks are 3 1/2 or 4 months old and mixed in the flock and not yet even laying, can they eat this fermented feed as a sole diet as well or should I keep them on starter food til they are of laying age and then start them on fermented feed? Will the fermented feed have enough nutrients for these still growing babies?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. I am still learning about the fermenting process and still know little about it other than from all the praise I hear all of you talk about it.

Thanks for any info you can provide!