FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Tikkijane]

Is it ok to leave what's left over of the FF in their dish, to the next day? Have trouble determining how much they're going to eat so there's always some left over, do i have to scoop it out and put it back into the FF bucket? Or maybe just throw out what's left and start new each day?

It's fine. As long as it's not too cold {or hot enough to pasteurize}, the bugs should be ok. It's a midnight snack.

 

[Tikkijane]

I fed my Golden Comets, Delawares and white rocks FF  from day one.    The started laying  about 4.5 mo and never looked back.  This is the time of year for different kinds of delays.  Molting,  etc.  If there is a problem it will sort itself out shortly.  

X2

 

[ChaoSS]

Fermented feed question here.

Actually two questions

First, is anyone feeding a mix of fermented feeds and un-fermented feeds? I know some people say once their birds taste the fermented stuff they don't want to go back to dry, but I can't feed twice a day at the right times, I'm not home at the right times, sometimes I really just don't have time to deal with it on certain days. So, anyone feeding a little ferment once a day and leaving the dry feeder in the run?


Second, I keep reading that the ferment will kill mold. Can I dump moldy food into the ferment or does it need to be thrown out? I threw away a bag of food recently that was moldy, a second bag had just a few moldy spots in it, the rest was given to the birds, and a third bag will likely have some mold in it when I open it. I accidentally left these bags outside and it rained on them, this wasn't a manufacturer issue. Can I feed some food to them with some mold on it if I ferment it first or is this a bad idea?

 

[jasmine5904]

Fermented feed question here.

Actually two questions

First, is anyone feeding a mix of fermented feeds and un-fermented feeds? I know some people say once their birds taste the fermented stuff they don't want to go back to dry, but I can't feed twice a day at the right times, I'm not home at the right times, sometimes I really just don't have time to deal with it on certain days. So, anyone feeding a little ferment once a day and leaving the dry feeder in the run?


Second, I keep reading that the ferment will kill mold. Can I dump moldy food into the ferment or does it need to be thrown out? I threw away a bag of food recently that was moldy, a second bag had just a few moldy spots in it, the rest was given to the birds, and a third bag will likely have some mold in it when I open it. I accidentally left these bags outside and it rained on them, this wasn't a manufacturer issue. Can I feed some food to them with some mold on it if I ferment it first or is this a bad idea?

I just feed my fermented feed once in the morning, and they eat it a little bit at a time throughout the day. But then again, they also have free range of my backyard, so they don't eat a whole lot of the FF anyway. I don't have a set schedule at work, so it would be hard for me to feed twice a day on a regular schedule. Do your birds eat all of the fermented feed you put out right away?

As far as the moldy feed goes, it doesn't sound to me like a good idea to use it, but maybe someone more experienced can give you a better answer.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Fermented feed question here.

Actually two questions

First, is anyone feeding a mix of fermented feeds and un-fermented feeds? I know some people say once their birds taste the fermented stuff they don't want to go back to dry, but I can't feed twice a day at the right times, I'm not home at the right times, sometimes I really just don't have time to deal with it on certain days. So, anyone feeding a little ferment once a day and leaving the dry feeder in the run?


Second, I keep reading that the ferment will kill mold. Can I dump moldy food into the ferment or does it need to be thrown out? I threw away a bag of food recently that was moldy, a second bag had just a few moldy spots in it, the rest was given to the birds, and a third bag will likely have some mold in it when I open it. I accidentally left these bags outside and it rained on them, this wasn't a manufacturer issue. Can I feed some food to them with some mold on it if I ferment it first or is this a bad idea?

I don't leave access to dry. My birds have been on FF from chicks and have never had dry food. I happen to feed twice a day but that isn't necessary. LOTS of people feed only once a day.

Don't put anything into your fermented bucket except grains, seeds, feed, etc. I don't feed moldy food to my chickens but maybe others do.

 

[ChaoSS]

I just feed my fermented feed once in the morning, and they eat it a little bit at a time throughout the day. But then again, they also have free range of my backyard, so they don't eat a whole lot of the FF anyway. I don't have a set schedule at work, so it would be hard for me to feed twice a day on a regular schedule. Do your birds eat all of the fermented feed you put out right away?

As far as the moldy feed goes, it doesn't sound to me like a good idea to use it, but maybe someone more experienced can give you a better answer.

Just to be clear I haven't fermented any feed yet. Some of my chickens are confined to the run, some (the ones who fly better) get the run of the yard. Dry feed is just easier, no worries about if they are getting enough. But I've been thinking about it, and the moldy food renewed my interest since I hear the fermentation kills the mold.

It's not the end of the world to throw away a little bit of food it just sucks.

Last time I let some food get moldy I gave it to my dogs but it wasn't a whole bag. My dogs seem to love chicken food and they especially seem to love moldy and rotten food.

 

[Nuggetirl]

Quote: Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but fermentation is allowing good bacteria to grow and break down the food. If you start with moldy food, bad bacteria will have a head start and would probably just get more moldy. If you have a good fermentation going and have some mold growing on the side, or a little moldy food, and you drop it in then the good bacteria 'wins' because it overpowers everything else.

So, short answer is, no. I don't think you can just ferment moldy food and feed it. Sucks that you have that much.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Fermented feed question here.

Actually two questions

First, is anyone feeding a mix of fermented feeds and un-fermented feeds? I know some people say once their birds taste the fermented stuff they don't want to go back to dry, but I can't feed twice a day at the right times, I'm not home at the right times, sometimes I really just don't have time to deal with it on certain days. So, anyone feeding a little ferment once a day and leaving the dry feeder in the run?


Second, I keep reading that the ferment will kill mold. Can I dump moldy food into the ferment or does it need to be thrown out? I threw away a bag of food recently that was moldy, a second bag had just a few moldy spots in it, the rest was given to the birds, and a third bag will likely have some mold in it when I open it. I accidentally left these bags outside and it rained on them, this wasn't a manufacturer issue. Can I feed some food to them with some mold on it if I ferment it first or is this a bad idea?

I feed FF in the morning and they eat most of it right then, then finish it off throughout the day. They always have dry feed available at all times. They do still eat it, just not nearly as much since they love their FF. They get to free range a bit in the evenings to fill up on grasses and fresh bugs before bed.

As for the mold question...I personally would not feed my chickens molded anything.

 

[RichnSteph]

I started our 5 gallon bucket of FF about two weeks ago and began feeding it to our 7 chickens on this past Saturday. None of the birds we got over the weekend have ever had FF, now I don't think they'll ever go back to dry feed. *laugh* I feed a couple of cups twice a day and they clean it all up in a short little minute then lay around in the sand looking sleepy.

RichnSteph

 

[RichnSteph]

I didn't have time to read through all of the posts. Since the suggestion is to use fermented grains, can spent grains left over from making beer at a brewery be used for chickens? I have a bunch of little breweries in my area and was hoping they would like me to take some of their spent grains off their hands...maybe free?

I've got a 55 gallon drum of used brewers grain at the house that I use to raise BSF larvae for the chickens. The place I got it from (small farm) uses it to feed chickens, goats, pigs, ducks and whatever else they have out there including the horses. They get it for free and I buy a barrel from them for 50$, it helps them out with a little extra cash and helps me with the grains I need for my larvae. I've thrown some in for our birds and they pick it up right away.

RichnSteph