FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[RoseMarie1]

man do I love the ff! Our first week with 16 meatie chicks 1 week old today and 6 layer chicks, 1 week old tomorrow and not one case of poopy butt! I keep looking, but am not seeing any. With our first 15, there were 5-6 that needed cleaning off all the time. I sure don't miss that!

Deb

Me either Deb on not missing that! I had 2-3 of mine get that and man kind it liked to drove me insane! It was so hard on their little butts it WOULD NOT come off and them screaming........ughh I FINALLY figured out to use some warm paper towels and just sit down and hold it against their butts to get it to loosen up and turn free. It was like concrete on there. I didn't know about ff then but I started using yogurt and mixed it in with their food and that fixed the problem.

 

[RedneckGurl]

I forgot to say that since I have a hard time finding the Braggs here I figured I would just crush some of my apples each year and keep that. It seems to work well after letting it age in a canning jar with a lid just screwed on.

Also just let my fallen apples lay. Once they start to brown the chickens begin to pick them apart! I make my applesauce with only apples cooked down. Nothing added at all. If I open that, add water and let it set (cloth covered like the ff) then mix it with any veggy scraps they devour it! I will do this anytime I notice they are after the fallen apples more than normal. I assume they are self medicating when they go after the 'rotting' apples.

My whole yard is comprised of 'native weeds'. No planted grasses. All grasses grow on their own. Except in the "field-edge of woods" we planted years ago with pasture grass, clover and alfalfa, chicory for wildlife. I reap seed head from there and use it as scratch for them or add to ff if I get enough. This wild grass etc I cut like a lawn is dried and mixed into the coop bedding and is what I use in the nest boxes. So they also get some nutrition scratching in there.

I don't purchase Bragg's anymore. I order generic ACV with the mother from Vitacost.com. Lots cheaper and just as good. I get most of my vitamins and other supplements from them as well. If you have trouble finding Bragg's it might be a good resource for you.

 

[hogster160]

Me either Deb on not missing that! I had 2-3 of mine get that and man kind it liked to drove me insane! It was so hard on their little butts it WOULD NOT come off and them screaming........ughh I FINALLY figured out to use some warm paper towels and just sit down and hold it against their butts to get it to loosen up and turn free. It was like concrete on there. I didn't know about ff then but I started using yogurt and mixed it in with their food and that fixed the problem.

Yea we used to soak their butts in a bowl of warm water, lol. In one of those ziploc plastic containers, and threw them away when we were done. I sure don't miss it. Yea they screamed like there was no tomorrow lol. Poor lil girls.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Yea we used to soak their butts in a bowl of warm water, lol. In one of those ziploc plastic containers, and threw them away when we were done. I sure don't miss it. Yea they screamed like there was no tomorrow lol. Poor lil girls.

yep

 

[Trina Bambina]

Tha

You can feed them morning and evening and place enough out to last them a couple of hours.  Chicks with a mama are not eating all the time and they sleep under her all night long, so it's not necessary to have food out at all times. 

.

Thank you. That is what I was thinking. Hopefully this is our last batch of hatchery chicks, and we will be hatching our own from here on out.

 

[dutchbunny83]

We're going to the beach leaving Saturday morning, coming home Sunday night.
I have the massive waterer for my birds that will easily last them that long.
They've been on fermented feed and love it, but I am afraid I can't leave enough out for that long.
Would it be a big deal to go back to the pellets in the hanging feeder for a couple days?

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Why don't you just ferment and feed a double-sized batch for one day?

 

[dutchbunny83]

They eat 2 full pans 3 times a day, I wouldn't be able to leave out enough for that long.
The hanging 10lb pellet feeder will last a couple days.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Plus even if I left the portions I would give for 2 days they would eat it all within the first couple hours, they're meat birds they don't portion themselves very well. They do better with the pellets, I think because they don't like them as much!

 

[marktoo]

Look back through this thread. I think I had read not too far back in the tread that if it's well fermented it won't spoil.