FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

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?

It wouldn't, but you can just do as suggested in the post below....leave enough out for the length of time. If your pans are not big enough utilize other pans for the day.

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

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.

Just use more or bigger pans and dish out what you would normally feed during that time.

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!

If they won't eat all the pellets in the first couple of hours, they won't eat the FF in the first couple of hours either. I could foresee a problem with leaving free choice dry foods out for birds that have been eating wet foods...if they gorge on the dry they could get crop stasis. If they are going to gorge on something, it might be better to let them overeat the wet feeds instead.

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.

Yep! I've left FF out in large amounts in the feeder for 4-5 days when I left on a trip and it was fine and everyone was fine when I returned...I used to do the same with dry mash, so this is much the same.

 

[dutchbunny83]

They would eat themselves to death before they portioned it out.
If I left 3 days of FF it would be gone in 3 hours.
I'm not talking about my layers, these are my broilers.

 

[Beekissed]

They would eat themselves to death before they portioned it out.
If I left 3 days of FF it would be gone in 3 hours.
I'm not talking about my layers, these are my broilers.

Yes,I've raised a few my own self and I did just what I'm suggesting to you when I left them to their own devices. Even if they do eat most of it in one setting, they are STILL consuming the exact amount you would give them in that same time frame, thus they will not starve nor will they turn upon one another in a blood lust of cannibalism. Same food, same amounts, same birds.

 

[LauriTX]

I have been doing FF for a few weeks now, and I have a question about what it is supposed to look like...for a little while it will be separated with the liquid on the bottom, now it is liquid on top but it has a skim over it. The girls are enjoying it all the same, but I don't know if it is going to hurt them or not?

Any info would be greatly appreciated, as I am new to FF and chickens (since March).

 

[Beekissed]

It's fine and it won't hurt them. It won't spoil or cause them to be sick. What you are seeing seems normal for FF.

 

[LauriTX]

It's fine and it won't hurt them. It won't spoil or cause them to be sick. What you are seeing seems normal for FF.

Thanks!!! They seem to love it!

 

[mandaleigh1981]

No babies today, maybe tomorrow though I do already have their batch of food sitting there and well fermented for them when they arrive. I wanted to report that since starting FF, my flock is still laying an egg a day for every hen, and the yolks are still dark and seem to be larger than before (thought that may be my imagination). Their poops are much firmer and a lot less smelly. I also noticed a significant drop in how much they are eating (part of it was selling three extra roos, only have the one for my 21 girls at moment). They were extremely piggy for the first few days and then it slowed down.

On a side note, the roo I kept. I noticed that now when he wants to be "friendly" with one of the girls he drops a wing and does a little jig. Is my Foghorn Leghorn weird, or is this normal behavior for a roo? He never did it when the other boys were around; he was too busy keeping them from "hooking up" with the ladies.

 

[marktoo]

I have never witnessed this myself but I saw a guy on youtube perform what he said was a roo courting dance & it was exactly as you described.

 

[Beekissed]

No babies today, maybe tomorrow though I do already have their batch of food sitting there and well fermented for them when they arrive. I wanted to report that since starting FF, my flock is still laying an egg a day for every hen, and the yolks are still dark and seem to be larger than before (thought that may be my imagination). Their poops are much firmer and a lot less smelly. I also noticed a significant drop in how much they are eating (part of it was selling three extra roos, only have the one for my 21 girls at moment). They were extremely piggy for the first few days and then it slowed down.

On a side note, the roo I kept. I noticed that now when he wants to be "friendly" with one of the girls he drops a wing and does a little jig. Is my Foghorn Leghorn weird, or is this normal behavior for a roo? He never did it when the other boys were around; he was too busy keeping them from "hooking up" with the ladies.

That's a lurrrrvvvv dance, baby!

I call that the buck and wing, like a courtly southern gentleman who is doing a little do-si-do around the lady he is trying to woo. It is completely normal and you will see it often as you go along. Some roosters do it more than others but they all do it eventually..it's the equivalent to the displaying done by some birds in the wild to attract a mate.

The larger yolks are not your imagination...one of the ladies on the other FF thread did an experiment on her eggs...saved one from before FF and compared it to her egg from the same bird some days after starting FF. Here is the result...

 

[mandaleigh1981]

That's a lurrrrvvvv dance, baby!

I call that the buck and wing, like a courtly southern gentleman who is doing a little do-si-do around the lady he is trying to woo. It is completely normal and you will see it often as you go along. Some roosters do it more than others but they all do it eventually..it's the equivalent to the displaying done by some birds in the wild to attract a mate.

The larger yolks are not your imagination...one of the ladies on the other FF thread did an experiment on her eggs...saved one from before FF and compared it to her egg from the same bird some days after starting FF. Here is the result...

Wow, so it isn't just me on the egg yolk! Which means better nutrition for hatching chickadees.....very good to know!

Well, then I am proud to have a gentleman roo. I do not find it surprising; my husband is a southern gentleman (if a redneck one, think a younger version of Phil on Duck Dynasty). My sons all open doors for people, even my five year old rushes out to my truck to open my door for me. So naturally, a lady such as myself needs a gentlemanly roo too.

Because I've been saved by the grace of Southern charm (after the Lord saving my soul of course). As I told a few ladies on the Texas forum, in the words of Miranda Lambert, I don't have to be hateful I can just say Bless Your Heart!