FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

DL is deep litter, aka composting deep litter. It creates warmth as it composts. Those temps you mention shouldn't be too bad for keeping the FF outside...it will have a slower ferment but should still do well in day temps of 50 and above. You can mix a full bucket in those temps and it won't stink at all.

 

[COChix]

DL is deep litter, aka composting deep litter.  It creates warmth as it composts.   Those temps you mention shouldn't be too bad for keeping the FF outside...it will have a slower ferment but should still do well in day temps of 50 and above.  You can mix a full bucket in those temps and it won't stink at all. 

Thanks for clarifying what dl stood for, I am familiar with the deep litter method. We got about 7 inches of snow overnightght, but I hadn't had time to get my ferment station up and running. Suppose to be chilly until Saturday.

 

[AuntNomi]

I keep my FF in the feed shed out near the coops. I use a 5 gallon bucket, but I only fill it half way at a time. The smell never bothers me. But my son and husband say it stinks. lol I guess my nose does not work well! Which may be a good thing.

 

[dolfi]

Separated 6 chick's from my others because they were picked on by the older ones. The thing is that I guess I put too much ff for them and did Stir for a few days. Today I had time and clean out the little cage and stir it. To my concern it had tiny white worms. Is that good or bad.

 

[MamaKitty913]

Separated 6 chick's from my others because they were picked on by the older ones. The thing is that I guess I put too much ff for them and did Stir for a few days. Today I had time and clean out the little cage and stir it. To my concern it had tiny white worms. Is that good or bad.

Just a thought could it be maggots? I ended up reusing some busted Window screens as a cover chickens like maggots mommy does NOT lol

 

[Beekissed]

Are you sure it was worms? The other day I thought I had a small white worm in mine and it turned out to be a sprouted oat. If there are maggots in there it's most likely from fruit flies or what they call vinegar gnats and it's all added protein. There are folks out there rotting meat over their chicken runs in order to provide them maggots from soldier flies and you have done it without all that trouble and possible disease transmission. Fruit flies come to the smell of the acetic acid in your FF and have not been feeding on anything that would be harmful to your chickens, so it's all good. Feed out the baby flies, they'll love it and it's good, natural protein.

 

[dolfi]

Are you sure it was worms?  The other day I thought I had a small white worm in mine and it turned out to be a sprouted oat.  If there are maggots in there it's most likely from fruit flies or what they call vinegar gnats and it's all added protein.  There are folks out there rotting meat over their chicken runs in order to provide them maggots from soldier flies and you have done it without all that trouble and possible disease transmission.  Fruit flies come to the smell of the acetic acid in your FF and have not been feeding on anything that would be harmful to your chickens, so it's all good.  Feed out the baby flies, they'll love it and it's good, natural protein. 

Just a thought could it be maggots? I ended up reusing some busted Window screens as a cover chickens like maggots mommy does NOT lol

Lol yeah it's been hard to keep the flies out. I'm in Florida and my bucket don't have a lid. I put a wood piece on it but the flies still gets in.

 

[Beekissed]

Some folks just place a piece of screen over the top of the bucket for that purpose. I don't bother....maggots are good food for birds and they love 'em.

 

[dolfi]

Some folks just place a piece of screen over the top of the bucket for that purpose.  I don't bother....maggots are good food for birds and they love 'em. 

I guess you're right. Extra is always better.

 

[COChix]

For those interested, I was going to be conducting an experiment using a seedling heat mat and thermal cube for keeping my ferment buckets from freezing in the cold Colorado winters. Well I didn't get very far into my plan before deciding to change the set up. I decided that the seedling mat and thermal cube would not keep things warm enough for fermentation to take place.

Here is what I am planning on trying now.....we don't have space to ferment inside the house, so this will be set up in the unheated garage.

I have an extra one of these laying around, this is programmable and I am hoping it will keep the temperature optimal for fermenting....

I was thinking about tossing it into my ferment bucket and seeing how that goes...I am hoping to get this set up this week and will post pictures and results from said experiment.