FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[aart]

Quote: I wasn't 'crapping' on anything.....just asked questions about observations regarding dry feed waste and water dispersal.

 

[Molpet]

I wasn't 'crapping' on anything.....just asked questions about observations regarding dry feed waste and water dispersal.

LOL I am sure others have the same thoughts about FF too... just those of us who love it... well we l tend to be protective about what we love.. whether it is FF or MHP ... when words are spoken the tone is clearer, in text it can come across differently

 

[Jensownzoo]

I wasn't 'crapping' on anything.....just asked questions about observations regarding dry feed waste and water dispersal. 

In order to make sure any theory is sound, you have to try to poke holes in it. *nods*

There have been some studies regarding the effects of wet fermented feed, but not many. Presumably because it would be more difficult to do in current commercial feeding setups, so there is less monetary incentives for those studies to be done. Also, the degree of benefit to a bird in commercial production may not make it worth any extra effort or equipment to make it feasible otherwise I would expect to see the money appear anyway.

Regardless, the studies that do exist do indicate various benefits, very little drawbacks. That plus the minimization of waste was what decided me to go the FF route for my birds. So far I've been pleased with the results.

 

[Beekissed]

Wonders how much the alleged reduction of feed consumption has to do with that the wet stuff doesn't get spilled, billed and scratched out all over...not to mention rodent consumption. Most feeders for dry feed are ridiculously wasteful due to poor design. Just a thought.

Nope....I've been feeding in meals for years and waste was nil minimal anyway, as I had eliminated billing out the feed and I never left any in the coop at night for rodents. The "alleged" feed reduction is real, at least at my place, can't speak for others.

The thing about you fellas, Aart and Chris, is that neither of you have any basis for perspective on this thread because you have never fed fermented feeds....all your opinions are theory and have no practical experience behind them. Sure, anyone is free to go to any thread on this huge forum and start an argument about something but one has to wonder why anyone would even want to do that? This thread has been up here for a long time now, so it's nothing new and you both have clearly expressed that you don't agree with any merits in feeding fermented feeds, so why come back on the thread and keep beating that poor dead horse? Get bored and just want to poke someone and hear them complain?

As for me, if I see a thread titled with a topic I have no interest in or find no merit in, I just skip that thread because I have no basis for opinion on it, especially if I've never tried it. If I persist in getting on a thread just to argue with folks about what they are doing, it doesn't really add any credibility to anything you say, it merely looks like you like to antagonize folks. There's enough folks out there who have tried it and can attest to their opinion on its merits~ or its lack thereof ~without the need for the uninformed opinions, to be sure.

By all means, post away, but it all just looks like sour grapes to me.

 

[Leigti]

I do plan to continue feeding FF for the reasons I stated before. By the end of summer I will have nine full-grown chickens to feed. I feed good-quality feed but I want my chickens to get the full benefits of it and I think FF does that.
I'm not sure I understand the arguments about weight. 1 pound of dry food is not the same as 1 pound of fermented, of course there's water in it. Water alone is 8 pounds a gallon. So trying to decide if I'm feeding less feed over all by weight doesn't make any sense. 1 pound of dry food will make a lot of FF. So I probably just answered my own question. My chickens just think they need more FF, they like it so they want to eat more of it. The yard hasn't grown in yet, too early in this part of the country. But once it does they will eat less feed, just like they did last summer. So now that I've actually thought it through, you can disregard my question because I've answered it myself.
I also don't think there's anything wrong with asking questions about something you have not tried, but I have learned as I get older that there's more and more I don't know and you learn best by your own first-hand experience. So for people who are "against" FF I say try it and then see how you feel. You might change your mind you might not but at least you'll have some basis to go by to argue either way. And also make sure you do it right, I've noticed that when people start feeding their dogs raw diet they often do it very wrong. Then their dog gets sick and they blame it on the whole theory of raw feeding rather than realizing they did it wrong in the first place.
The one bucket method by tick-tock is probably the most informative and easy to do. Give it a shot and see what happens.

 

[circlehouse]

I do plan to continue feeding FF for the reasons I stated before. By the end of summer I will have nine full-grown chickens to feed. I feed good-quality feed but I want my chickens to get the full benefits of it and I think FF does that.
I'm not sure I understand the arguments about weight. 1 pound of dry food is not the same as 1 pound of fermented, of course there's water in it. Water alone is 8 pounds a gallon. So trying to decide if I'm feeding less feed over all by weight doesn't make any sense. 1 pound of dry food will make a lot of FF. So I probably just answered my own question. My chickens just think they need more FF, they like it so they want to eat more of it. The yard hasn't grown in yet, too early in this part of the country. But once it does they will eat less feed, just like they did last summer. So now that I've actually thought it through, you can disregard my question because I've answered it myself.
I also don't think there's anything wrong with asking questions about something you have not tried, but I have learned as I get older that there's more and more I don't know and you learn best by your own first-hand experience. So for people who are "against" FF I say try it and then see how you feel. You might change your mind you might not but at least you'll have some basis to go by to argue either way. And also make sure you do it right, I've noticed that when people start feeding their dogs raw diet they often do it very wrong. Then their dog gets sick and they blame it on the whole theory of raw feeding rather than realizing they did it wrong in the first place.
The one bucket method by tick-tock is probably the most informative and easy to do. Give it a shot and see what happens.

Can anyone link to this tick-tock method? I will be getting my chicks in a few weeks and want to start with FF. Anyone have any idea how much feed I should start with? They will be like 3 days old. Thanks!

 

[Jensownzoo]

Can anyone link to this tick-tock method? I will be getting my chicks in a few weeks and want to start with FF. Anyone have any idea how much feed I should start with? They will be like 3 days old. Thanks!

https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[circlehouse]

https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

Thanks!

 

[Molpet]

I do plan to continue feeding FF for the reasons I stated before. By the end of summer I will have nine full-grown chickens to feed. I feed good-quality feed but I want my chickens to get the full benefits of it and I think FF does that.
I'm not sure I understand the arguments about weight. 1 pound of dry food is not the same as 1 pound of fermented, of course there's water in it. Water alone is 8 pounds a gallon. So trying to decide if I'm feeding less feed over all by weight doesn't make any sense. 1 pound of dry food will make a lot of FF. So I probably just answered my own question. My chickens just think they need more FF, they like it so they want to eat more of it. The yard hasn't grown in yet, too early in this part of the country. But once it does they will eat less feed, just like they did last summer. So now that I've actually thought it through, you can disregard my question because I've answered it myself.
I also don't think there's anything wrong with asking questions about something you have not tried, but I have learned as I get older that there's more and more I don't know and you learn best by your own first-hand experience. So for people who are "against" FF I say try it and then see how you feel. You might change your mind you might not but at least you'll have some basis to go by to argue either way. And also make sure you do it right, I've noticed that when people start feeding their dogs raw diet they often do it very wrong. Then their dog gets sick and they blame it on the whole theory of raw feeding rather than realizing they did it wrong in the first place.
The one bucket method by tick-tock is probably the most informative and easy to do. Give it a shot and see what happens.

I weighed the dry feed , 1/4 lb per bird x 8 = 2lbs per day x 7 = 14 lbs per week before I started to ferment .. when I fermented it was 8 lbs of dry+ 1 gallon of water and when they free ranged some it lasted a week. I fed 10 lbs + water in the winter. with very little free range forage do to snow

 

[Jensownzoo]

I weighed the dry feed , 1/4 lb per bird x 8 = 2lbs per day x 7 = 14 lbs per week before I started to ferment .. when I fermented it was 8 lbs of dry+ 1 gallon of water and when they free ranged some it lasted a week. I fed 10 lbs + water in the winter. with very little free range forage do to snow

That's significant savings in feed, even in the winter. No wonder my bags are lasting so much longer.