FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Leigti]

That's pretty scary. I've only had three chicks at a time so no stampedes. My young chicks were not thrilled with FF either. So I gave up on the FF idea for a while and just wet down there feed. That worked fine. Now they are eating FF. All my chickens like it now. But the amount they eat does very day today.

 

[Tikkijane]

Had my first bad experience with FF. Put the evening panful of FF in the smaller chick enclosure and went to chase the larger chicks into their enclosure from free-ranging. Had a few other things to do, but came back to do my final checks before leaving (my house is on a different property than the chickens/goats). Saw a body in the pan with the other chicks kind of pecking at and around it. Ran in and found one of the mille fleur bantams trampled into the FF! Must have happened during the initial rush.

Well, he was still alive, though seemingly barely, so I ran him inside and gave him a warm bath to remove all the goo and warm up his icy body. Wrapped him in a towel and had to use a twig + kleenex to clean the guck from his mouth and throat so he could breathe without gasping. Popped one of the chemical hand warmers in next to him, propped him up in the passenger seat, and headed home. Realized on the way that I didn't have anything to dry and fluff his feathers, so a brief detour to Target for a hair dryer. By now he was starting to peep and complain (sweet, sweet sounds). Got him inside, got him dried off with the hairdryer (he was starting to enjoy it), then popped him in the brooder with the chicks who hadn't feathered out enough to get kicked outside yet. When I finally turned off the light, he was moving around like a creaky old man (there was obvious bruising when I was bathing him), but he was moving, alert, and if he makes it to morning I will be very encouraged.

The grrr factor is that I was just working on the garden coop today with plans to finish it up tomorrow (I needed supplies) and move quite a few of the chicks from that enclosure into it since I thought they were getting too crowded. The new coop has a nice trough-style feeder, which would have prevented this. Sigh.

I always only have a flat surface for feeding the chicks for this exact reason.

 

[Jensownzoo]

I'm a survivor (what?)
I'm not gon' give up (what?)
I'm not gon' stop (what?)
I'm gon' work harder (what?)
I'm a survivor (what?)
I'm gonna make it (what?)
I will survive (what?)
Keep on survivin'(what?)

 

[saraem]

Haha. I spoke too soon. Went in on my way to bed last night and someone must have caved. They were gobbling it up like...well, chicks that hadn't eaten in 8 hours.

Couple more questions...there was a lot of leftover food in their dry feeder. Can I add that to my FF or no because of the possibility that it's contaminated (I couldn't say with 100% certainty that there not a small piece of poop or pine shaving in there)?

If you keep your FF outside, where do you keep it? The smell isn't bad per se, but I don't necessarily love having it on my kitchen counter either. It's very hot and humid in the summer here and I'm also worried about attracting pests. We do have a shed.

 

[Johntodd]

I would not add that dry feed back into your fermentor because you may contaminate it with "poopteria".

Keep it a one-way street: Fermenter, feed scoop, chicken coop/run.

I keep mine in a large rubbermaid cooler. That way I can shut the lid when not feeding the chickens.

Go buy a cooler with a lid and use it. Get a nice big one. Keep it outside, and if worried about critters/dogs, put a concrete block on top of it.

 

[saraem]

If the lid is on, how does it off-gas?

 

[paneubert]

If the lid is on, how does it off-gas?

I use a 5 gallon bucket with a "Gamma" Lid that screws on for a normally airtight seal. I just drilled 4 small holes in the lid (so now it will never seal again. Small enough that anything larger than a fruit fly cant get in. But obviously air can get out if the pressure builds. Keeps the smell to almost nothing, but allows air exchange (even if only a tiny amount).


EDIT:

This could also be a solution if you do want to keep it indoors, but avoid a smell. One tiny hole is all you need in your lid.

 

[Beekissed]

Haha. I spoke too soon. Went in on my way to bed last night and someone must have caved. They were gobbling it up like...well, chicks that hadn't eaten in 8 hours.

Couple more questions...there was a lot of leftover food in their dry feeder. Can I add that to my FF or no because of the possibility that it's contaminated (I couldn't say with 100% certainty that there not a small piece of poop or pine shaving in there)?

If you keep your FF outside, where do you keep it? The smell isn't bad per se, but I don't necessarily love having it on my kitchen counter either. It's very hot and humid in the summer here and I'm also worried about attracting pests. We do have a shed.

I wouldn't worry about contamination at all....chickens aren't too particular.

I keep mine in the coop, right next to the feed trough. It's all about keeping it simple and that's as simple as it gets.

 

[redsix]

I wouldn't worry about contamination at all....chickens aren't too particular.

I keep mine in the coop, right next to the feed trough. It's all about keeping it simple and that's as simple as it gets.

I keep mine in the garage that is attached to the house. I have a sink in there as a water source, so it makes it easy to mix up. It also stays warm enough to ferment in the winter months, though it does take longer.

 

[Angiebubs]

Hi all, I haven't been on this thread for awhile. I usually do FF here and there during the summer months (too difficult during WI cold winters) they all love it and act like its a major treat. ANyhow I have eggs in the incubator, and I am wondering how young you start them on FF? Since this isn't what they will have as their main source when they are older, I want to use it mostly as a supplement (good gut flora etc).