FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[mobius]

And mine are at .14 # of feed per day, but they have the additional fodder and alfalfa stuff.

 

[mobius]

I seriously encourage everyone to submit this data (not trying to be pushy) but the only opportunity we have to get any results with a degree of accuracy is THIS FORUM....it is not studied anywhere else...@lazy gardener should there be a separate thread or leave this here?

Right now we just have anecdotal evidence and it is not comparable because there is not a standardized set of variables. I have however just provided that (hopefully).

Input welcome.

 

[lazy gardener]

Also would add that if say, I posted (like I did above) my feed amount and costs per chicken, and folks CONSIDERING FF would post THEIR dry feed cost per chicken, we might have something good to go on. Do remember to post your cost per pound of feed or cost per bag of feed with poundage....this makes the playing field more level....helps if others participate so we are comparing chickens to chickens, not chickens to ducks .

I would take the COST/# out of the analysis all together. There is far too much variance in this matter. One year, I paid $26/50# bag of barley, same price for wheat. Last fall, I was able to pick up wheat for less than $13. Same goes for chicken feed. You folks out in the mid west, the grain belt, those who have mills near by can get their feed for a FRACTION of the price that I pay. As far as I know, there is not even a feed mill in my entire state. Also, some folks buy the cheapest feed they can purchase (that would be me) while others pay for organic or other "high end" feeds.

If you want to find out how much your feed is costing you, simply figure out how many days a bag of feed will last you. For example, lets say you have 15 adult birds, and a bag of layer feed lasts 18 days. 50/15/18 = .185# per day per bird. The math would be the same whether you fermented that bag of feed, or fed it dry. Keep track of your feed consumption for a month, or several bags worth. If you want to go even further playing the math game, you can throw the cost/bird/day into the mix, or even figure out how much a dozen eggs cost you to produce. Then, just for grins and giggles, you could figure out the difference in egg cost based on fermented vs. dry, or cheapest layer feed available vs. organic or other high end feed.

 

[mobius]

I would take the COST/# out of the analysis all together. There is far too much variance in this matter. One year, I paid $26/50# bag of barley, same price for wheat. Last fall, I was able to pick up wheat for less than $13. Same goes for chicken feed. You folks out in the mid west, the grain belt, those who have mills near by can get their feed for a FRACTION of the price that I pay. As far as I know, there is not even a feed mill in my entire state. Also, some folks buy the cheapest feed they can purchase (that would be me) while others pay for organic or other "high end" feeds.

If you want to find out how much your feed is costing you, simply figure out how many days a bag of feed will last you. For example, lets say you have 15 adult birds, and a bag of layer feed lasts 18 days. 50/15/18 = .185# per day per bird. The math would be the same whether you fermented that bag of feed, or fed it dry. Keep track of your feed consumption for a month, or several bags worth. If you want to go even further playing the math game, you can throw the cost/bird/day into the mix, or even figure out how much a dozen eggs cost you to produce. Then, just for grins and giggles, you could figure out the difference in egg cost based on fermented vs. dry, or cheapest layer feed available vs. organic or other high end feed.

Right, fine to leave cost out! lol And glad to know there is a baseline of .20 to .25 # of feed per bird per day in the DRY.

So given that baseline (and I do feed my birds other things as mentioned), I have reduced "dry feed only fed" by 30 to 44%. That, my friends, is significant.

And given the feed costs, if dry feed only, instead of $2.93 per chicken per month, it would be $3.60 to $4.50 per chicken per month.

Okay, I will try and stop now !

 

[Elyrian1]

Feed rates... good idea. So let's see here.

A bag of 35lbs would typically last nine birds a pinch over two weeks (15-16 daysish) when unable to forage. That's approximately .24-.26 pounds per day per bird. Note that that quantity is not less whatever was spilled on the ground, or consumed by mice, or otherwise wasted because the dry feed was spilled so easily.

My current bag of feed, totally fermented from start to finish has to be adjusted because I'm feeding more birds from it now... so let's estimate just those nine original birds have consumed slightly less than half of the bag in 9 days, somewhere between 15-16 pounds. We're down to .18-.20 pounds per day per bird.

Okay, so there has been an improvement then although there is potential for that improvement to simply account for no feed being wasted or consumed by pests... Cool, saves me money regardless. I will note this data is taken from a time period when the birds were not able to forage for an amount of time that would have supplemented their diet. Still want to get set up to grow fodder for them so they have some greenstuff to eat and keep them a little entertained... might be this weekend's project we'll see how the weather goes.

 

[mobius]

Yay @Elyrian1 ! That's how we do it! Thanks!

 

[FlyWheel]

<snip!>So, if you are not seeing any benefit, I'm just wondering why you are fermenting. Again, forgive me if I am mis-interpreting your post.

You misunderstand, I'm not saying there is no benefits, quite the contrary! The amount of fecal matter has lessened by nearly 40% (don't know about the odor as I don't have a sense of smell) so they are obviously getting more out of their feed than before, and the quality of their eggs is much better than it was on dry, so the nutritional benefits are undeniably there. Also they're not gagging on the food as they did with the dry version, which is the reason I looked into fermenting in the first place.

I have not, however, seen the proclaimed reduction in the amount of feed used dry vs fermented.

 

[Elyrian1]

You're welcome, never thought I'd be doing science experiments as an adult, but luckily I remember the format. If I get the fodder system up and going I can repost in a couple of weeks with further findings. it's good to know as much for myself as for others, so I can point and say hey look it's worth the extra trouble because I'm saving money! Just for kicks and giggles...

If I sell my eggs (about 4 dozen a week) for a total of $13. (I give some folks a different lower rate because they suddenly had to get rid of their chickens and that didn't strike me as fair, plus they gave me tons of supplies...) and feeding my chickens costs me personally... $.71/lb. and those chickens consume 1.8lbs/day = 12.6lbs/week I spend $8.95 per week on feed at the new lower consumption rate. So lets round costs to $9 a week, and profits to $13. Hey I'm in the black by $4 a week.

 

[Jennrz]

It might look like this:

# of chickens (say POL and later to keep it consistent, let's not do babies except separately)
How often you go through a bag of feed
Pounds of feed in bag
FF or dry
Cost of bag of feed: not necessary, add if you like
Layers or meaties (consider duals layers for our purposes)

AND if your flock free-ranges, just mention it, Yes or No, I can covary it out if we get enough data points. and if not, we will still have interesting data.

I can run the numbers if you would rather I would, if you post the above...!

4 pullets/hens a bit over a year old
Before FF: I would go through @ 1 bag a month. (sounds crazy but most of it ended up on the ground)
After FF: Welp...I haven't worked through a hole bag yet and it's been over a month.
50# bag of feed
FF
@$18+/- a bag
Layers (dual purpose large breeds)

The birds yard forage for @ 4-6 hours a day (@ 1/3 acre fenced backyard). They get their FF when they go back into the coop/run in the afternoon. Prior to the spring and when they were on dry they didn't forage as much so that may be one of the variables in less feed consumption.

Is that enough or did I miss something?

 

[mobius]

S

4 pullets/hens a bit over a year old
Before FF: I would go through @ 1 bag a month. (sounds crazy but most of it ended up on the ground)
After FF: Welp...I haven't worked through a hole bag yet and it's been over a month.
50# bag of feed
FF
@$18+/- a bag
Layers (dual purpose large breeds)

The birds yard forage for @ 4-6 hours a day (@ 1/3 acre fenced backyard). They get their FF when they go back into the coop/run in the afternoon. Prior to the spring and when they were on dry they didn't forage as much so that may be one of the variables in less feed consumption.

Is that enough or did I miss something?

Very nice you are looking at a reduction! All we need is the length of time to go through x number of pounds of feed. Or how long (specific how many days/weeks or months) to go through a bag of 50 pounds of dry feed that is fermented!

For dry feed only, your chickens ate (and or wasted lol) .41 # per day per chicken. That is about $0.15 perday per chicken.

We can get the fermented rates to compare if yu can provide the length of time for the dry weight of FF!