FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[FlyWheel]

<Snip!>Perhaps stirring helps promote the fermentation, which makes sense.

Stirring accomplishes three things, at least for me it does:

1. It distributes the bacillus evenly throughout the mix.
2. It keeps all parts of the mix equally wet / even consistancy.
3. It helps to release built up gas from any thicker parts so there is less chance of it pushing the rest up and over the edge of the container.

Your first batch will take longer because it has to build up a good colony from scratch. This is why it is important to leave it open to the air, because that's where your colony will come from. Once you have it started, backslopping (mixing a bit of the old batch into the new) will keep things going. Successive batches will also ferment faster this way because they will have a head start.

- - - - -​

I took the small restarted batch out to the chickens this afternoon and they seemed to go for it. If the bowl is empty tomorrow morning when I go out to feed them I will start a new batch. I have already sterilized the casks.

 

[igorsMistress]

@FlyWheel thank you for this info! I'm stirring a couple times a day and I think I'm going to try fermenting without a lid.
My chickens seem to prefer their feed a little on the thick side. If I leave the feed to ferment for a longer period then separation occurs, right? Is the resulting liquid what you use to backslop or is there feed used as well?
Sorry for all the questions! I've tead so much about so many ways of doing this my head is spinning.

 

[barred2rock]

@FlyWheel thank you for this info! I'm stirring a couple times a day and I think I'm going to try fermenting without a lid.
My chickens seem to prefer their feed a little on the thick side. If I leave the feed to ferment for a longer period then separation occurs, right? Is the resulting liquid what you use to backslop or is there feed used as well?
Sorry for all the questions! I've tead so much about so many ways of doing this my head is spinning.

Either or, it doesn't really matter if you use the liquid or the feed to backslop.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thank you @barred2rock

 

[tigger19687]

Ok I tried this this morning after letting my new country organics feed sit for 24 hours.
I made WAY too much. But they went right to it and have been back and forth to it for the last 3 hours. I am not sure how much they ate as I really did make too much. I don't mind as it was my fault for just throwing in feed to a bucket and filling with water and Cider Vinegar (not the mother kind, it was all I had).

I think I will continue to do this but with just water.
I have 4 hens and I will go out and get a pack of bigger canning jars so I can have a few days to rotate FF. Plus I will still have dry in the coop for free feed in the mornings before I let them out.

A few ?'s ...... Anyone figure out how much organic crumble/cracked feed will absorb? Say 1 cup feed to 3 cups water? (this is what the feed looks like, http://www.newcountryorganics.com/s...er-broiler-feed/grower-broiler-50-pounds.html ) I am trying to figure out what size jars to get.

Does anyone feed the left over "soaked water" to the hens after you strain, or if there is a lot of extra, in a bowl? Do they drink it?

IF you use canning jars, What do you use for the cover? I am just using a bucket I have in the shed with the top on tight except for a small opening to gasses can escape. I would like to have it in the house BUT can't have a smell inside as my have a teenage daughter ( rolls eyes ).


I have to admit, while I read the 1st 7 pages and pages 824-828 this is such a long thread that I wonder if a new one should start, or maybe do a POLL for certain questions people have.

 

[igorsMistress]

@tigger19687 i use quart canning jars with the screw on plastic lids. Anywhere you get canning supplies should have them.

I have 6 chickens. I ferment by weight using organic crumble. Bar Ale is the brand and I use 5.5 oz feed and add enough water to bring the weight up to 1 pound, stir and cover LOOSELY with a lid. I am trying it without a lid today, but can't quite wrap my mind around why I can ferment without a lid but need an airlock to ferment human food.

The amount of water I needed seemed to vary between the feeds so I worked to make it the right consistency because soupy feed is a no go here.

I leave a bowl of dry food out all the time just in case. Never know for sure how much they find in the yard on a daily basis.

 

[Molpet]

the FAQ made by a member is here https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/
I use 3 kinds of feed so I have two 5 gallon buckets of grower, a 20 qt and a 8 qt of layer and a 20 qt of starter going right now... If I have any extra water, I use it in the next batch along with the top from a bucket I am starting.. I make it on the dry side... a bucket lasts 1-3 days before it is feed out.

 

[tigger19687]

Hi, Yes I have been reading that FAQ, great Info on there !
TY Molpet and Wyldflwr

I just peeked out again before I leave for work and they are still eating it so I will be getting the Glass jars today so I can start a 'rotation' for FF

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ok I tried this this morning after letting my new country organics feed sit for 24 hours.
I made WAY too much. But they went right to it and have been back and forth to it for the last 3 hours. I am not sure how much they ate as I really did make too much. I don't mind as it was my fault for just throwing in feed to a bucket and filling with water and Cider Vinegar (not the mother kind, it was all I had).

I think I will continue to do this but with just water.
I have 4 hens and I will go out and get a pack of bigger canning jars so I can have a few days to rotate FF. Plus I will still have dry in the coop for free feed in the mornings before I let them out.

A few ?'s ...... Anyone figure out how much organic crumble/cracked feed will absorb? Say 1 cup feed to 3 cups water? (this is what the feed looks like, http://www.newcountryorganics.com/s...er-broiler-feed/grower-broiler-50-pounds.html ) I am trying to figure out what size jars to get.

Does anyone feed the left over "soaked water" to the hens after you strain, or if there is a lot of extra, in a bowl? Do they drink it?

IF you use canning jars, What do you use for the cover? I am just using a bucket I have in the shed with the top on tight except for a small opening to gasses can escape. I would like to have it in the house BUT can't have a smell inside as my have a teenage daughter ( rolls eyes ).


I have to admit, while I read the 1st 7 pages and pages 824-828 this is such a long thread that I wonder if a new one should start, or maybe do a POLL for certain questions people have.

Just keep practicing your feed to water ratio... until you DON'T have to strain anything. What a pain in the hind end and a waste of precious time.

A bucket is just fine. Whatever works for YOU is good. I am feeding 50 ish birds so I ferment 50# at one time in an 18 gallon Rubbermaid tote. The lids fit loose even when fastened on. Water never gets measured except... "ya that looks ABOUT right", and then after a few hours I check my thickness (after it expands and absorbs), and add a little more feed or water to adjust as needed.

Chances are you 24 hour soak with acv (maybe) wasn't fermented, but you gotta start somewhere. And having the girls introduced to a new texture (and the vinegar taste) is probably a good thing. Sometimes it takes a period of adjustment.

What I don't understand about people who keep dry feed available in the coop is how do they combat rodents?

 

[Dayrel]

What I don't understand about people who keep dry feed available in the coop is how do they combat rodents?

Two basic techniques:
1- Keep the feeder off the ground- a hanging feeder, a PVC-pipe feeding system, etc.
2- Minimize chickens "flicking" their feed around and knocking it onto the ground. The PVC pipe does pretty well at this by keeping "flicked" food inside the pipe. Another solution is to make them extend their necks (strain a little) to get to the feed: