@tigger19687
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.
Just my thoughts here on the subject, this would make a fascinating discussion if anyone is interested......
I suspect the difference is that there are so many different methods for fermenting human food, and that human food is often fermented much longer and in a more controlled way than we are using here to ferment our chicken feed. The process for fermenting cheese is very different than the process for fermenting sourdough bread or beer or soy sauce. In a lot of cases, the original purpose of fermenting human food was preservation, and now food is being fermented specifically to develop particular flavor profiles for culinary purposes, so it's more about the way the food tastes than anything else. Although, there are a lot of situations (e.g., kombucha), where people realized that there were health benefits in fermenting food and beverages, but didn't really understand WHY they improved health until we started to know more about the science of probiotics and the necessity of probiotics for good health.
The fermentation process most of us are using with chicken feed is more similar to the way sourdough bread or chocolate is fermented, relying on airborne yeasts, bacteria, water, and a relatively quick fermentation time. Sourdough bread is very similar; a starter can be begun in just a few days. Chocolate also ferments quickly, in about seven days. Alternately, the methods for fermenting cheese and soy sauce are completely different and can take years or even decades.
The other difference is that as far as I can tell, most people are fermenting chicken feed for different reasons, increased nutrition and lower feed costs being two of the main ones although there are many others. In my case, the improvement in the poop, and therefore the reduction in flies and easier clean-up is reason enough to ferment my feed.
And when I look out into the yard and see my healthy, happy chickens, full of energy and covered in beautiful glossy feathers, it makes me happy and the little bit of time and increased effort it takes it totally worth it.
at least when it is soaked, they left all of them in the bowl form the other day. But ate most of everything else.
