FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Molpet]

FF in the Winter ..

So for us COLD Snowy Winter people -- Do you still FF in the Winter or is it better for them to have dry?
I ask because it is my understanding that the more you digest the warmer you are.
So with FF being easier to digest would dry make it better/warmer just for the Winter?

Sorry, it seems Autumn is already arrived here in New England

I feed ff in the winter... They need less water and I have to change the water out since I don't have electic out in any of the coops... I feed 3x a day in the winter so when I am bring food I bring water too.. works for me but I am retired
I feed 2x a day in the warm weather, I feed what they can clean up in 20 min.. unless I have young chicks or a broody, then I leave ff out for them
if you have electric you can put the ff on a 'cookie tin' type of warmer(lots of threads on those)

 

[lazy gardener]

I provide FF year round. The benefits of FF are consistent no matter what time of year it is. The only time I would not do so is if I was away for several days, and then would be forced into giving dry pellets. During a cold snap, the temp can go to below 0*F for 24/7, for a week or more at a time here. In that case, I usually wait until the morning sun has warmed the coop up a bit, and then take out their FF. During the winter, I usually bring my FF bucket up to percolate near my wood stove. So, it's warm when it goes out. It often freezes before the end of the day, so I bring it in to thaw, and then top that off in the morning. Depending on the cold snap, I may also give them some dry pellets to finish out their day. I may make some sort of heater for their FF this winter.

 

[tigger19687]

Ok that makes sense.

Do you scatter scratch in the coop to keep them busy?

 

[lazy gardener]

Occasionally. But, there is plenty of stuff in the DL to keep them busy anyways. In the winter, I sprout grains and toss that into the DL. One resourceful person who uses DL puts his grains into the moist leaf piles, and the grains sprout there. Provides plenty of fodder without the bother of growing it inside, and keeps the chooks working the leaf piles.

 

[Hdghawg]

I provide FF year round. The benefits of FF are consistent no matter what time of year it is. The only time I would not do so is if I was away for several days, and then would be forced into giving dry pellets. During a cold snap, the temp can go to below 0*F for 24/7, for a week or more at a time here. In that case, I usually wait until the morning sun has warmed the coop up a bit, and then take out their FF. During the winter, I usually bring my FF bucket up to percolate near my wood stove. So, it's warm when it goes out. It often freezes before the end of the day, so I bring it in to thaw, and then top that off in the morning. Depending on the cold snap, I may also give them some dry pellets to finish out their day. I may make some sort of heater for their FF this winter.

I went out of town for a couple weeks and thought I could leave a boatload of FF in the feed tray and they would eat on it for however many days until it was gone. My theory was if it's in a bucket for several days why not in a feed tray? When I got home it was a black moldy mess. A friend of mine was looking after them daily and he kept the dry food feeder full that I had set up to make it easier on him so no harm done.
My other experiment was to put a quart of FF in the fridge to start my bucket again when I got home. That was a success, within a day it was back to normal.

 

[Finnie]

Sorry, mini rant over.

I X2 your mini rant

I went out of town for a couple weeks and thought I could leave a boatload of FF in the feed tray and they would eat on it for however many days until it was gone. My theory was if it's in a bucket for several days why not in a feed tray? When I got home it was a black moldy mess. A friend of mine was looking after them daily and he kept the dry food feeder full that I had set up to make it easier on him so no harm done.
My other experiment was to put a quart of FF in the fridge to start my bucket again when I got home. That was a success, within a day it was back to normal.

Probably the difference was that the food in the feeder wasn't getting stirred every day. I'm pretty sure that if we didn't stir our feementing buckets daily, it would go south before long.

 

[blackdog043]

My other experiment was to put a quart of FF in the fridge to start my bucket again when I got home. That was a success, within a day it was back to normal.

This is what I do whenever I go away. It holds it at the stage, where you put it in the fridge. I read that tip, way back in this thread.

 

[igorsMistress]

Does anyone wash their fermenting buckets? If so, how often?

 

[lazy gardener]

The only time I ever wash a FF bucket is if I'm putting the bucket into storage. Washing it simply kills all of that SCOBY that you have worked to develop.

 

[theuglyduckling]

i havent washed mine yet but its only been a week. do you need to wash it if you add fruits veggies, or bugs?