FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[igorsMistress]

I don't want the medicated. I took my first chicks outside instead. I think they're going cold turkey and getting what the big kids get and we are putting in a dust bath immediately.

I was more worried about upsetting their guts with food changes than cocci. Guess I'll try it out.

 

[theuglyduckling]

I sent a PM to Tikki. She will most likely pop on here to reply to the question when she gets a mom

thanks. i sent her a pm yesterday took me an hour just to do that lol. i got the computer today so i should be able to read more of this thread whenever i have time.

 

[igorsMistress]

The littles seem to be enjoying their FF this morning, they haven't touched the dry.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I decided to put out dry feed as a second choice. Every bird that finds it keeps going back. My FF use was down so much I closed of the dry.

But there shouldn't be any reason for me to think my birds are doing without IF they choose the dry feed. It is still formulated to meet their needs as is.

It's like people who feel guilty for locking their birds in a perfectly good coop and run instead of free ranging. Free ranging is nice, but it doesn't mean your birds will be unhappy or unhealthy if you environment doesn't allow for it.

My flock has been so large, I've been mixing and feeding out 50# every 3 days! I just wanted a little reprieve from carrying those bags and mixing 50# is a workout! Don't know if I will continue to offer dry or not...

Do you think if I leave the dry available that the novelty will wear off and they will level out to eating the FF again? My flock reduced by at least half or more yesterday... FF seemed to make more sense on large scale, but it's so much easier on small scale.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Also, part of the reason I decided to offer dry... was the discussion about FF birds being smaller. Can anybody recall that post and study?

It raised some interesting thoughts and questions.

For example.. it's true that there are bacteria consuming sugars or what have you.. and my FF got mold ONLY when the colonies "ran out" of feed before I added the fresh bag.

So if the colonies are consuming the feed as well... then does that loss outweigh the supposed protein availability boost? And IF our feeds already have probiotics in them.. isn't there a point of diminishing return? Or in other words once things are swayed in the right direction well enough, maybe there is no true/actual MORE benefit?

Thanks in advance for informative replies!

 

[igorsMistress]

@EggSighted4Life I feed FF every day, but I also leave out dry food. Sometimes the dry goes faster, other times the FF does. I figure the birds know what they need and will eat it.

 

[Rubestmar]

Hi, we're in the UK and we tried a few months ago fermenting poultry mixed grains & corn, whole wheat, wild bird seed, dried mealworms & layers mash. Layers mash just turned to sludge.
We converted to mash from pellets as we have a cross beak duck from hatch. All 3 ducks laid eggs, now only 1 does, they are 2 years & 3 months old.
We fermented in washing up bowls but found we needed 2 washing up bowls full a day, then they went off it.
My question is, how much dry feed to ferment for 9 adult hens (Ameracauna, cream leg bars & marans ranging from 15 months to 4 & 1/2 years old) plus 3 white Campbell ducks per day?
Not for meat yes for eggs.
Thanks in advance .

 

[Molpet]

Hi, we're in the UK and we tried a few months ago fermenting poultry mixed grains & corn, whole wheat, wild bird seed, dried mealworms & layers mash. Layers mash just turned to sludge.
We converted to mash from pellets as we have a cross beak duck from hatch. All 3 ducks laid eggs, now only 1 does, they are 2 years & 3 months old.
We fermented in washing up bowls but found we needed 2 washing up bowls full a day, then they went off it.
My question is, how much dry feed to ferment for 9 adult hens (Ameracauna, cream leg bars & marans ranging from 15 months to 4 & 1/2 years old) plus 3 white Campbell ducks per day?
Not for meat yes for eggs.
Thanks in advance .

umm when I started I put 3 days worth of dry feed in a bucket and added water ... a 5 gallon bucket of FF will feed most of my 60 birds for a day...I use this method https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[Rubestmar]

Thankyou for your info

 

[barred2rock]

Does anyone ferment Purina Layena Plus Omega-3? Does it seem to get funky when it's fermented? My girls will eat it wet, but once it's fermented they want nothing to do with it. Hasn't been an issue with the Flock Raiser I used previously.