FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

No, you don't have to have water over the top at all times. You will know it's fermented because you will use some of the last batch to inoculate the next one and the next day you can stir it well and give it a sniff...sour smell? All the water absorbed? It's been fermenting for several hours between feedings, so with the jump start from the last batch it's an even faster ferment. No matter what anyone says, it doesn't have to have water over the feed at all times to keep a good ferment or to grow the correct yeast for fermentation.

Here's a few vids of replenishing the feed and how I backslop mine and what consistency I keep mine:

 

[niqueie]

That was a really helpful video. Thanks so much for that.

I ended up puréeing the pumpkin innards (12 pumpkins worth of seeds and strings with some cut outs from jack-o-lanterns) and stuck them in muffin tins and put in the freezer. I put some into my fermented feed bucket too. I now have 12 giant muffin sized portions to add to my feed through the winter. All of it would have gone to the compost pile, but now will feed my chicks for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the suggestions and helps. I love it!!

 

[kpgoldstar]

Hi Bee,
I thought I would try you first as you seem to be on here consistently and have lots of answers. Of my 4 girls, Lemon has been the slowest to develop. She is smaller than the other birds, tends to be on the lazy side. Her head feathers have not filled in as well as the others. She gets to eat with the others, there is no pecking going on except for arguing over a roost when they go to bed. A few days ago I noticed she had a few missing feathers on her neck and her neck is much skinnier than anyone else's. They pretty much got the full run of the yard this weekend since we were home and working in the garden. This afternoon, I noticed she had pink tinge all around her face, and some swollen bumps sort of behind her earlobes. No one else has these symptoms. I wonder if she just got irritated playing in my big basil bush, or if she ate something she wasn't supposed to. She is acting normal.


Here was a pic I took the other day of her sister that shows what everyone else's head and face look like. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Ooops, here is the normal pic

 

[beverly evans]

No, you don't have to have water over the top at all times. You will know it's fermented because you will use some of the last batch to inoculate the next one and the next day you can stir it well and give it a sniff...sour smell? All the water absorbed? It's been fermenting for several hours between feedings, so with the jump start from the last batch it's an even faster ferment. No matter what anyone says, it doesn't have to have water over the feed at all times to keep a good ferment or to grow the correct yeast for fermentation.

Here's a few vids of replenishing the feed and how I backslop mine and what consistency I keep mine:

Thanks for the videos, every bit of information helps us beginners do a decent job of copying! Much applause!!!!

 

[knjinnm]

Thanks for posting your video.

 

[Beekissed]

Ooops, here is the normal pic

She could just be a late bloomer. If she eats fine, is active and acts normal, I'd just watch her and see how she goes. If by "lazy" you mean a little lethargic and less active than the others, she could have some underlying issues which could be myriad and you may never know. I always take a wait and see on chickens,particularly young ones..sometimes these poor doers will catch up and you won't know the difference later on and sometimes they continue to decline and you will start to see more differences in growth and activity levels. I'm a wait and watch kind of person and I wouldn't be mixing up any tonics or such for her just yet...let nature sort her out a bit.

 

[kpgoldstar]

My main concern was the redness around what we would call mucous membranes in a human. And the swollen ?glands? behind her ears that were really raised and red. We call her lazy because she is just more mellow than the others, basically a stoner. She will lay on the sand bedding with her foot hanging out, and no one else lays down during the day. She doesn't forage like the others, just waits for food to be brought to her. We just think she is a little "special". She was the first however to figure out how to dust bath.
By this evening's outing, the swelling of the glands seemed to have diminished but the redness was still present around her eyes, beak and ears. She had lots of energy, ate her snack like the dickens. I just wonder if it was some sort of allergy that she encountered in the yard. I will report back tomorrow morning.

 

[Beekissed]

Maybe the pic doesn't show it well? From that pic she looks as normal as can be...clear, bright eyes, no apparent edema, no crusting or drainage of the eyes or nose, alert expression, etc.

 

[kpgoldstar]

If you click on the first pic of her to blow it up, you can see the stark pink of her skin around her eyes and beak. Just to the back of what I call the ear (the dark spot behind the eye) there is another pinkish/reddish spot. On both sides of her face those were significant swollen bumps. What seemed to be a gland. Thanks for your input and I will let you know how she is looking and acting in the morning.