FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[neopolitancrazy]

I would like to say my bit about the Storey books-yes, I think the books on chickens/sheep/cattle/hogs/rabbits
are wastes of time, money, and paper. If I see that a new book/article is written by the "chicken lady" I do not waste another moment on it. However, the book on poultry, written by Mr. Drowns of Sandhill Hatchery was rather useful, and I have kept it in case I branch out into other species of poultry. Also, the book written by Mr. Holderread on either ducks or geese was quite good, in my opinion.

 

[marktoo]

I think you are right...for many years now I've noticed that people keep continuous feeds out for their pets...for some reason they think this is normal nutrition for these animals? Do they feel guilty about having three meals a day and unlimited grazing abilities when their pets do not? Or is it the general equating pets with humans thing that always rears its ugly head?

When I was young a person never even bought dog food or cat food and neither one was kept in the house. Animals ate the scraps from humans and if it wasn't enough, they went hunting or scavenging. They lived healthy, long lives and never required vetting. I don't even recall giving wormers back then. Funny how times have changed...some think for the better?

They actually can do continuous feed for their chickens by putting out enough in the morning to last the birds all day long, so that's a non-issue. I think it's just laziness or the fear of trying something different from the herd.

Not laziness or fear of being different from the rest of the flock, on my part. Fear of commitment perhaps.

I've been feeding fermented food plus free choice pellets for about 4 months. Tonight when I put em to bed I'm gonna yank the pellets. Guess I felt that they should always have access to something eat but in reality they can always scratch up something.

 

[morton]

here is this formula:
7 scratch grain - 50 lb bags - 1.5 bags cost = 12.63
distillers grain - 100 lb bags - 1.25 bags cost = 20.94
game bird conditioner - 50 lb bags - 4 bags cost = 62.80
black oil sunflower seed 50 lb bags 1 bags cost = 23.25
alfalfa meal 50 lb bags 1 bag cost = 16.15
pulverized lime 1 lb . 6 lbs used cost = 0.60
layer pre mix 50 lb bag used 0.07 cost = 2.08
white salt 1 lb. used 1.5 lb cost = 0.23
bio fix 1 b used .5 lb cost =1.43

total cost of feed is = 140.11 for 453..3 lbs or .31 per lb or 15.50 per 50 lb there was a 10.00 mixing fee at the mill that i did not include.. this formula comes out to 17.97 % protein.with 3.5% fat. i came up with this feed formula as an all purpose feed for meat and layer type birds. this feed does have a touch of Ca. but not much so oyster shell is given fee choice.

i got to go over the math again nope it is right.15.50 per 50.

thank you for your formula. how did you figure out what % everything was? do you ferment this formula? what is in distillers grain? sorry for all the silly ?s

 

[RedneckGurl]

Quote:
I may not be putting enough thought into mine but I'm not actually measuring a thing. I just started with a 5 gallon plastic frosting bucket I got for 10 cents from my Wal-Mart bakery. That is what I brew my FF in. I scooped in about equal measure of layer pellets and 3-grain scratch but I only eyeballed it (about 4 inches deep in the bottom of the bucket) then added about 1/4 that amount of BOSS. A glug or two (again no measurement, just eyeballed it) if UACV and enough water to cover the dry ingredients by about 3 inches and stirred it up. The layer pellets break down immediately but the scratch takes a bit longer to absorb the water. I let it sit overnight and if it needs more water, I add it. I've been doing this for about a week now and I just keep adding a bit of pellets and scratch here and there if I start running low and topping off with more water. It has a lovely tangy smell and has a white film over it each morning when I go out so I know it's "cooking" nicely. So far the chickens are loving it and I'm loving how easy peasey it is. I tend to subscribe to beekissed philosophy that keeping chickens should NOT be difficult nor something that breaks the bank and stresses you out. My chickens are happy, well fed and healthy and that is all I could ask for. And cost wise, I get a 50# bag of pellets and a 50# bag of 3-grain scratch at my local feed store for $10.95 a bag each and the 50# bag of BOSS is around $25. I have 18 chickens (so far) and those quantities easily last me 2 months if not longer. By my calculations, that's just a bit less than $1 a day in feed costs. I'm not sure how that compares to other folks cost breakdowns, but for me I think nothing of paying $4 for a Starbucks every morning so I think I'm getting one hell of a good deal by feeding FF.

 

[bruceh]

i sat down with my basic formula that i have used for over 1 year. with the man at my mill. my birds do better at 18%.. him and i together looked at each individual ingredient with the protein amount and fat content. the distilled grain is a corn left over from the refining plant. that is 25% . i use this just as a filler to up the protein. i do ferment as well.
now if you google each ingredient that you would like to use the information you find should tell you the protein amount. i came up with

the original formula which is this::

game feed 20% - 14 parts @ 20 % = 280 %

alfalfa milled 12% - 1 part @ 12 % = 12%

scratch grain 7% - 1 part @ 7 % = 7%

boss 15% - 1 part @ 15% = 15%


total ------------------------------------------------ 314% protein

parts--------------------------------------------------- 17

percentage ratio------------------------------------ 18.47 %

i was off on the protein % on the black oil sunflower seed. which is lower than stated. i use a lot of green in my mix ( game bird and alfalfa ). this mix was showed to many people and all agreed is a good mix and can be used as a all purpose feed.for every season.
when i took it to the mill. i sat down with the owner. he liked it as well . so all he said we would have to do is balance it out with some of the ingredients stated in the 1st post to make it a complete poultry feed.. this coming to the 1st post feed formula.
the birds seem to enjoy it and thrive very well. i also top dress the feed with some oil ( either wheat germ or Castor ) at the rate of 2 x per week.
is this all necessary ? probably not. however i go through a lot of feed with my flock. so this covers all the bases. at any given day there is a least 50 on the ground. if i am growing meat birds then the count could go as high 75-100. so for me i save on labor of mixing my self.and have the mill mix it for me.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I may not be putting enough thought into mine but I'm not actually measuring a thing. I just started with a 5 gallon plastic frosting bucket I got for 10 cents from my Wal-Mart bakery. That is what I brew my FF in. I scooped in about equal measure of layer pellets and 3-grain scratch but I only eyeballed it (about 4 inches deep in the bottom of the bucket) then added about 1/4 that amount of BOSS. A glug or two (again no measurement, just eyeballed it) if UACV and enough water to cover the dry ingredients by about 3 inches and stirred it up. The layer pellets break down immediately but the scratch takes a bit longer to absorb the water. I let it sit overnight and if it needs more water, I add it. I've been doing this for about a week now and I just keep adding a bit of pellets and scratch here and there if I start running low and topping off with more water. It has a lovely tangy smell and has a white film over it each morning when I go out so I know it's "cooking" nicely. So far the chickens are loving it and I'm loving how easy peasey it is. I tend to subscribe to beekissed philosophy that keeping chickens should NOT be difficult nor something that breaks the bank and stresses you out. My chickens are happy, well fed and healthy and that is all I could ask for. And cost wise, I get a 50# bag of pellets and a 50# bag of 3-grain scratch at my local feed store for $10.95 a bag each and the 50# bag of BOSS is around $25. I have 18 chickens (so far) and those quantities easily last me 2 months if not longer. By my calculations, that's just a bit less than $1 a day in feed costs. I'm not sure how that compares to other folks cost breakdowns, but for me I think nothing of paying $4 for a Starbucks every morning so I think I'm getting one hell of a good deal by feeding FF.

I was doing that with the scratch grains and the layer crumbles and mine is losing feathers so I'm thinking they're not getting enough protein so when this bags finished I'm not going to do that anymore. I have also started feeding them more BOSS to help with the protein as well.

OH I SEE now what you're doing. Yours is getting the right amount of protein! I didn't see the other part of your post. I wasn't feeding mine enough protein.

 

[bruceh]

I was doing that with the scratch grains and the layer crumbles and mine is losing feathers so I'm thinking they're not getting enough protein so when this bags finished I'm not going to do that anymore. I have also started feeding them more BOSS to help with the protein as well.

if the birds are about a year old this is the time for molting. boss is good in small amounts it is very high in fat.

 

[RoseMarie1]

if the birds are about a year old this is the time for molting. boss is good in small amounts it is very high in fat.

they're just barely over 3 months of age. lol

 

[naillikwj82]

Since fermenting the feed is similar to a sourdough bread starter, Could you use bread yeast or old beer to get started?

 

[Beekissed]

they're just barely over 3 months of age. lol

Mine are too and they are blowing a little of their baby feathers...it's pretty normal.

Since fermenting the feed is similar to a sourdough bread starter, Could you use bread yeast or old beer to get started?

Some have done so...I never really read about their results, though.