FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[fosterson]

That sure makes a heap of sense. It would certainly solve my bear problems in spring and summer whereby I have to haul all the feeders inside at night or risk a bear attack on the coops and run when a hungry bear smells them and can't resist tearing everything apart to get at the food.

And I am going to thank the heavens right now that I don't live in an area known for its bears. Wolves, foxes, coyotes, and Great Horned Owls the size of Cesnas, but not bears.

 

[Audio51]

Perchi explained the "mother". It is not easy to find ACV with mother, basically unpasteurized. Bragg's is the most popular brand but is not found everywhere, usually health food stores or online. It is also quite expensive compared to just plain old ACV. I don't use it at all and my feed ferments just fine without it.

My Safeway and SaveMart both carry Bragg's in the small "Health Food" section along with the gluten-free flour and things like that.

 

[kpgoldstar]

It's real easy now if you have a Walmart or Kroger near you....Heinz has a brand out now, less than $3 for a qt. size bottle and you can use that one to inoculate a larger, regular ACV to make more if you need it. But you really don't need ACV if you just capture wild yeasts from the air it will all work out fine.

Ah, well my Kroger just did a HUGE remodel, they probably have it now. Walmart though, I absolutely cannot stand that store. My only one is 28 miles r/t from my house and I just don't see any reason to drive that far for anything they may carry. I have a sister who aims to have on her headstone, "never stepped foot in a Walmart".
I took it from Tea that she was attempting to feed her flock on a budget and I remember the last time I saw a bottle of Bragg's it was over $8. And as you mentioned as well it isn't necessary to get a good ferment.

 

[ll]

No, they don't have to be crushed or broken for them to get the benefit from it...just feed it as is. They can easily digest these seeds on their own without any help. The reason I know this is because I've yet to see a whole pumpkin seed~hull and all~ come shooting out a chicken's chocolate whiz way.

 

[niqueie]

Yes, that is helpful.  Thank you.
I don't know what "mother" is; is that the first time you ferment or is it a special ingredient?
Sorry, I know I sound like an idiot.

We all started at one time or another. I have only been doing it since August. It took me a few try's to get the hang of how much water was too much and sometimes I didn't plan for enough room in the bucket for the fermenting expansion and would wake up to my bucket overflowing with food on my counter. Also as stated I found that feed with fish meal smells terrible in FF. My suggestion is make it a thick consistence like oatmeal when you add the water.

This chicken business leads to a whole new vocabulary and vernacular. I keep wondering what bee is saying when she says DP in regards to her birds.

I knew what mother was previously, only because I used it to fight baby yeast diaper rash on my dd. It has a lot of Heath benefits for people too.
I second the outrageous price of the name brand stuff. I always buy the store brand. It is 3.50 for a quart.
But as stated you don't need it. It shaves off a day or 2 on my ferment process if I have to start a new ferment because I didn't replenish my supply quickly enough. Good luck with starting out with FF. I hope your birds really perk up and lay you some terrific eggs.

Btw: My costco sells chicken layer feed for $15 for 50#. You can make suggestions if you shop at Costco and yours doesn't offer it.

 

[fosterson]

This chicken business leads to a whole new vocabulary and vernacular. I keep wondering what bee is saying when she says DP in regards to her birds.

DP = Dual Purpose or meat 'n' eggs birds

 

[Beekissed]

Yep! Standard sized chickens are usually called LF(large fowl) and then there are two subsets in those sizes, DP and layer breeds. Layer breeds are those considered to lay the most eggs and are usually a lighter weight bird with a smaller boned frame and less total meat on the carcass. Then there are the DP birds, heavier breeds with deeper muscling, a larger boned frame and less total laying productivity.

I choose DP breeds that are known to lay nearly as much as layer breeds, but have a meaty carcass as an end product when done laying. Their male offspring are larger and put on more meat than a layer breed as well, thus making them more profitable for putting in the jar or freezer. My flock are primarily birds of this nature, as I want both meat and eggs from my chickens and I like a bird worth processing when she comes to the end of her laying life.

ETA: There are other types of LF breed that are considered neither DP or layer breeds but I don't see any point in even having such birds, so I rarely ever include them in any conversation about chickens. Sorry to exclude the mention of this type of subset of LF.

 

[flickerloo]

So for those of you who have fermented feed containing fish meal, will the chickens eat it despite the smell? I am not willing to stop using Scratch and Peck feed, but it does contain fish meal.

Would it work to ferment the whole scratch grains instead and then mix regular feed into it?

 

[Beekissed]

So for those of you who have fermented feed containing fish meal, will the chickens eat it despite the smell? I am not willing to stop using Scratch and Peck feed, but it does contain fish meal.

Would it work to ferment the whole scratch grains instead and then mix regular feed into it?

Reports from those feeding this type of feed show chickens still eat it all the same. You'd only get half the benefit from fermenting only half the dry feed, but some people do it for some reason. If I were fermenting feed and could only do one of the two types, it would be the more expensive feed rather than the cheaper feed, as cost savings is one of the biggest benefits of this method. Luckily you don't have to choose and can ferment them both together.

 

[beverly evans]

Quote:

What you see in that bucket is 100% layer mash, milled at the local co-op...they don't even specify what grains they put in it, just list the crude nutrients available and what type of protein source they use~soy or animal. Cracked corn, oats, barley, etc. are easily visualized in the mix, but the finer ground ingredients are a pure mystery. I don't think about it much, though I won't buy layer ration with animal proteins in it.

In the winter I mix some barley grain and BOSS into the mix to cut the proteins down~though now that's a moot point with the FF...kind of hard to cut down proteins on this stuff~ but that's as fancy as I get into mixing my own feeds. The layer rations have been formulated to provide the needs of commercial layers and to keep them laying all year round, so if it's good enough for those high production birds, it surely has sufficient nutrition for my DP layers.

Feeding both dry and fermented feeds, though better than just feeding dry, will not yield the maximum benefit of feeding FF...if you are going through the trouble of fermenting some of the feed, why not simplify by fermenting all of it. That way, your chickens can actually digest your current dry ration better and won't be pooping out that money on the floor of the coop, there to lie smelling badly until it attracts flies.

Why not mix your milo(sorghum) with the finer ground layer ration to give it some texture and body and to give the milo what it is lacking in nutrition and feeding them both at a thicker texture so that it isn't mushy/soupy? That takes all the extra steps out of your routine of making pancakes, fermenting one type of feed and not the other, etc. Just dump them all in a bucket and make life easy!

Thanks Bee, I will try again. I did mix it before and they picked out all the recognizable seeds and left the powdery part which was like mush, but not so wet. I can leave it there all day and they won't eat it. I do put BOSS into my ff bucket of sorghum and they do eat it very well. I also bought a bag of red wheat berries, but didn't want two bags open at the same time. I guess I'll mix them, better that way? : ) beverly