FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[jdaly91215]

Hey all I've read as much of this thread as I possibly can on my tiny phone screen, and done some reading about fermented feed on other websites, but wanted to post just to make sure I'm doing this right. I started fermenting a small amount of chick starter 3 days ago for my ducklings I should be getting soon. All I did was put the feed and water in the jar and now it's bubbling away and has a really pleasant sour smell. Is this OK? Or do I have to add ACV? Also, can I let it ferment for like 5 or 6 days before feeding? Or is that too long? Just want to make sure I'm on the right track. Thanks!

I feel like a mad scientist with this brew bubbling away haha :-D

 

[niqueie]

That looks perfect. Most here just do water over the top to get everything started. Then add more food till it's cookie dough consistency. My birds always loved it more dryer. It also saved time not waiting around for it to drain before putting it into the feeder. Hope your ducklings love it. It's been so great for us.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Hey all

I've read as much of this thread as I possibly can on my tiny phone screen, and done some reading about fermented feed on other websites, but wanted to post just to make sure I'm doing this right. I started fermenting a small amount of chick starter 3 days ago for my ducklings I should be getting soon. All I did was put the feed and water in the jar and now it's bubbling away and has a really pleasant sour smell. Is this OK? Or do I have to add ACV? Also, can I let it ferment for like 5 or 6 days before feeding? Or is that too long? Just want to make sure I'm on the right track. Thanks!

I feel like a mad scientist with this brew bubbling away haha :-D

You are completely on the right track. You don't have to add ACV. This is exactly what I started my chicks on, simply water and chick starter. You can see that layer of water halfway down. Be sure to stir this about twice a day to incorporate all the goodness of ff into the whole mix. You also have a nice layer of scoby on top that needs to be stirred down. 5 or 6 days is not too long at all. I make enough ff each batch to feed out about that long so when I get to the bottom of my bucket it has been fermenting about 5 days. When I get low, I just add more feed and water, enough that I know I won't overflow my container with expansion. When added to the already fermented feed, it starts to bubble again in about 12 hours. I continue this process in the same bucket over and over. I have 4 large fowl chickens now and have moved to a bigger bucket after starting in a glass jar like you. My girls are nearly 6 months old now.

I started with about as wet a mixture as you have but you may find as you go along you will want to mix it a little drier which eliminates having to strain it off before feeding and also helps to keep your birds a little cleaner as the wetter the mixture tends to splash onto neck and chest more easily. Keep coming here if you have any more questions or concerns! We are all here to help!

P.S. I feel like a mad scientist too!

 

[kpgoldstar]

Oh and one more thing. If you are going to continue to use glass, be sure you ALWAYS leave the lid just set on top and NOT screwed down. I made the fatal mistake of thinking it needed to be airtight when I first started and my jar exploded spewing glass and feed at least 10 ft in all directions. Thank goodness it happened at night and no one was hurt.

 

[LindaB220]

I believe I posted earlier on this thread regarding how some lines of chickens (including my own beloved Dorkings!) are not as thrifty as Bee's birds. I feed mine about 2 cups of FF per adult bird, per day. We recently butchered the last of our culls, including one of the adult hens. She was only laying 2-3 eggs per week, and about half the size this breed is supposed to be, and a general waste of good feed. When we opened her carcass, she had about half the body fat as Bee's demo bird, a fatty liver, and no apparent parasites. I have no idea what that hen was doing with all the feed she ate, but she is no longer wasting my money, and will soon be the centerpiece of a sumptuous repast.

For those meat-eaters who have never tried it, I now recommend coq au vin, which I believe is French for "tough old bird simmered in red wine until it is Fit. To. Eat."

Just a question on this. I'll be getting Dorkings also and realize that I might have to feed more. But you feed your entire flock 2 c FF ea. Isn't that excessive? Total newbie here so am just asking.

 

[kile529]

Just a question on this. I'll be getting Dorkings also and realize that I might have to feed more. But you feed your entire flock 2 c FF ea. Isn't that excessive? Total newbie here so am just asking.

I agree. It sounds excessive when Bee feeds 1-1/2cup total ff to 13 birds to share. Although, hers are free-ranging so they're getting a lot of foraging material too. Maybe Neo's birds don't get to forage much....very interested in the reply though. Regardless, it sounds like if birds are allowed to forage, it saves us money.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. It sounds excessive when Bee feeds 1-1/2cup total ff to 13 birds to share. Although, hers are free-ranging so they're getting a lot of foraging material too. Maybe Neo's birds don't get to forage much....very interested in the reply though. Regardless, it sounds like if birds are allowed to forage, it saves us money.

Trust me...if it doesn't save money, I'm not doing it. And that goes for anything in my livestock/animal paradigm. Some things take an initial investment and then pay off for years to come and setting up a good, safe free range system is one of those things.

It has subtle benefits as well, that lead to money savings that many don't think about, such as better social behaviors(this leads to less stress and less stress means a longer life and laying life, better health and less feed consumption), longer life for the chickens(meaning one doesn't have to replace flock members as frequently, thus saving money not having to get them to laying age)because they are on healthy soils, eating healthier and more digestible nutrients and getting good exercise~all of these things will produce a better and longer lived life, be it animal or human life.

They also are fertilizing the very food supply they are eating, so the system is a self-renewable setup that is using the animal to aerate and fertilize the food supply, while also attracting their own protein source of bugs...it's almost as good as keeping honey bees, who maintain the very food supply they are using by their pollination.

There are so many subtle but definite ways that free ranging saves on feed than just replacing grains with grass and bugs. It's a unique well designed plan from God that these animals would perform in this manner out on their natural habitat and one on which we simply cannot improve, no matter how many high pro ingredients we pack into our feed mixes.

 

[jdaly91215]

Awesome, thanks so much for the confirmation@kpgoldstar! I've been stirring it pretty regularly, it was like that in the pic when I came home from work that day and I thought it was pretty neat and I definitely keep the top lose too, I figured it had to be to prevent exactly what you said. I was also thinking about trying it soupy like this for the ducklings since they like moist food anyway, but if it turns into a huge mess and they get covered in it I'll definitely decrease the moisture. I'll be keeping it really dry for the chicks when they come too. I can't wait

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here is a photo of one of our new trough feeders we just set up today ... so we can feed more FF and I can get my glass cooking pans back!

Each feeder is 4' long, cut from PVC pipe, and we left a little strip intact in the middle so we have a handle. I sanded everything smooth so nobody snags a comb or wattle on it and it is comfy to handle for us. We set them up in concrete blocks ... its a pretty good height for the birds, I think. If we have chicks we'll set one up a bit lower so they have a chance.



It is a dreary wet day, so not the best day for photos. I'll do a better job getting pictures when we have a nicer day. You can see two tube feeders in this room of the coop. One has grit and the other has oyster shell. You can also see one of the automatic waterers we installed.

Now we just need to figure out how much FF the birds are going to want to eat in a day ...

 

[LindaB220]

Here is a photo of one of our new trough feeders we just set up today ... so we can feed more FF and I can get my glass cooking pans back!

Each feeder is 4' long, cut from PVC pipe, and we left a little strip intact in the middle so we have a handle. I sanded everything smooth so nobody snags a comb or wattle on it and it is comfy to handle for us. We set them up in concrete blocks ... its a pretty good height for the birds, I think. If we have chicks we'll set one up a bit lower so they have a chance.



It is a dreary wet day, so not the best day for photos. I'll do a better job getting pictures when we have a nicer day. You can see two tube feeders in this room of the coop. One has grit and the other has oyster shell. You can also see one of the automatic waterers we installed.

Now we just need to figure out how much FF the birds are going to want to eat in a day ...

Leslie, what a great idea!!!! I'll be using rain gutters but the blocks are genius. Is this your run or what? Love it too.