FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

Ah that could be thanks! I have a hatch due tomorrow and I planned on starting then on FF right away.

I had been washing my 5 gallon bucket out every 5 days and completely restarting and I know people said to leave some of the old ff in but I keep thinking it will spoil, rot and go bad. I am so worried I will not know when or if it is rotten and since my girls won't take it after 5 days that is what I have been assuming.

Yeah...you might want to back slop and let that ferment get stronger. I've been using the same ferment for year and a half now and it's lovely! Could be your feed is just barely getting fermented by the time you start all over again.

It simply cannot rot or spoil as long as you are continually feeding it out and adding fresh feed and water to the old ferment.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Yeah...you might want to back slop and let that ferment get stronger. I've been using the same ferment for year and a half now and it's lovely! Could be your feed is just barely getting fermented by the time you start all over again.

It simply cannot rot or spoil as long as you are continually feeding it out and adding fresh feed and water to the old ferment.

How often do you add to it? Lately I've had to start over as dh forgets to tell me it is low! But I try not to let it get below a 1/4 or so. Is this sufficient enough? We are feeding about 30.

 

[kile529]

I have a question for ya'll. I just took in 5 laying hens that needed a home and I have a bit of time to wait until my 23 chicks will start to lay for me. I feed Kalmbach all natural feed. These hens came with Dumor layer feed. I started to ferment it by adding some of my already ff to the Dumor layer....and it reeks terribly! Not sourdough....not alcoholish.....just....gross! I'm curious as to why it smells nasty while my all natural stuff smells actually pretty good. lol Also, my mom and I were just talking about organic non-gmo feed. I'm guessing that it's worth the extra money because of the savings. Anyone else do that? Where do you get yours/Who manufactures it?

 

[kile529]

How often do you add to it? Lately I've had to start over as dh forgets to tell me it is low! But I try not to let it get below a 1/4 or so. Is this sufficient enough? We are feeding about 30.

I add to it whenever...lol. Last time I added to mine I had totally forgotten and had less than a 1/4 of the bucket left. I usually try to add at night but I ended up adding to it in the morning. So, my chicks got some ff with newly added feed that didn't have time to really ferment. It didn't really matter to me since they still got ff and some was better than nothing. By the time 2nd feeding came around the batch was nice and bubbly.

 

[Ariel188]

Yeah...you might want to back slop and let that ferment get stronger. I've been using the same ferment for year and a half now and it's lovely! Could be your feed is just barely getting fermented by the time you start all over again.

It simply cannot rot or spoil as long as you are continually feeding it out and adding fresh feed and water to the old ferment.

OK so how often do I add new feed, water and ACV? Do you use a certain amount of ACV per cup of feed? I have just been pouring some of the bottle in the mix and I do not measure at all.

Does your feed really bubble?

 

[kile529]

OK so how often do I add new feed, water and ACV? Do you use a certain amount of ACV per cup of feed? I have just been pouring some of the bottle in the mix and I do not measure at all.

Does your feed really bubble?

Just add when you start to get low - really whenever you want. I don't ever use ACV. It'll ferment without it. And it really does bubble! Not boiling bubbling, but you can actually watch it bubble. Pretty neat!

 

[Tikkijane]

OK so how often do I add new feed, water and ACV?  Do you use a certain amount of ACV per cup of feed? I have just been pouring some of the bottle in the mix and I do not measure at all.

Does your feed really bubble?

Bubbles are not like boiling; little bubbles in the feed.

You add more feed and water (ACV not needed) when you get low. I like to add when I have about one serving left.

 

[kile529]

Another question - Anyone fermenting for Turkeys?? Can I keep them on the chicks grower and then switch them to layer?? This is my first time having turkeys.

.....apparently I have lots of questions tonight!

 

[Tikkijane]

OK so how often do I add new feed, water and ACV?  Do you use a certain amount of ACV per cup of feed? I have just been pouring some of the bottle in the mix and I do not measure at all.

Does your feed really bubble?

If you can enlarge, you can a bubble in the juicy part upper left.

 

[pdirt]

Hmm that is interesting. I make about 1/2 my 5 gallon bucket of my layer feed and after 5 days my hens won't eat it, figured it was bad.........

I make my oatmeal like consistency...

FF won't go bad...it's preserved, much like vinegar will preserve green beans for months. But FF is a live fermentation, meaning that unless the temps are hot or cold enough (to kill or slow down the process), it will continue to produce more lactic acid and get more sour. It could be your birds are reacting to it being too sour for their tastes (I have some birds like that). In that case, you could simply mix a day's portion of your over-sour FF with some dry feed (with or without a bit of water to wet the mixture) and see if they like it better that way.