FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

Ok thank you!! I'll get some from my neighbor tonight....hopefully I'm not killing them...but I did only just get them Wednesday. I'll make sure to pick some up tomorrow. I'm guessing it's still okay to ferment the turkey feed?

Yes.

 

[kile529]

Oh good! I went to the turkey area here and just came across one thread asking the same question. The consensus was yes, but they didn't fully understand the benefits. Having been a small part of this 3k+ thread, I know it's a great thing. I just love it here.....haha

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Oh good! I went to the turkey area here and just came across one thread asking the same question. The consensus was yes, but they didn't fully understand the benefits. Having been a small part of this 3k+ thread, I know it's a great thing. I just love it here.....haha 

Enjoy the turkeys! I think they are crazy fun.

 

[Ariel188]

Sorry, should have been more clear. I chop it up fresh each night and add it to the meal. Freshly chopped or crushed garlic is supposed to be the most beneficial, so that's what I do.

Oh ok thank you. Do you think you could add it to the feed and let it ferment? Or would it rot? Do you girls eat the garlic? Do you mix it in or just set it on top? Thanks!

 

[Ms Jellybean]

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?

I use Texas Naturals Feed. It isn't organic, but it is all non-gmo. A 50 pound bag is $25 here.

Oh ok thank you. Do you think you could add it to the feed and let it ferment? Or would it rot? Do you girls eat the garlic? Do you mix it in or just set it on top? Thanks!

I would use it fresh. Kind of swirl it in on the top part of the food. You can add it to their water too.

 

[Ariel188]

I use Texas Naturals Feed. It isn't organic, but it is all non-gmo. A 50 pound bag is $25 here.

I would use it fresh. Kind of swirl it in on the top part of the food. You can add it to their water too.

Ok tyvm. I use the chicken fountain so would be hard to add to water but I can add to food.

 

[Beekissed]

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.

That's sufficient and I'd advise adding the water first, stirring all your remaining fermented feed well into the water, then add your dry feed. That way you have the ferment really throughout all the water and it will absorb directly into the dry feed and get your fermenting off to a quick start.

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?

You should only need to add the ACV~if at all~the very first time and not a whole lot...just a splash. The feed gases off and if at the right texture and not too thick, it can send up bubbles. Most often I'll find several holes in the surface of the feed when I go out to feed in the morning where bubbles of gas have escaped. When you stir it, this releases a lot of gas and so you won't necessarily see many bubbles after that because the gases have been dispersed.

Oh thank you! This makes me feel A LOT better!!! What is "too hot?" I have it in the house and in the summer if we don't use AC it can get 80 degrees inside, is that too hot? Thank you!! I just mixed in some fresh feed, water, and more ACV into the mix of 3 day old feed. I didn't know to just add more to the existing. I thought you were suppost to take only a cup of old feed and mix it with new.

Should I be adding new ACV each time I add more feed and water? Thank you!

Nope...just the very first time. Acetic acid will be produced as an end product of the fermentation, so it will generate its own from the point of fermentation onward.

Oh wow, I probably add WAYYYYY too much ACV then, I just dump some in and I had already put more in when I just added more grains and water just now. Do you think that is why they don't like it? TOO MUCH AVC? Will it hurt them?

Could be...my chickens won't drink water if I have too much of the ACV in it, so it could be a tad sour for them....but a very sour smelling FF doesn't seem to deter them at all. Go figure.

Okay I have a random question - do you all keep dry feed out and accessible at all times too?? I just am thinking, what if we wanted to go away for the weekend and they are only used to FF being fed to them daily. Then what?? Whereas if I have dry food available and we leave for a weekend they could just eat that while we're gone and be okay skipping 2 days of FF.

Thoughts?

I feed a certain amount once per day. When I am going to go away for X amount of days, I just times my daily amount by that many and leave that out to keep them fed until I come back. It's the same as leaving a sufficient amount of dry feed out and it won't spoil, go bad, get moldy, etc. My current trough holds enough for 3 days and I can pull out another trough if I need to leave more than that.

Been doing it that way for years, even when I fed just dry feeds and they are fine.

Oh ok thank you. Do you think you could add it to the feed and let it ferment? Or would it rot? Do you girls eat the garlic? Do you mix it in or just set it on top? Thanks!

It won't rot. You can add it to the bucket or the day's feed ration, either way is fine. You won't want to do that too much or too often, as it defeats the purpose of feeding garlic and can cause some anemia if they are fed garlic too much or too often....garlic really thins the blood and decreases clotting if one takes a daily consumption of it.

 

[Ariel188]

That's sufficient and I'd advise adding the water first, stirring all your remaining fermented feed well into the water, then add your dry feed. That way you have the ferment really throughout all the water and it will absorb directly into the dry feed and get your fermenting off to a quick start.


You should only need to add the ACV~if at all~the very first time and not a whole lot...just a splash. The feed gases off and if at the right texture and not too thick, it can send up bubbles. Most often I'll find several holes in the surface of the feed when I go out to feed in the morning where bubbles of gas have escaped. When you stir it, this releases a lot of gas and so you won't necessarily see many bubbles after that because the gases have been dispersed.

Nope...just the very first time. Acetic acid will be produced as an end product of the fermentation, so it will generate its own from the point of fermentation onward.


Could be...my chickens won't drink water if I have too much of the ACV in it, so it could be a tad sour for them....but a very sour smelling FF doesn't seem to deter them at all. Go figure.


I feed a certain amount once per day. When I am going to go away for X amount of days, I just times my daily amount by that many and leave that out to keep them fed until I come back. It's the same as leaving a sufficient amount of dry feed out and it won't spoil, go bad, get moldy, etc. My current trough holds enough for 3 days and I can pull out another trough if I need to leave more than that.

Been doing it that way for years, even when I fed just dry feeds and they are fine.


It won't rot. You can add it to the bucket or the day's feed ration, either way is fine. You won't want to do that too much or too often, as it defeats the purpose of feeding garlic and can cause some anemia if they are fed garlic too much or too often....garlic really thins the blood and decreases clotting if one takes a daily consumption of it.

How often to add fresh garlic to their FF? I want to do it often enough to repel mites and lice but still be safe for the girls. 2-3 times a week? What do you think? Thank you!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here is a question: water soluble vitamin supplements, should they be fermented?

This comes up for ducks, which need extra niacin, so we are advised to add some to the feed or water. If the niacin is added to the water it loses potency quickly, so the niacin water has to be refreshed often.

It makes me wonder about people using a Nutri-Balancer feed ... some feeds contain that ... and even wonder about the vitamin supplements that are added to "regular" feeds.

I use some Nutri-Balancer, but I add it just before feeding, not before fermenting ... what I want to ferment is the grains and legumes ...

What do you all think?

 

[Beekissed]

How often to add fresh garlic to their FF? I want to do it often enough to repel mites and lice but still be safe for the girls. 2-3 times a week? What do you think? Thank you!

Once in the spring and once in the fall.

I think it would be safer and easier for you to just dust them with sulfur powder every now and again...it's cheap, you can find it at any garden center and it's all natural. Both have the same active ingredient~sulfur.