FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

I created a quick rooster pen just Friday for such behaviors in a young cockerel I received rather unexpectedly last week...he's really rough but a good breeder. He was giving my girls too hard a time and so needed to be put in a cooling off pen. Sounds like your girls could sure use a break from all those young cockerels too....got an extra pen to put all those roos?

For good measure, I also put the resident cockerel~that was previously very gentlemanly and polite in his behaviors but changed abruptly after the arrival of the new guy~in the same pen so they could have company and my young meat chicks and the hens could all have a breather from all the male hormones bouncing off the walls here. It will be a wonderful, peaceful day tomorrow!

 

[Tikkijane]

I created a quick rooster pen just Friday for such behaviors in a young cockerel I received rather unexpectedly last week...he's really rough but a good breeder.  He was giving my girls too hard a time and so needed to be put in a cooling off pen.  Sounds like your girls could sure use a break from all those young cockerels too....got an extra pen to put all those roos? 

For good measure, I also put the resident cockerel~that was previously very gentlemanly and polite in his behaviors but changed abruptly after the arrival of the new guy~in the same pen so they could have company and my young meat chicks and the hens could all have a breather from all the male hormones bouncing off the walls here.  It will be a wonderful, peaceful day tomorrow! 

I have the grow out I can use since it's empty. They have learned how to escspe from the barn. But when they get really bad, they get time outs; usually morning and early evening. I really just need to get rid of some, but they're family to each other. *sigh*

 

[birdlady79]

So I started back on ff food... They are liking it... I use a lemonade pitcher... This last batch I did turned moldy bf I could use it all.... I forgot to stir it 1 day... I know I'm suppose to be making larger batches, but since they free range threy don't eat as much.... If I make a larger batch how do I prevent it from molding?

 

[niqueie]

It looks moldy but might not be. Much of what looks like mold is actually yeast. Which is fine to have in your FF. If it doesn't smell moldy than you are good usually. Make sure you are doing a simple ferment of just water and feed. Also, you don't need water covering the feed and remember to stir. Also keep it open to start with. Once you get sour good smelling ff then you can fiddle with containers and little things.

 

[LindaB220]

So I started back on ff food... They are liking it... I use a lemonade pitcher... This last batch I did turned moldy bf I could use it all.... I forgot to stir it 1 day... I know I'm suppose to be making larger batches, but since they free range threy don't eat as much.... If I make a larger batch how do I prevent it from molding?

I make mine in a 2 gallon bucket and just stir the mold looking stuff back in. The fermentation will kill it. No worries.

Boy, did I make a mistake. I wanted the babies (almost 4 wk old) to start digging around so I put out a couple of handfuls of dry ration a couple of days ago. Still in the brooder so not dirt yet. Today when I put their food down they stood and looked at me. Waiting on the dry. Oh no, we are not playing this game. I'll not feed anything but FF from now on. Rascals. I've got the dog kennel and equipment to predator proof, just no guy to finish it and put tin on the top. Ten more days or so. The girls are raring to get outside. I open the door in the afternoon and the sun shines on them. Loving it. As far as I can tell, I have one male left. A white rock. It'll do. The rest are females, 3 Delaware, 6 Golden Comets, 6 White Rocks. A good start until I can upgrade later to better quality White Rocks.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Oh heck. Your boys are considerably more well-mannered than many of mine. I've seen them go IN the nesting boxes before realizing there is not enough room. My EE roo is the worst- he gets them when they are eating. He had one of my EE girls completely flattened in the feed bowl tonight. And my silkie boys yank and drag by the head. *sigh.* My head roo- absolutely. Although my girls said they saw him getting on one of the Brahma babies yesterday (He's a SLW and they are 7 weeks old- just as big as my SSH, for example, but still babies! )

I'm hoping the boys mature. This spring has been tough for the girls.

We have a long-ish coop, with the door to the run at the "bottom" end, and the nesting boxes at the "top" end. We have about 100 birds, with 5 primary roosters, so our flock is roughly divided into harems around these roosters. I've noticed the roosters like to come with their hens up to the nesting box area at laying time. I never really knew why until I read about the rooster's reproductive urge to mate immediately after egg laying. It makes sense, considering the anatomy and the egg development cycle.

When we have pullets around, sometimes the roosters like to climb into the nesting boxes to show the young females how to use them.

We like to give our flock scrambled egg treats, and we have one funny rooster who will pick up pieces of that to offer to his favorite hen. He'll stand there with a big chunk of it in his beak until the hen has finished eating and has started to wander off, then he does his little clucking dance and drops the chunk of eggs at her feet. She keeps walking, he picks it up and follows her to try again. She's a big hen, she knows how to eat just fine.

Roosters are funny!

I got one little Easter Chick to hatch from a clutch I'd given up on several days ago but left under the hen so I could organize a new clutch (long story, but the idea was to give her partially incubated eggs, so she could eventually hatch something, but wouldn't have to start all over at Day 1). Last night I went out after dark to do the egg swap, and heard peeping! Today broody and chick are going to get a scrambled egg with some FF in it. It's my first time feeding FF to a chick.

 

[pdirt]

So I started back on ff food... They are liking it... I use a lemonade pitcher... This last batch I did turned moldy bf I could use it all.... I forgot to stir it 1 day... I know I'm suppose to be making larger batches, but since they free range threy don't eat as much.... If I make a larger batch how do I prevent it from molding?

Yep, next time you get something that looks like mold to you, take a photo and post it here for us to see. Very likely what you are seeing is a larger yeast bloom. And in any case, stirring it back into the mix, whatever it is (even if it IS mold), the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) will consume it and produce more health-giving LAB babies. Don't just take it from me or others here (though we do have some experience with this), the fermentation guru known as Sandor Katz has written a couple excellent books on the subject. His tome, "The Art of Fermentation" also includes color photos of these sorts of things.

Anything white and fuzzy is most likely yeast. Brown, black or green would most likely be molds. And unless you live in a hot and humid locale (ie, the deep south of USA), it's not likely that black mold grows in your location. Most "black molds" are actually very dark brown molds (if you hold it to bright light), according a veteran plumber who worked in the Seattle area (humid but not hot) who had seen all kinds and lots of mold over his 30+ year career.

One thing I do to keep more oxygen out and reduce the chance of mold is to cover the FF with a plastic bag. Mold isn't so awful like we've said, but my FF is so thick it is not stir-able. In my case, it's not a problem, because I don't stir mine (I use a slightly different fermentation method than most folks here). But regardless of your fermentation method, a plastic bag on top will keep oxygen loving molds and yeasts from getting too out of hand.

 

[madicakes]

I have a question about the smell. Mine has a tangy sweet slighly alcohol tinge of odor to it, but very "tangy" to the nostrils, if that makes sense. Is this normal?

 

[Anuthatch]

HI,

I just wanted to report back that I held out with my chicks and they are now happily eating their FF. You were right, not a one of them stopped eating and died.

Thanks for the encouragement and helpful information. I'm so glad I didn't give up too soon.

On a side note, I'm keeping my FF on the counter in my kitchen. I bought one of those 2 gallon clear glass "cookie gar" like cannisters at Walmart recommended some place in FF world. Works wonderfully. Pretty big for my 4 tiny chicks but they will grow into it. Anyhow, my FF is 12 days old now and I'm starting to smell it in my house. Not complaining one bit....just saying because it's interesting. It seems to be perfect right now and hoping to keep it that way. That being said, I'm going to use more of it up before I add any new to it. I was a little exuberant with my first batch.

Thanks again!

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

HI,

I just wanted to report back that I held out with my chicks and they are now happily eating their FF. You were right, not a one of them stopped eating and died.

Thanks for the encouragement and helpful information. I'm so glad I didn't give up too soon.

On a side note, I'm keeping my FF on the counter in my kitchen. I bought one of those 2 gallon clear glass "cookie gar" like cannisters at Walmart recommended some place in FF world. Works wonderfully. Pretty big for my 4 tiny chicks but they will grow into it. Anyhow, my FF is 12 days old now and I'm starting to smell it in my house. Not complaining one bit....just saying because it's interesting. It seems to be perfect right now and hoping to keep it that way. That being said, I'm going to use more of it up before I add any new to it. I was a little exuberant with my first batch.

Thanks again!

I started with 2 of those 2 gallon glass jars too. They worked well but I'm also feeding meaties so I moved to a bucket that sits in large hinged-lid resin wicker patio bin in the run--I love it outside. It can make quite a mess!