FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Windy Bay Farm]

I used simply non-medicated chick starter and water. The medication in the medicated will be diluted if you ferment it so it is rather pointless to use it. If it happens to be the only chick starter you have access to, then go ahead and use it.

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/
If that's all you have available, it won't hurt. But it's not necessary.

{And it's in the FAQ linked above. }

I don't use medicated feed dry or FF.
It's not really 'better for the chicks'. It is a thiamine blocker and only works to starve the protozoa coccidia. If managed properly, it's unnecessary. FF tends to increase B vitamins so it may be counter productive.

Thanks for the info

 

[Beekissed]

Hi all! My chicks hatched last Saturday and per the advice here I started my first batch of FF the Tuesday before they hatched. I am doing just a 1 gallon glass jar (no lid). Now that it's been over a week since I started my FF is it still any good? I give it daily (even though the chicks are not liking it at all) - but it's not putting a dent in my jar with how much is left. I just wonder - at what point would it go bad and I'd have to start over? Or is it good as long as I stir daily?? Thank you!!

It's good for quite a long time...like you said, just stir it once a day before you feed to keep the top moistened and you are golden. Your chicks won't like anything real well for the first 3 days because they are living on yolk, but will start to get hungry after that. Make it a dry mix and keep the top from getting too crusty because those little beaks can't get pieces off too well when they are that young. Don't set it under the light as that tends to bake it to a hard crust on top....put it in the cooler area of the brooder if you have it.

You don't have to refresh it daily with feed and water to keep it good, the longer it sits, the deeper the ferment and that's okay. Your chicks will get hungry enough to eat it, just don't offer any alternative and they will adapt.

 

[ak rain]

How often do you put F feed in for chicks? I'm getting Cornish x soon
I'm thinking 2 turkeys too what for them?

Ak rain

 

[Beekissed]

How often do you put F feed in for chicks? I'm getting Cornish x soon
I'm thinking 2 turkeys too what for them?

Ak rain

I just check their feeder in the morning...if it's not empty or even almost empty, I leave it alone. Check it in the evening, if it's empty, I put some in it...for little chicks they are rarely ever without a little feed...but it won't hurt them if they run out and have to wait an hour or so.

That goes on until they are out of the brooder and then they eat the same time as the bigger flock, free range for the bulk of their food and then get a good feed when I put out the FF. Sometimes I'll have a look at them in the evening to see if they have a full crop...if not, I'll feed them an additional, small meal as they eat behind the creep feeder and the layer flock can't get their feed any longer.

As they age that will definitely go to just one meal each evening and free range all day before getting it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I have a question. We were researching for my daughters school assignment salmonella. I was looking into some cases in Iowa where they found salmonella laced feed was the source of salmonella in that farms eggs. Do you think that the fermentation that we do would prevent salmonella getting to chickens if your feed was somehow contaminated previous to your purchasing?

There have been studies about fermented feed as a potential anti salmonella agent in poultry. Here is a link to an abstract on one that studied how resistant broilers might be to salmonella if they were fed fermented feed ... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12710480/

I found that just now by googling ... but I'm on my phone now and can't be more thorough. I know more info is out there because I've looked into it myself. I have read a study by an alfalfa company stating how alfalfa helps reduce both salmonella and E. coli because it typically ferments during digestion. Another company that sells yeast supplements (Diamond V company) has research about how their products (such as their XPC yeast) can be used to help reduce pathogens in industrial poultry flocks ... and yeast is essentially a dehydrated product of fermentation. So the big guys are trying to harness the power of FF on the industrial scale.

BTW ... the Diamond V products can be very expensive ... and it seems you can get those benefits for free by fermenting regular poultry rations.

What to do if the salmonella is actually processed INTO the feed at the feed factory? That's a great question! We put so much faith in the industrial food system, even with our backyard chickens that are supposed to be helping us avoid the factories.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Thank you Joyce for this useful information.

 

[niqueie]

I was telling my daughter that you guys are very smart and could probably tell us. Thanks so much for your info.

 

[Tikkijane]

Old beer to jump start fermentation? Brewer's yeast?

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I was thinking about this in the dreamy early morning ... pre coffee.

There are various reasons to ferment your chicken feed. A big one is to reduce waste ... crumbles and mash feeds are easy to spill and then are often ignored, but also less appetizing particles of ingredients are often the smaller particles and those can sift to the bottom of the feeder and then get ignored because they don't smell, taste or look right to the bird ... so moist feeds are more efficient than crumbles or mashes. Another good reason is to introduce some healthy colonies to the feed ... prebiotics, probiotics and B vitamins. Another is to digest away anti-nutrients in grains, seeds and legumes. Another is to change the amino acid profile of the feed so vegitable-based proteins are more "complete" for our birds. Another is to simply soften the feed to make the food easier for the animal to digest so it is more efficient (which is a big part of what chickens are doing when they scratch through poo ... besides bugs, they are looking for partially-digested feed as that is easier for them to digest and absorb).

With that last point in mind, and keeping in mind that chickens can only "process" a few ounces of feed at a time, and keeping in mind BK's reports of how fully digested her flock's feed is by the time it becomes poo so that her dog Jake is no longer chicken-poo obsessed ... I ask myself, "Why are we trending toward wanting to feed our birds whole grains?" Even fermented, are those whole grains likely to be fully utilized by the bird for maximum nutrition, thrift, and efficiency? Yes, our birds love whole grain scratch treats, but is a whole-grain FEED "nutritious enough" for our birds?

 

[carnivore]

From what I've been reading, not really necessary (water + feed + 3 or 4 days). If I was going to jumpstart it with anything, I'd probably use ACV or maybe a wee bit of plain yogurt.