FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Tikkijane]

I am in Central Arizona and SW Colorado.

I had issues with my FF going bad if I didn't keep it wet enough.  Its not really a hassle to drain the liquid, I have an easy system that takes me all of about 30 seconds to do, and the reserved liquid is used to jumpstart my new batch daily.

Quite a few folks have thought their FF had "gone bad/molded" when what they saw was actually yeast and or SCOBY. It takes a considerable bit of time for FF to mold. But it sure can get smelly after 4/5 days. And that's the way it's *supposed* to be.....

 

[Tikkijane]

That's good to know!

I live in Western WA and while we're having a STUPENDOUS summer here, the temps at night drop big time and in my house it's about 58 and 77 during the day so i'm hoping the FF keep going, nothing i can do about it until i keep the pellet stove going at night which i'm not going to do yet, so it looks like i won't have to worry about keeping it real wet, i think the chickens have an easier time eating it drier, the wet just seems to get mashed on the floor or sides of the feeder

As Bee found out last year, SCOBY goes dormant around 36-38 degrees. Dormant, not to be confused with dead. I've started new batches around 55-60 degrees and it was fine. Another place could be over the dryer vent to help utilize that heat in some way.

 

[Tikkijane]

I have 2-3 stations for feed and water so the alphas can't hog more then one. it seems to work I have 8 layers 2 youths and 4 ducks.
Ak rain

Yep. I have 2 gutter sections and the bowl for the big flock; two other sections for the keetagers and another for the guinea section, that containes a chicken mama and her keetager during the day. Everybody eats out of everything, but there sre serveral places to eat from so everyone gets what they need.

 

[Tikkijane]

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

It should *not* be sealed. FF is areobic. Your feed is not fermented in that amount of time. Secondary batches can ferment overnight and be fed in the morning. Read the previous posts about backslopping and the FAQ.

Hi! I'm new to fermenting feed and was wondering if you can use a 5 gallon bucket with an air tight seal. I wanted to get a gamma lid for ease of use. Also wondering if I should have more then one bucket. Right now I feed some in the morning then refil then feed more in the evening then refill. Does it get a chance to ferment in that amount of time or should I use from one bucket refill at night then use another bucket the next day giving the first bucket 24 hours to ferment.

 

[Tikkijane]

Absolutely right. Breed make a big difference in weight and overall size {think dual purpose breeds}.

Heavier birds, like orpingtons, cochins, wyandottes, brahmas, even rocks, are going to weigh more than slighter breeds, like lakenvelders, hamburgs, etc.

EEs have no rhyme or reason, since they are essentially mutts. One of my heaviest is an EE, although she looks smaller than my BOs.

That's one of the reasons there's such a range in feeding.

I have a few different varieties of chicken and I've found that the size depends on the variety. My 3 Lohman browns are very scrawny looking, the mixes are huge and fat, and the others are in between. They all eat the same and get the same exercise ( they free range over 8 acres all day ) just popping back every now and then to have some fermented feed. One of the lohmans is alpha chook so she's not missing out on food, it's just their breed. I think your chooks look ok, and if you know they're eating and don't have worms I wouldn't worry about their size. As a matter of fact, I had to take my big fat freckles, who only eats fermented food and some dry fine layer mash as a treat, and all the grubs she can forage, to the vet with bumblefoot, and the vet said she's overweight and I should put her on a diet. Well, I don't know how I could do that, and I certainly won't be changing their very healthy diet. They don't get any scraps, only some pecan nuts as a little treat when they run to greet me.

 

[cutipatooti]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to give this thicker not covered by water FF a try. I was backslopping but not sure if over night was enough time for all the benefits of FF. Please correct me if I'm wrong, backslopping is fine if you already have a good ferment going but waiting 3 more days after backslopping would be better. Also where do you all keep your FF? I really don't want to keep mine in my kitchen. Can it be kept in the garage or shed during the winter?

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Quite a few folks have thought their FF had "gone bad/molded" when what they saw was actually yeast and or SCOBY. It takes a considerable bit of time for FF to mold. But it sure can get smelly after 4/5 days. And that's the way it's *supposed* to be.....

By gone bad I meant the sick rotting smell, not the rich sour dough smell. Their is quite a difference.

My method is the lacto-fermentation which is anaerobic, that I learned from lots of research and experimentation, and it works for me. My birds eat very little other food besides the FF I give them every day. My batch maintains a very nice yeasty sour dough smell and ferments the food I add each day.

Everyone is free to use whatever method works for them, I wasn't implying that mine was the ON.lY method, but I've been doing it for a year and it isn't a messy, sloppy, ordeal at all.

Reference: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html

 

[kpgoldstar]

Hi! I'm new to fermenting feed and was wondering if you can use a 5 gallon bucket with an air tight seal. I wanted to get a gamma lid for ease of use. Also wondering if I should have more then one bucket. Right now I feed some in the morning then refil then feed more in the evening then refill. Does it get a chance to ferment in that amount of time or should I use from one bucket refill at night then use another bucket the next day giving the first bucket 24 hours to ferment.

You can use a 5 gallon bucket with the gamma lid, just don't tighten it down all the way. Mine is in a 2.5 gallon food grade bucket with a lid that snaps down but still allows some air flow. I have been feeding FF for nearly a year and have been using the same bucket, never rinsed or cleaned, never tossed and started over.

I only have 4 hens so I make enough FF to completely fill my bucket and lasts about 4-5 days. When I am down to about a cup or less, I add enough water and feed (leave room for absorption and expansion) to fill my bucket again. By the next feeding, morning or eve it is fully fermented again. I feed twice a day and my hens get the standard 1/2-1 cup per day per bird. They eat much less in the summer but I live where it is brutally hot.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

It can- eventually. Refreshing as you go IS NOT IDEAL. It will weaken the ferment, which increases the need for feeding which then means they NEED to eat more. Ferment levels continue ro increase daily, making it more and more nutritionally dense.

By far, the BEST course of action, imo, is to have a batch go *at least* three days before backslopping and refreshing. There are folks here {like Bee} that have batches going weeks at a time before refreshing without issue.

And keeping water over it s absolutely NOT necessary. There is info linked on that in the FAQ.

To further explain that my method is anaerobic (covered in liquid with very little oxygen coming in contact with the feed) and apparently yours is aerobic (with lots of oxygen) are two totally different methods, not just a choice of more or less liquid.

Please read:

http://www.pickl-it.com/faq/109/what-is-aerobic-fermentation/

http://www.pickl-it.com/faq/110/what-is-anaerobic-fermentation/

http://www.pickl-it.com/faq/148/process-microbial-lacto-fermentation/

 

[kpgoldstar]

I am in Central Arizona and SW Colorado.

I had issues with my FF going bad if I didn't keep it wet enough. Its not really a hassle to drain the liquid, I have an easy system that takes me all of about 30 seconds to do, and the reserved liquid is used to jumpstart my new batch daily.

I used to keep mine fairly wet as well and strained before each feeding. It worked just fine. Over the course of the past year I have kept it drier and drier. When mine was wet my girls necks would get covered from the over-splash and I was having to give baths! Either way works fine.