FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[ReillyJ]

Is it ok to leave what's left over of the FF in their dish, to the next day? Have trouble determining how much they're going to eat so there's always some left over, do i have to scoop it out and put it back into the FF bucket? Or maybe just throw out what's left and start new each day?

 

[kpgoldstar]

Is it ok to leave what's left over of the FF in their dish, to the next day? Have trouble determining how much they're going to eat so there's always some left over, do i have to scoop it out and put it back into the FF bucket? Or maybe just throw out what's left and start new each day?

During the summer I scooped the leftovers back into the bucket since I live where it is very dry and if left overnight or all day it would turn to concrete. With the cooler temps I leave it out. I feed twice a day and usually by evening the morning feeding is gone. The afternoon snack though they never finish and I leave it until the next morning. It's usually dry by then if there is anything left so I just scatter in on the lawn and they act like they are getting a treat!

 

[LindaB220]

So, I've been feeding the FF for about a week now. I left the feeder of dry food in their coop for them to free feed until it was gone and they haven't touched it since I started feeding the fermented. They also haven't been laying. At all. I have one 3 1/2 yr old hen who is molting so no surprise there but everyone else had been laying faithfully until I made the switch (one 4 year old hen who has still been giving me 4-5 eggs each week and three 7 month old pullets one of which will lay for 9-10 days straight before having a day off). They're all still carrying on as they normally do, just not laying. I didn't think much of it the first couple of days because it had been rather cold so I expected a reduction but not such a drastic one from my pullets. The last several days have been quite warm, especially for mid-October in Maine and yesterday I did get one egg from one of the pullets. I do keep them in their run until about noon; after my Hamburg has laid so she's not hiding her eggs. Everyone else returns to the coop to lay even after they've been let out to free range until they put themselves to bed each evening. With the foliage dying off now, it's very easy to see that there aren't any hidden nests anywhere either.

Maybe this has been asked before but with 527 pages to weed through in this thread, I'll have to apologize for asking again. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there an adjustment period for them to get back on track or should I just be chalking it up to seasonal changes and the feed change/egg decrease is just a coincidence?

I fed my Golden Comets, Delawares and white rocks FF from day one. The started laying about 4.5 mo and never looked back. This is the time of year for different kinds of delays. Molting, etc. If there is a problem it will sort itself out shortly.

 

[islandgirl82]

I fed my Golden Comets, Delawares and white rocks FF  from day one.    The started laying  about 4.5 mo and never looked back.  This is the time of year for different kinds of delays.  Molting,  etc.  If there is a problem it will sort itself out shortly.  

Thank you. I didn't think much of it at first but going from 2-3 dozen eggs per week to just 1 solitary egg in the last week seemed far too drastic and the only thing that has kept me from panicking is that their behavior hasn't changed at all; they're all still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed....well other than my molting girl who's mostly pins.

I changed the litter on the catch tray yesterday and when I let the flock of this morning, I noticed there were hardly any droppings at all. I knew they would be more firm on the ff than dry but do they go less often too?

 

[Meeka3]

My chooks have gone right off the FF with only 3 or 4 still eating it, so I've had to put their dry food back out again. They still love their sprouts so I have a bucket of sprouting seeds fermenting at the moment to see what happens with this, I've never done seeds before so I'm not sure what to expect, but I should know in a couple of days. Because there is always a lot of the current FF left over I've been throwing it over the ground and I noticed a few wild birds, mainly finches, having a good old feed, so I'll continue to do this. I guess I'll have the healthiest wild birds in the country.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you're giving both FF and sprouts, it's not surprising that they show a preference for sprouts. What if you tried giving them their FF in the morning, and gave the sprouts before they go to roost?

ReillyJ: You might want to cut back on the amount of FF you give them until you find an amount that they will completely clean up. I give my girls a good feeding in the morning, enough that their crops are all filled up, and the FF is gone by 10 AM. This ensures that the bully's get their fill, and there will be plenty left for the bottom pecking order girls before it's all gone. Then, they get a feeding of dry feed before going to roost. This later feeding ensures that their crops are not empty at roost time, and keeps them expecting something from me at bed time to make them easier to handle. Not a good idea to leave any kind of food out at night. It will attract pests.

Island girl: I hope your production picks up. FF shouldn't be any part of the issue. Did you by chance change your feed brand? My girls have dropped from 11/16 to 8-10/15.

 

[islandgirl82]

Lazy Gardener,
No change in brand. I made that mistake once a couple of years ago and my birds wouldn't touch the "imposter feed". I had to feed it out as a mash (hadn't heard of FF at the time) and blend it with their usual brand and eventually gave it away. I haven't made that mistake again. I've had chickens for a few years and I know that when the temps drop so does production but that's not a slight drop from my girls.

They free range for at least 6-7 hours a day; I let them out around noon in attempts to prevent my Hamburg from hiding her eggs and she usually lays by then. All the others have been faithfully using the nests in the coop, even after they've been let out to forage but I've been on the look out for their eggs too when I scour the property and no sign of eggs or nests anywhere.

I'm hoping it's the time of year but I'm surprised at such a drastic drop especially with such beautiful weather here in Maine during this last week.

The only change I've made is fermenting the feed and they've had full access to their dry feed as well. I thought I ought to ease them onto the FF but they haven't touched the dry since they started getting the FF.

 

[ReillyJ]

If you're giving both FF and sprouts, it's not surprising that they show a preference for sprouts. What if you tried giving them their FF in the morning, and gave the sprouts before they go to roost?

ReillyJ: You might want to cut back on the amount of FF you give them until you find an amount that they will completely clean up. I give my girls a good feeding in the morning, enough that their crops are all filled up, and the FF is gone by 10 AM. This ensures that the bully's get their fill, and there will be plenty left for the bottom pecking order girls before it's all gone. Then, they get a feeding of dry feed before going to roost. This later feeding ensures that their crops are not empty at roost time, and keeps them expecting something from me at bed time to make them easier to handle. Not a good idea to leave any kind of food out at night. It will attract pests.

Island girl: I hope your production picks up. FF shouldn't be any part of the issue. Did you by chance change your feed brand? My girls have dropped from 11/16 to 8-10/15.

Thanks! i do put a lot out and in 2 different dishes, i think i will just scoop up what's left and back into the FF OR i will leave it out because it's in a covered and secured run, NO pests can get in and haven't all of this time so i'm not worried about it.

I also have recently added an organic DRY pellet at night to fill their crops and make sure they're ok before roost. I think they may do well on it combined with the FF as i am not sure the FF meets all their requirements (it's Scratch n Peck Soy/Corn free organic crumble layer feed) after talking about it on another thread in this forum.)

Reason why i'm giving dry before they go into roost (they free range until then) is because i've tried to give the FF and wherever it goes on the ground it has molded and i cannot have that.

 

[Teila]

My gals get their FF in the morning with a side salad

Whatever they have not finished off is then tossed in their favourite spot during their afternoon free range and as someone else mentioned previously, they think it is new, get all excited and eat it lol. Whatever is left over from round 2, if anything, is picked off by the local wild birds so no chance of it going 'off' or mouldy.

 

[islandgirl82]

On a bright note, my Hamburg gave me an egg this morning, a few hours earlier than her usual time too so they got to be set loose to spend the whole day free-ranging. Hopes are up that this past week off was just what they needed to adjust but time will tell.