FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[ReillyJ]

Can hens molt twice in a year?

i think they went through a mild one in August--not a dramatic huge change in their appearance but feathers everywhere for about a month then everything went back to normal (had them on 20% organic layer feed through this) and now just a day or 2 ago am noticing feathers everywhere again

 

[hennible]

I seem to recall having a light moult in late summer, no one ended up with bald patches... Like you say just lots of feathers around .... And then still had a winter/fall moult with half naked birds running around.
Any thing else it could be? Like a diet change perhaps?
With my ducks when they where about six months old I noticed there's feathers everywhere but they were starting to get breeding colors in but of course now they're not moulting.... because their ducks I guess

 

[Debs55]

Hi all! I have tried fermented feed once and didnt have a good experience with it. but I now want to try again.

I still have my bucket with holes in the bottom.This time around I plan to start with half laying pellets and half flock raiser and probably a scoop or two of BOSS and scratch in my bucket to have it about half full. Then I will cover it with water, add 2 caps of UP ACV and a cup of apple juice. cover with a towel and bungee cord and let set inside another bucket. Hopefully ive got this right so far lol

Next day should i strain it and mix it? if its dry I should add more water right? how long until I can feed it? I know it will be slower to ferment in this cold weather and theres no way I could do this in the house (my parents would kill me lol).

I was thinking about keeping a gallon jug of water/half cup apple juice/cap of UP ACV near my bucket to keep it wet since I dont have a water hose nearby..would that work?

Thanks everyone!

 

[hennible]

Hi all! I have tried fermented feed once and didnt have a good experience with it. but I now want to try again.

I still have my bucket with holes in the bottom.This time around I plan to start with half laying pellets and half flock raiser and probably a scoop or two of BOSS and scratch in my bucket to have it about half full. Then I will cover it with water, add 2 caps of UP ACV and a cup of apple juice. cover with a towel and bungee cord and let set inside another bucket. Hopefully ive got this right so far lol

Next day should i strain it and mix it? if its dry I should add more water right? how long until I can feed it? I know it will be slower to ferment in this cold weather and theres no way I could do this in the house (my parents would kill me lol).

I was thinking about keeping a gallon jug of water/half cup apple juice/cap of UP ACV near my bucket to keep it wet since I dont have a water hose nearby..would that work?

Thanks everyone!

I don't make it so complicated... One bucket water and feed stir and done... I use a feeder in the coop and it ripens as the birds eat it... Once I have a good culture adding wet feed to the feeder has a good ferment after a few days....
Any way if you like here is a longer explanation of what I do and how to build the feeder
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/931194/fermented-feed-feeder

 

[ReillyJ]

I don't make it so complicated... One bucket water and feed stir and done... I use a feeder in the coop and it ripens as the birds eat it... Once I have a good culture adding wet feed to the feeder has a good ferment after a few days....
Any way if you like here is a longer explanation of what I do and how to build the feeder
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/931194/fermented-feed-feeder

Agree, that's how i started. Layer feed, mixed well with water ( i do put a bit of probiotic powder in) stir well and "incubate", LOL. Then when down to a serving or so, repeat process.

 

[hennible]

Agree, that's how i started. Layer feed, mixed well with water ( i do put a bit of probiotic powder in) stir well and "incubate", LOL. Then when down to a serving or so, repeat process.

Yup I add a bit of probiotic sometimes too... But I've done it without, both work.

 

[ReillyJ]

Soooo

It looks like my hens are molting, they went through a mild molt in August which seemed to take forever and came out of it better than ever, LOL and now WHAM a bunch of feathers everywhere, this one looks worse.

I use Scratch n Peck organic Layer feed plus an Organic Pellet food that has corn and soy, SnP has neither (just want to cover all my bases) and i FF both. When they had their mild molt, SnP CS told me to switch from their 16% protein (which they have now) to their 20% protein which i did and went through a bag and the hens loved it... SHOULD i do this again? Don't want to have them go through this without support

I have been giving them some of my cats Freeze dried raw food (freeze dried patties of lamb/bones/organs all finely ground up and dried) so the protein content of that is like 90%?? But i wouldn't know how much to give of that to supplement and it's kinda spendy!

 

[hennible]

Soooo

It looks like my hens are molting, they went through a mild molt in August which seemed to take forever and came out of it better than ever, LOL and now WHAM a bunch of feathers everywhere, this one looks worse.

I use Scratch n Peck organic Layer feed plus an Organic Pellet food that has corn and soy, SnP has neither (just want to cover all my bases) and i FF both. When they had their mild molt, SnP CS told me to switch from their 16% protein (which they have now) to their 20% protein which i did and went through a bag and the hens loved it... SHOULD i do this again? Don't want to have them go through this without support

I have been giving them some of my cats Freeze dried raw food (freeze dried patties of lamb/bones/organs all finely ground up and dried) so the protein content of that is like 90%?? But i wouldn't know how much to give of that to supplement and it's kinda spendy!

I haven't read this whole article but it got some good info on proteins effects in it
http://ul.netd.ac.za/bitstream/10386/558/2/Mohlala A M.Sc (Thesis).pdf
Warning its 85 pages long...

 

[debbiegt]

...

In a new development our chickens have started eating everything but the FF. I've had the same 5 gallon bucket going for a few weeks and am just now to the point that I need to add more feed and water to it. I'm fermenting layer crumbles with some wild bird seed thrown in for goodies. I feed in the morning about 5:30 before work and let them out of the coop at that time. By the time I come home all of it is gone and the chickens are at the fence waiting on me to feed them. I go out there and add another measure of FF to the two feeders that we have and the chickens will pick at it a bit but not really "go to it" like they do in the mornings (according to my wife). I do offer them larvae in the afternoon also since I have a self harvesting bin packed full of BSF, horsefly and common house fly larvae and once a pound of that mix hits the ground the chickens are all gangbusters about getting in there and eating. They eat the grubs like they are starving while the FF sits not 8 feet away being ignored.

Are the chickens just that much more interested in grubs than FF that they'll act like this or could it be something in the feed that they've decided that they don't like? In the mornings when I check the feeders one is usually empty and the other has about a half cup left in it. I just dump that half cup back into the FF bucket and mix it back in, should I not be doing that?

Thank you for any help.
RichnSteph
[/quote. Where did you get your self harvesting bin for your bsf? That is next on my want list. Lol

 

[islandgirl82]

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