FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[SilkieNation]

There's something called Fly Predators that we use on horse manure - the little buggers eat the fly larvae. Horse people use them all of the time. Perhaps you could try them? You get them from Spaulding Labs - may have spelled that wrong. They are not cheap, and you have to apply them monthly, but if you are infested with flies it might be something to try.

 

[enola]

Fly predators have to be spread in areas that chickens can't get to or they will eat the predators.

 

[SilkieNation]

Excellent point. (I've actually thought of that in the past, but not when I was posting that suggestion!) Still, if places can be found out of beak range, they might do the trick.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm having a problem I'm helping someone can offer some solution to.

I have about a million flies hanging around my coop and run.

Here's some background info:
I have been feeeding FF to my five 10 week old girls since they were born. I feed then once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. I sometimes feed them straight FF, sometimes I mix in oatmeal or raisins or some sprouts. They finish what I give them in about 15 minutes. The free range in a 20X20 grassy area. I have poop boards under the roosts that I clean everyday. I also clean up whatever droppings I can see in the coop, run and grass daily. The coop has pine shavings, the run has a mix of shavings and hay, the area between the run and the grass is rocks. This is where it seems the worst. Hardly and flies in the coop.

Any ideas why I have this horrible fly problem or what I can do to remedy it?

I am thinking I might take out the shavings and hay in the run and put in sand. It is all covered so I'm not worried about it getting wet.


Thanks!

You didn't mention how large your coop and run is but the free range area is very small for 10 chickens, so it's likely there is a lot of poop build up there...some of that poop will be cecal poop, which is undigested proteins and will draw flies like crazy.

A true deep litter~not just deep bedding~that is cultured and composting, will help digest the poop and keep it out of the range of flies...I'd get rid of the poop board as it serves no purpose. Sand will just slowly build up smells and moisture until you have a stinking mess on your hands...I'd avoid sand. It's not a good final solution.

So, DL in the coop and run, flip some bedding on top of the poo under the roosts each morning but don't stir around in the litter all the time. Just cover.
A much bigger area in which to free range...MUCH bigger, so the soils are not over impacted and overloaded with poop.
Make sure your feed is fully fermented and only feed them fully fermented foods...if it's fully fermented, there's not much left in most of the poops to attract flies. Only the cecal poops at that point and deep litter and bigger range will help with those.

I'd not use any hay in your DL...it's hard to move, it holds too much moisture and, unless you live where it's very arid, you won't want to have that moist of bedding in your coop and run. It will just hold the smells and dampness that attracts the flies.

Lots and lots of ventilation in the coop and run...a good airflow disperses smells, no smells, no flies.

 

[1hawaiian]

Where...oh, where...did you see a recipe with brown sugar in it?? Please tell me!! I've never heard of such a thing!

I feel like when you are little and having a game at school where they have you sit in a circle and whisper something in someone's ear and they have to pass it to the next kid, and then they pass it along in a whisper, and so on until it comes back to the first kid and you find out that what they originally whispered doesn't even come close to what returned to them after it passed through the circle of kids.


Not that I think I originated the FF thing, but I've never even heard of using sugar to ferment grains unless you are making bread!


Sorry to tell you this....when the FF smells like rancid vomit is when it is most filled with the beneficial microbes that is one of the goals of feeding the FF. When next it smells like that, feed it out and just keep a rolling mix with the same stuff inoculating the next batch. After the first day of mixing fresh feed in mine, it only smells slightly of vomit...all the days after that it smells fully of vomit...because I'm using the original SCOBY that I started last year. If I take the buckets apart and take a good whiff of the fluid there it most definitely smells like vomit.

You've been throwing out the best stuff and feeding your chickens only slightly fermented feeds..which is fine, but it won't hurt to let it ferment further and feed that as well.

Hey Bee...I like this you're straight to the point on this(!)...for sure I'll know when it's ready...starting mine today and expecting 3 days to ferment...then feeding my little ones 2x a day and backslopping as needed...Thanks you're the best sis

 

[Beekissed]

Old posts. Don't they come back to haunt a person! But, vomit is an apt description....

....especially in the heat of summer. Island Brother, I can't wait until you see how easy it is to make the feed stretch and how good it makes the eggs taste.

 

[deedles]

Bee, you answered the OP not to use hay as bedding, nor sand. What do you recommend for a coop and run? Also, my FF doesn't smell like vomit at all. It smells yeasty and nice and it does bubble when stirred so it is fermented. Not fermented enough maybe?

Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, you answered the OP not to use hay as bedding, nor sand. What do you recommend for a coop and run? Also, my FF doesn't smell like vomit at all. It smells yeasty and nice and it does bubble when stirred so it is fermented. Not fermented enough maybe?

Thanks!

Yeah...especially in the summer time when it's warm out, the FF can get deeply fermented in no time at all and start to smell a little strong. If you use it quickly and refresh often, you may never get to that point but if you don't it can start to smell a little rank. Still good to eat but it smells strong.

Pine shavings are fine but I wouldn't use them exclusively if you can get other materials. The more varied the materials and size of particles, the better composting you'll get on those and, consequently, you'll have a better, working DL that will digest feces. If not doing DL, then pine shavings work best for temporary bedding. Hay is too moist in and of its own self, so provides very little moisture control. In small amounts it's nice for keeping moisture in the bottom levels in a deep litter system but large amounts are not so great for coops and runs.

Here's a vid on DL that shows a working deep litter system and can show how different materials break down and perform:

 

[Tikkijane]

You didn't mention how large your coop and run is but the free range area is very small for 10 chickens, so it's likely there is a lot of poop build up there...some of that poop will be cecal poop, which is undigested proteins and will draw flies like crazy. 

A true deep litter~not just deep bedding~that is cultured and composting, will help digest the poop and keep it out of the range of flies...I'd get rid of the poop board as it serves no purpose.  Sand will just slowly build up smells and moisture until you have a stinking mess on your hands...I'd avoid sand.  It's not a good final solution. 

So, DL in the coop and run, flip some bedding on top of the poo under the roosts each morning but don't stir around in the litter all the time.  Just cover. 
A much bigger area in which to free range...MUCH bigger, so the soils are not over impacted and overloaded with poop. 
Make sure your feed is fully fermented and only feed them fully fermented foods...if it's fully fermented, there's not much left in most of the poops to attract flies.  Only the cecal poops at that point and deep litter and bigger range will help with those. 

I'd not use any hay in your DL...it's hard to move, it holds too much moisture and, unless you live where it's very arid, you won't want to have that moist of bedding in your coop and run.  It will just hold the smells and dampness that attracts the flies. 

Lots and lots of ventilation in the coop and run...a good airflow disperses smells, no smells, no flies. 

And- hay and straw both grow aspergillus, which is toxic.

 

[Clucksandgiggle]

Quote:
Thanks Bee!!

I have only have 5 chickens - (they are 10 weeks old)! I know they don't have a ton of grassy area but that is all I can give them now, in addition the their 4X8 run, the space under their 6' X3' coop and the 8X6 rocky area so they actually have quite a bit of room to explore.

Thanks for the great advise! I will try the deep litter for sure! I added the hay in the run for the first time a bit ago and it has been a real pain ever since! No more hay!!