FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[shodack]

Could the bull be the problem? I am using one of the rubber type dog bowls. Something like this.

Leigti, do your chickens climb into the bowl? I have considered switching to a plain old bowl because what I'm using is very frustrating, but I worry that they will climb around/ spill it constantly.

 

[bbhorsefly]

Leigti, do your chickens climb into the bowl? I have considered switching to a plain old bowl because what I'm using is very frustrating, but I worry that they will climb around/ spill it constantly. 

I use chip/dip trays! Babies have been known to climb in, but the mature chickens might get just a foot every once in awhile.

 

[shortgrass]

I use shallow wide feeding pans, like pig feeding pans... Yes, a hen will get in and TRY to scratch, but they don't usually do more than get their feet in the food. Since its wet, it doesn't tend to go flying like the dry stuff

 

[Leigti]

This bowl is about 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep. They don't try to get in it. I have a much larger bowl about 12 or 14 inches wide and 4 inches deep and they don't seem to get it it either. I will look for something more shallow maybe.

 

[Beekissed]

The problem is offering dry feeds along with the FF. Just take away the dry and only feed FF once a day...if they are on good range still and have something to forage still, feed them each evening. If the forage is pretty well gone due to cold weather, feed them each morning. Either way, they'll be more than happy to get anything you feed them if you just feed them once a day and only enough that they can have it cleaned up well~read completely GONE~before you feed once again. Actually, it helps if they have eaten it all and have gone some hours before a new feeding, as they will be hungrier and will eat better all the way around.

If they eat it, but leave some behind until the next day, feed less. The goal is to feed just enough, but not too much. Birds that have too much feed on hand don't even forage well...oh, they may pick and scratch around out of sheer habit, but they aren't driven by hunger to really hunt and forage much of their own feed when they have easy pickin's back at the coop.

The feed pan is fine.

 

[Leigti]

The problem is offering dry feeds along with the FF.  Just take away the dry and only feed FF once a day...if they are on good range still and have something to forage still, feed them each evening.  If the forage is pretty well gone due to cold weather, feed them each morning.  Either way, they'll be more than happy to get anything you feed them if you just feed them once a day and only enough that they can have it cleaned up well~read completely GONE~before you feed once again.  Actually, it helps if they have eaten it all and have gone some hours before a new feeding, as they will be hungrier and will eat better all the way around. 

If they eat it, but leave some behind until the next day, feed less.  The goal is to feed just enough, but not too much.  Birds that have too much feed on hand don't even forage well...oh, they may pick and scratch around out of sheer habit, but they aren't driven by hunger to really hunt and forage much of their own feed when they have easy pickin's back at the coop.  

The feed pan is fine. 

OK, so you wouldn't even suggest putting a little on talk to entice them? I can do that. They have been used to being free fed dry food since I've had them. I got them as tiny little babies. I'm not sure how much nutrition they are actually getting from the yard anymore.
I really appreciate all this help everybody. Thank you.

 

[Beekissed]

OK, so you wouldn't even suggest putting a little on talk to entice them? I can do that. They have been used to being free fed dry food since I've had them. I got them as tiny little babies. I'm not sure how much nutrition they are actually getting from the yard anymore.
I really appreciate all this help everybody. Thank you.

Nope, you don't need any dry feed on top, though some have used this method...it's not really necessary. If they are used to continuous feed, they aren't hungry enough to eat anything else, but if you remove that and they don't have a buffet in front of them all the time, they will eat that FF like they haven't eaten in days...you won't have to entice them at all, but you may have to beat them off the scoop of feed when you dish it out.

They've just never been hungry before.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I recently started feeding fermented feed to my entire flock. They go nuts for it. The question I have is in regards to winter feeding of fermented feed.
I feed very early in the morning due to an early start time at work. The chickens are usually wanting to sleep longer (about an hour and a half).

How does this work in very cold temps? We have stretches of weeks on end that the high is in the negatives to low teens.
Should I go ahead and keep dry feed available on super cold days?
I worry the feed will freeze before they get to eat much of it.
I am home about an hour before dark on the shortest days.
Should I just feed the wet in the afternoon while keeping dry for the day time?
They do eat it like starving pigs when I put it in the dishes.

 

[Leigti]

I wonder about this too. I also leave for work before the chickens are up and it's getting colder.

 

[Beekissed]

I recently started feeding fermented feed to my entire flock. They go nuts for it. The question I have is in regards to winter feeding of fermented feed.
I feed very early in the morning due to an early start time at work. The chickens are usually wanting to sleep longer (about an hour and a half).

How does this work in very cold temps? We have stretches of weeks on end that the high is in the negatives to low teens.
Should I go ahead and keep dry feed available on super cold days?
I worry the feed will freeze before they get to eat much of it.
I am home about an hour before dark on the shortest days.
Should I just feed the wet in the afternoon while keeping dry for the day time?
They do eat it like starving pigs when I put it in the dishes.

Some people use the heated dog dishes. I hadn't had any trouble with it freezing before they could eat it except for when the temps get teens below zero...then I just put it right on their DL and never had a problem with that again. The DL kept it from freezing and they scratched it into the DL, scattering it into particles that they looked for the rest of the day....none of it goes to waste and they get just as much, but it kept it from freezing and kept them more occupied. I'll be using that method again this year when the temps dip down like that.