FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[BantyChooks]

15; and I did put a towel over but it still stunk up the basement and wafted up the stairs. Is there such thing as a too good ferment??? It had zillions of bubbles on day 2.

Yep....keeping it too warm will result in a faster ferment and more smell.  A nice, cool and dark space serves it well when you want a more slower paced ferment and less odor.  I keep a lid on mine that's just barely cracked on one side and I don't get a whiff of it until I actually open it fully and stir it up. 

Ok, the basement is 60ish degrees. Should I move it out? Outside goes down to 20 degrees, though.

 

[Leigti]

I would keep it in the basement, but put a lid on it and either keep it cracked a little or just drill a couple holes in the lid. That should keep the smell in better than just a towel. It won't do any good to freeze it outside. Stir it at least once a day also. If you think it's getting too strong you could probably add more food and water to it. Or you could always start another batch.

 

[aart]

I think some folks are a little more 'sensitive' to the smell of ferment than others are.....especially others who are used to the odor.

 

[azygous]

You want bad smell? Try fermenting Feather Fixer. OMG. What a mistake that was.

 

[Beekissed]

Ok, the basement is 60ish degrees. Should I move it out? Outside goes down to 20 degrees, though.

Another option is to make smaller batches that you get to feed out quicker so that you don't have a heavy ferment sitting around for long. In the summer months when mine is in the coop and it's very warm, I just make smaller batches to feed out the bucket quicker. This keeps it in a state of newly fermented feed as opposed to a deeper, more fully fermented mix, thus less odor.

Can you get it any cooler in your basement? Even a drop of 10 degrees would help in slowing down the fermentation a little. If not, rebatching more often should work.

 

[dolfi]

I think some folks are a little more 'sensitive' to the smell of ferment than others are.....especially others who are used to the odor.

I totally agree, the smell doesn't bother me at all. I don't think it's so bad.

My problem is that my babies spills it and some gets waisted, so I think.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree, I'm fine with it. But the rest of my family varies in their tolerance, with my GS being hypersensitive to all smells.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thanks everybody!

 

[mainechicklet]

You want bad smell? Try fermenting Feather Fixer. OMG. What a mistake that was.

I feed my 22 hens Feather Fixer most of the time and that's what I've been fermenting. It's in my pantry, door usually open, occas closed, 66-68 degs, lid very loose and totally totally unobjectionable odor!!!

 

[COChix]

If she did, she didn't read far enough.  Tried that for a bit but it doesn't work, so gave it up...totally worthless method.  Went right back to the 5 gal. bucket.  I keep it on my boot tray next to my muck boots at the back door..the tray catches any mess and it only takes up the room that another pair of boots might take up, so not much.  

Don't know how low your temps get in CO, but the FF needs to stay above 50* to ferment well...the colder it gets from there, the slower it ferments until eventually it will go dormant if it gets in the 30s.  That's one way to slow down sourdough bread mix, put it in the fridge...but even that needs to be brought out, warmed up, new flour added to keep the organisms healthy. 

I feed mine on the DL when it gets subzero temps and the warmth of the DL keeps it warm long enough that the chickens can consume it.  Some people use heated dog bowls to feed it in the winter. 

Good to know about fermenting in a tub, guess I will stick with the bucket. So our temps can get chilly in Colorado, we have been having a fairly mild winter thus far. Overnight our lows are in the 20-30's right now and our daytime temps have ranged from about the same to as warm as 65 a couple weeks ago. That is why I got a thermal cube, to keep the mash going.....the cube will turn on at 30 and off at 45. I am hoping it will work but now am wondering if it will be warm enough for fermenting....only one way to find out. What is a dl?

Do share I'm in CO, too, and I was using pumpkins to ferment my feed in for all of November, and there were a few days in there where I was chucking frozen pumpkins on the ground trying to break them open for the chooks... I hurt my back doing it too, lol, wah wah

It would be awesome if it stayed like its been the last week; my pumpkins were nice and mushy ha-ha... Either way, DH won't let me ferment in the garage, big meanie


Let me know how it works, because I'm getting ready to put a space heater in a doghouse just for FF

Will keep you posted.