FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[dolfi]

I use the one container method and it seems to ferments overnight. I wonder if it would still ferment overnight when you're doing that much at a time. Does anybody know?

I had the same question and decided on two bucket. One gives me food for one day while the other is fermenting. I always have leftover in the bucket used so I add more feed and water and mix well to feed in two days. This way I believe that I'm rotating. My feed has the smell yet not too bad.
Any suggestions is welcome

 

[Bridebeliever]

I have ff going right now and I think I made it rot! It smells very offensive. I have forgotten to stir it for a couple days and the very top layer looked black, or just dried out looking. It stirred it and OH the SMeLL! I took two scoops out to the girls and they gobbled it up, no big deal. Can I make them sick if it is bad? I usually give them two scoops in the morning and two at night before bed. They still have dry food available all day too. (9 chicks age 14 weeks, 1 Pullet age 9 months. 2 scoops = about 2 cups.)

 

[Beekissed]

No they eat it all up. It takes all day but I check my babies every night and it's all gone. My concern is that I might be over feeding. They usually have a big ball on neck

Only you can be the judge of that, just by observing your flock. If you are concerned, cut back a little and watch their body conditions. If they stay nice and plump despite the cut back, then it's all good. If they start looking rangy after a week or so after you cut back, then add a little more feed and watch them. Getting the right feed amounts is an ongoing process throughout the seasons and what they will consume in the winter is different than what they will consume at other times and so on and so forth. There are times in the summer when I am adjusting feed amounts on a weekly basis just to keep up with the changes.

Just takes a little more effort than folks who feed free choice but it saves feed consumption in the long run. Some chickens tend to overeat in a free choice situation, just like some dogs, cats, horses, or people....there's some of those in every group, it seems.

 

[Beekissed]

I have ff going right now and I think I made it rot! It smells very offensive. I have forgotten to stir it for a couple days and the very top layer looked black, or just dried out looking. It stirred it and OH the SMeLL! I took two scoops out to the girls and they gobbled it up, no big deal. Can I make them sick if it is bad? I usually give them two scoops in the morning and two at night before bed. They still have dry food available all day too. (9 chicks age 14 weeks, 1 Pullet age 9 months. 2 scoops = about 2 cups.)

It's probably just highly fermented. It won't make them sick. Just stir it every day to keep the top from drying out. If you are only feeding small amounts each day, just make less the next time you make a batch so it won't sit so long before being fed out. You might also be keeping it somewhere too warm for the amounts you are feeding...the warmer the ambient temps, the faster the mix will ferment and it will have a stronger smell.

I'd stop feeding the dry until you have most of this current FF fed out to the flock and then just rebatch with a little of what's left in the bottom of the bucket, but this next time, don't make quite so much or keep it in a cooler area so it doesn't ferment so quickly throughout the feed before you can feed it out to the flock.

 

[shodack]

Sorry for the non-chicken question, but I know I'll get some good answers here.
A friend of my husband's asked me last night if he can ferment pig feed the way I do chicken feed. He said he goes through a ton of pig feed, and wondered if this might be a solution. Of course I suggested he do some research, but didn't know if anyone here might have some thoughts. In theory it is a good plan, as fermented food is good for chickens and humans.... But didn't want to tell him Yes definitely if a pig's gut is unique.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have no experience with pigs, or any large animals for that fact. But, I know that farmers have been using silage for cattle for years. I think that is fermented. It certainly has a characteristic odor. If I had pigs, I think i'd try it, but I can't recommend what he should do.

I just did a google search: can pigs eat fermented feed. Came up with a ton of anecdotes. There may be some studies in there as well. Tell your friend to do some research.

 

[Percheron chick]

No they eat it all up. It takes all day but I check my babies every night and it's all gone. My concern is that I might be over feeding. They usually have a big ball on neck

The big ball you refer to is simply a full crop. Food is stored in their crop that digests overnight. The ball is gone in the morning. Don't look at how much volume you feed. Your mix might have more water and the feed could be less nutrient and calorie dense. Pay attention to body condition, feeding behavior, laying... A hungry chicken is a chicken looking for trouble.

 

[COChix]

I'm sceptical that a fish tank heater will heat fermented sludge. Did you look at heated flatback buckets (5 gal)? Either way, I would make an insulated box with lid to put it in.

Well I hear ya on the skepticism, only one way to find out? I will check out the flat back heated buckets.

What is that fish tank heater made of?  Glass?  Or metal?  If metal, the metal will leach out into the feed.  I fear that there would be excess heat around the heater, and it wouldn't dissipate through the mix very well, leading to an unsafe situation.  Then, again... it just might work.  Glad you're trying it and not me, though!  

The heater is titanium...

I agree a 350W aquarium heater will end up with baked FF on it then over heat and burn out. The thermostat should work for another plug-in heat source such as light bulb in an insulated box.

Thanks for the input......

I should be able to have my heater in hand tomorrow after I dig it out of storage. I will post results in here.

 

[Percheron chick]

Make it extra soupy.
Jax will have the buckets.

 

[Beekissed]

Sorry for the non-chicken question, but I know I'll get some good answers here.
A friend of my husband's asked me last night if he can ferment pig feed the way I do chicken feed. He said he goes through a ton of pig feed, and wondered if this might be a solution. Of course I suggested he do some research, but didn't know if anyone here might have some thoughts. In theory it is a good plan, as fermented food is good for chickens and humans.... But didn't want to tell him Yes definitely if a pig's gut is unique.

Most definitely you can and it's an age old practice to ferment hog mash, more so than it ever has been for chickens...us hillbillies have been doing it for generations. A pig is a monogastric animal, just like chickens, so they cannot ferment the feed properly in their own guts...which is why pig poop smells so incredibly sour, much like our ferment when it's deeply fermented. Their feed is only partially digested when you smell that strong odor. If you ferment their mash they will get more from their feed~just like our chickens~and grow fatter quicker than they would on dry feed.

Added benefit? Their poop won't smell as bad either, just like with our chickens.

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/30620/large-potential-in-fermented-liquid-feed-for-pigs/

http://fermentationexperts.com/fermentation/

Not much information out there about the backyard grower of pork and fermentation because it's hard to do large scale and that's where most of the application lies and studies are done for such things, much like with fermented chicken feeds...can only get information of people trying to do it large scale and that emphasizes the difficulties therein, but nothing about small scale. I'd try it and let us know how you make out with it....sure can't hurt if you keep your fermentation at the same levels as you would to feed a chicken.