FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Jennrz]

I started Fermenting for my flock a couple of months ago and am thrilled with the results. I have started this year's chicks on it right away. I have had one hatch which I have brooded under a heat plate. The chicks didn't realise that the FF was food at first, so I gave them some chick crumbs to start then kept offering ff with dry crumbs sprinkled on top. By day 3 they loved FF (liked it best fed fairly dry) so I stopped sprinkling crumbs. My next hatch was also in incubator but brooded by a hen. I though that she would show the babies how to eat FF, but she wanted dry food to pick up and drop for them. So, I put down a container with half crumbs and half FF. Chicks ate the crumbs and jumped on FF. As the FF dried out they took more interest, so I starting adding dry crumbs to FF and mixing it in. By day 3 they were eating FF really well, so I stopped adding crumbs. Both sets of chicks are doing really brilliantly, and I also noticed that the broody kept a red comb while brooding and didn't lose condition as they normally do. I now have 12 meatie eggs in incubator (I have a friend with a relative who owns a commercial broiler unit so was lucky to swap some eggs fo beer - son owns a micro brewery) with a broody Australorp waiting to receive the babies. It's my first time with meat birds and will be feeding only FF - I am trying to read all of the 'Feeding FF to meat birds' thread before they hatch!

This was super helpful! Thank you for posting.

I've also been using FF for my hens for the last couple of months and integrating it with new chicks. We hatched some in an incubator for the first time this spring. The chicks are 6 days old now and haven't really taken to the FF yet. I've put down dry crumbles and FF side-by-side and they seem to go to the dry more consistently. I will try mixing and seeing if I can get a drier consistency to entice them. I would prefer them to be on FF alone but was worried about them being so young and I wasn't sure how to introduce it.

I've gotten through @200 of the posts here.

...back to reading....

 

[frenchiegirl21]

Alright my southern peeps! What do y'all use to keep the tiny gnat-like flies out of your ferment? Even screen mesh is not keeping them out!

 

[MungoSummer]

This was super helpful!  Thank you for posting.

I've also been using FF for my hens for the last couple of months and integrating it with new chicks.  We hatched some in an incubator for the first time this spring.  The chicks are 6 days old now and haven't really taken to the FF yet.  I've put down dry crumbles and FF side-by-side and they seem to go to the dry more consistently.  I will try mixing and seeing if I can get a drier consistency to entice them.  I would prefer them to be on FF alone but was worried about them being so young and I wasn't sure how to introduce it.

I've gotten through @200 of the posts here.  
...back to reading....

Glad this was helpful - Now chicks are at 6 days just leave a dryish batch of FF with them and nothing else - break it up with your fingers if needed. As soon as they are hungry and one tries it they will all get the hang of it. Good luck.

 

[lazy gardener]

Alright my southern peeps! What do y'all use to keep the tiny gnat-like flies out of your ferment? Even screen mesh is not keeping them out!

Can you cover it with a dish towel, or other light weight fabric?

I spent yesterday making a couple of gutter feeders. I cut 2 x 3 to match the contour of the ends of the gutter, screwed the end caps in place, put a length of 2 x 4 perpindicular across the bottom on each end to stabalize it, and put a support at each end to hold a spinning dowel to keep the birds from standing in it.

The chicks were covered with FF cement from their food fight the day before. Hoping their new feeder helps prevent further occurrence!

 

[frenchiegirl21]

Can you cover it with a dish towel, or other light weight fabric?

I spent yesterday making a couple of gutter feeders. I cut 2 x 3 to match the contour of the ends of the gutter, screwed the end caps in place, put a length of 2 x 4 perpindicular across the bottom on each end to stabalize it, and put a support at each end to hold a spinning dowel to keep the birds from standing in it.

The chicks were covered with FF cement from their food fight the day before. Hoping their new feeder helps prevent further occurrence!

I can look for some cheese cloth or gauze/muslin. Will that allow enough airflow? I don't want to kill my ferment!

That feeder sounds awesome! Could you post pictures when you get a chance? I'm about to switch my chicks over to fermented because I am tired of the waste. Is it safe for chicks to eat fermented lay pellets?

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: I'm a techno idiot, so have difficulty posting pics. If you do a thread search for gutter feeders, you should find some pics. Most folks do not let their chicks eat layer feed until they are close to POL. Better to put the layers on starter or multi flock, and offer oyster shell on the side, that way they all can eat the same thing.

 

[mobius]

Muslin or a lightweight tea towel or even a closely knit nylon netting should work to cover the ferment while allowing enough air for sure! I have found that my ferments attract flies

so I have taken to covering the containers...since my containers are small I use old (cleaned) nylon hose which fits over the opening nicely cause it is stretchy (also helpful for cutting in strips and tying up tomato plants and so on).

@lazy gardener it is hard to imagine you being technophobe since you so competent at everything, including building feeders! If the chicks still food fight in the gutters consider putting hardware cloth over the feeder top...

 

[chicken curious]

My 1.5 week old chicks are still not crazy about their FF. I really like using the plastic ice cube tray, but after a while the FF makes a cap of drier feed and I have to stir it/flip it to get them interested at all. I'll keep trying. I just added some dry on top of the freshly flipped and they're going crazy for it so hopefully they'll get exposed to the flavor of the FF enough to be willing to decrease the dry over the next week or so.

 

[Johntodd]

Tell you what ... flies are not a bad thing in FF.

Because flies turn into maggots.

And maggots are bonus chicken food! Mine love them!

 

[mobius]

Tell you what ... flies are not a bad thing in FF.

Because flies turn into maggots.

And maggots are bonus chicken food! Mine love them!

True that and I wouldn't mind so much but the FF is kept in my house...lol!