FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[EggSighted4Life]

I have been feeding my (22) 8 week-old chicks fermented organic scratch since they were about a month old. They LOVE it and gobble it up. If I feed it dry they are not very interested at all. The fermented scratch is attacked each morning with glee!

Nothing is easier. Since they are still babies, I just fill a glass gallon jug about 1/2 to 3/4 full and add water. Leave space at the top for bubbling. Put a loose lid (do not tighten) or cheesecloth on top (secure with a rubber band) to keep out fruit flies. (I do have a whole house water filter so the chlorine is removed.)

Leave it in the kitchen out of bright light. I add NOTHING to the feed. No starter or vinegar. It ferments perfectly. I only stir it once a day. The fermented feed will get a bit more ripe every day. There is no mold or sourness.

I prefer GLASS containers. They're sanitary and I can rinse and put in the dishwasher when empty. I will have to switch to big plastic buckets when all these chicks are bigger. I love fermented food and it is not time-consuming once you get a routine started. Your chickens will thrive on it. They also get free-choice starter pellets right now.

I don't think I will ever feed ONLY fermented food. But fermentation is healthy and a great way to supplement their diet. Just use common sense and make sure you smell the food and look out for any odd molds. Bubbling is normal and part of the process. I have never had any mold or bad batch.

Oh, and you can ferment just about ANY kind of food or grain. Some work better than others. I also sprout whole grains for them. Sunflowers are easy and much loved.

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So cool that you are fermenting! But... most scratch is 8% protein and you aren't doing your chicks any favors by offering it to them. So NO they WON'T thrive for very long if that was all they were getting. You'd be better off fermenting your start. Honestly, I'd be surprised if scratch wasn't attacked every morning even if NOT fermented.

Sorry, to me COMMON sense says don't feed chicks candy bars (scratch) and supplement with real food.

Fruit flies really shouldn't be a problem if you stir once a day. Any eggs are just extra protein.

Scratch should NEVER be fed at more than 10% total daily ration... or your just asking for long term behavioral and health issue.

Even though I do ONLY free choice FF... my birds have access to free range, so that isn't all they get. They have bugs, grasses and other plant. And if I want to toss a treat (that isn't sprouted or live meal worms), I can toss out a hand full of the formulated ration, which they happily scratch around for and gobble up... but without missing any nutrition.

Sounds like you have the right idea, with fermenting and sprouting and that it's going well for you! Just be careful not to diminish your protein level below 16% for layer (more for chicks), and avoid highly fat things like BOSS.

 

[EclecticLadyy]

Hi EggSighted4Life,

Thanks for your concern and comments. NO it is not all they are getting. It probably is about 10% or much less of the daily feed.

I mentioned they are consuming grower pellets free-choice. They also get a HUGE assortment of daily greens and weeds from my vegetable garden, such as lettuce and kale and carrot tops. They also get a small feeding of fresh fruit like watermelon rind, etc. I feed them meat (cooked and raw) grasshoppers, and live mealworms for protein. Their diet is better than most people.

 

[Leigti]

That does sound like a good diet but I have a question. Why don't you just ferment the feed also? Pellets ferment just as good as any other food. I do things the opposite of you, I ferment their food and toss out the scratch plane whatever works for somebody is what you have to do but maybe you'll get more bang for your buck if you ferment the actual feed. Just a thought.

 

[mobius]

I ferment the regular feed first for sure, and I ferment other things, like alfalfa cubes in the winter. I also feed them barley fodder...it is just fun to do different things and see the chickens go for it...not a lot of time and effort IMHO...but the feed being fermented is the main thing. If I was feeding scratch I might ferment that too!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Good morning all!

An update here regarding the dog food experiment. (insert maniacal laugh)

Anyways, did it the same as chicken feed. Water, stir wait. I did see bubbles happening. The smell never got really any worse than it was when I first added the water. After 3 days offered to the dogs. They were pretty unsure. My Queensland Heeler that will eat kimchi had no issues and mowed it down. My most picky girl wanted to avoid it but kept coming back for a little taste here and there. My omnivore girl reluctantly ate some. I ended up feeding it out to the chickens, figured it can't be any worse than what so many give theirs. In conclusion, it was a fun experiment but I will NOT be pursuing it.

For those who remember my post regarding not recommending the 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes for FF... I realized, yes the tote was under extreme pressure from the 50# bag of feed and water. It made the top stretch into a circle verses it's standard rectangle shape and so the handles were the only thing holding the lid on.

Realizing anything that is semi flexible will end up a circle, and still wanting to ferment my 50# bag, but with enough room left for back slop to actually ferment my feed overnight when I add new feed. Still have enough room to stir, expand. And not getting down to scrapings wondering if I have enough to make it through the next day... I have decided to go with a plastic yard trash can. It is 32 gallon. It is a little difficult to stir. But having the larger back slop that I was missing when I was doing only 1 tote instead of alternating between 2 as I had previously done, has vastly improved my 50# overnight renewal process. Seriously, size does matter! Now I can leave a huge back slop and add my 50# without fear of it flowing over the top. And it looks great in the morning.

Well, of course it isn't food safe... so I guess one of those barrel type things might have been a better choice. But guess I wasn't thinking about those and the can was so easily accessible and affordable, with a round top to accommodate the shape of the liquid. Oh well, maybe I will switch in the future and even if I drill holes near the top for ventilation, will still be able to use the can for another purpose at that point. I DO expect the can to be more durable than the tote was for THIS purpose.

Hi EggSighted4Life,

Thanks for your concern and comments. NO it is not all they are getting. It probably is about 10% or much less of the daily feed.

I mentioned they are consuming grower pellets free-choice. They also get a HUGE assortment of daily greens and weeds from my vegetable garden, such as lettuce and kale and carrot tops. They also get a small feeding of fresh fruit like watermelon rind, etc. I feed them meat (cooked and raw) grasshoppers, and live mealworms for protein. Their diet is better than most people.

Thanks for not taking my concern the wrong way! I know it can come off kind of harsh seeming even though it's just meant to be factual. Had to ask because it SOUNDED like the feed was more of a supplement and the other things were the main course. Sounds like you have a fairly good understanding though. We are all (well most of us) just here to help each other!

 

[6PeckinChickens]

I'm wanting to try FF! Only 855 pages to read!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm wanting to try FF! Only 855 pages to read!!

Hi, welcome to BYC and FF!

Don't waste your time, keep it simple!

Add approximately equal parts water and feed and stir several times a day (2-3) for the first few days to help grab your starter colonies from the air. Leave room in your container (a lot it, at LEAST double) for the feed to expand. You should see some bubbles starting with 24-48 hours giving you an indicator that it's going well, though it looks more like cracks if your mix is thick. You can cover with a LOOSE lid if you like (the gas bubbles need to escape), or leave it open if invaders aren't an issue. By about day 3 or 4 depending on your temps, adjust the thickness by adding more feed or water if you need to. And feed it out saving some of it to get your next batch going much faster, if not completely ready by the next day. And don't use metal containers because the acidity of FF can leach stuff from them.

Check out the link in my signature line for FAQ's. And feel free to ask question. It's nice if you have the time to read the whole thread, but it isn't needed and plenty of people like myself are willing to answer questions and help others get going on something so simple that they might not otherwise have the time if they did have to read 800+ pages.

One KEY point, if you see white stuff on the top.. it is NOT mold, but SCOBY. Symbiotic cultures of yeast and bacteria. Stir it in a rejoice, you have success!

 

[Granjeroencasa]

The way I do it to normal feed, its just add water for every cup of feed try to add two cups fo water, would let it rest for 12 hrs and then feed it to my chicks. To my hens and rooster will add also a cup of corn but insted of 12 hrs I would let it rest for about 18 hrs.

now reading preview posts, would definetly improve the way i am fermenting today.

 

[Ebarnes-21]

Anyone know about FF for emu??

I've got emu eggs busily incubating and I wondered about FF.

My concern is in that I read one study that showed the growth rates of chickens up to 3 and 6 weeks were reduced by 44% and 12% respectively when raised on fermented feeds.

After that however the FF group grew faster and better.

I think it had something to do with the increased bulk of the feed ... the FF group got 'less' dry weight because of the expansion. This would logically effect a fast growing baby bird more than an adult with a larger crop capacity.

So I'm wondering, as Emu vs FF is sort of an unknown, should I 'risk' my $30-40 each Emu hatchlings (Due in 10 days!) with a FF trial?

I would love them to have the probiotic benefit from day one! But, if I did try it, I think I would be looking at starting with a lower percentage of FF mixed in with dry ... just to make sure it won't upset their digestion ... what do you think?

On the other hand, if Emu chicks grow too fast they get twisted legs ... they start them on very low protein and ration their dry feed for the first few weeks to keep them growing slow enough.

Also they naturally eat 'FF' of a sort, ie they pick whole grains out of their own poop and re-digest them ... maybe I could save them the, er, trouble!?

 

[Ebarnes-21]

Poop texture has changed strangely.

I've been giving my chickens FF for about a week now. Fermented whole wheat and corn, with meat. So far I'm happy with fermenting the grain, the chickens are happier, fuller, and eat less.

There is a definite poop change though since I started fermenting the grain, which I'm not sure is good, bad or indifferent.

Yes it does smell less ... so far so good ... but its a bit runnier? It used to be little curled blobs, now it is random splodges. Not diarrhea by any means, but not 'holding its shape' either.

It could be just because they're getting so much more water in their feed ... but usually I see runnier poop as a bad sign ... so I ask.

Additionally, there are now (where I'm sure there weren't before) little scraps of corn husks visible in the splodges. Now I'm happy that those are all well broken up scraps, not whole by any means, but why would bits come through now when it should be easier to digest??