FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Perris]

I have no idea! Mine are lucky enough to have grass year round. Did you search the fora for silage? I reckon there's no topic not covered somewhere on this site!

 

[igorsMistress]

I’ve read quite a lot here and it all seems to concern fermenting grains and commercial feed. Cool idea! I’m going to give that a go, but what I was wandering about when I clicked on the topic was fermenting greens for winter. Do chickens like silage?

Mine did not like silage but others have had luck with it. My girls seem to prefer fresh greens year round.

 

[igorsMistress]

The feed I had the flock on their whole lives had bugs the last time so I picked up an all flock pellet. It fluffs up nicely and everyone seems to like it better than the old stuff.

 

[aliciaplus3]

I picked up a bag of flock raiser late this summer and used it to ensure a good jump start for my babies..... I did find it drastically improved my duck survival rates, and my latest batch of chicks that got started on it look really good. I tend to do a wet mash feed usually starting at about 2 weeks old and all my older girls get fermented.

 

[AquaDuck]

Just wanted to revive this wonderful thread with some articles on the benefit of fermentation.

Recent advances in fermented feeds towards improved broiler chicken performance, gastrointestinal tract microecology and immune responses
Yes, very long title... Quite straight forward to read.
It finds that feeding fermentation:
- lactic acid increases
- bad bacteria, yeast and moulds decreases
- lower pH values
- mycotoxins decreases
- lowers content of non-digestible fibers (by breaking down the fibers to more edible parts)
- protein levels increases somewhat
- increases digestibility of organic matter, nitrogen, amino acids, fibre and calcium
- reduces anti-nutritional factors. It breaks down the plants' defense mechanisms, such as lectins and phytic acid
- improves omega-3 levels
- creates unfavorable environments for e-coli, salmonella and streptococci in the gut
- increases intestinal activity
- betters the immune system

- Layer hens ate less when served fermented feed, and were bigger than their sisters who got regular feed. However, little chicks served FF both ate less and grew slower. When they got older, they grew to the same size as the control group fed regular feed.

"Fermentation feeds may be responsible for improvements in digestion and absorption which in turn improve production performance of birds. Another study suggested that positive influences of fermented feeds seen in gastrointestinal environment/condition (e.g., the lowering of gastric pH and pathogenic microbial activity as well as increasing the production of short chain fatty acids [SCFA]), may be attributable to the increased digestibility of feeds, which in turn improves the growth performance of chickens. Moreover *several studies* revealed that increased activities of digestive enzymes such as amylases, trypsins, lipases and proteases in broilers on fermented feeds, are responsible for growth improvements in birds."

Review: Anti-nutritional effects of phytic acid in diets for pigs and poultry - current knowledge and directions for future research
- Phytic acid found in grain reduces mineral uptake in body and also takes a lot of energy for the bird to process.
- Phytic acid binds itself easily to both minerals and pepsin (protein enzymes needed for conversion and uptake of energy), but aren't absorbed by the body and are exerted through feces.
- They reduce the uptake of carbohydrate and fat, most likely because phytic acid inhibits the enzymes needed.

- Soaking and fermenting feed reduces the level of phytic acid in grains

Health-Promoting Components in Fermented Foods
About the use of fermented foods in general. Quite heavy to read.

 

[Perris]

thanks @the cluck juggler !

 

[Becksdunn]

I ran into someone who is selling spent grain. I am wondering if it is like the fermented grain you are speaking about?

 

[paneubert]

I ran into someone who is selling spent grain. I am wondering if it is like the fermented grain you are speaking about?

Not quite. Spent grain is almost always grain that has been boiled as the first stage of making beer or other alcoholic beverages. They boil it to extract some of the content and then usually just throw away the grain before moving on to adding yeast to ferment their beverage. Still great for making bread and feeding chickens! Depends a bit on what type of grain, but still usually useful for at least supplementing their normal feed.

Fermented grain is stuff that has been soaked and has been sitting for a couple days, with "wild" airborne yeasts floating in and starting to ferment the grain.

So "spent" is just wet/soaked grain, while fermented has been sitting in that wet state for a few days. If you took spent grain and added some water back to it, and then let it sit, it would turn into fermented grain.

 

[Becksdunn]

Not quite. Spent grain is almost always grain that has been boiled as the first stage of making beer or other alcoholic beverages. They boil it to extract some of the content and then usually just throw away the grain before moving on to adding yeast to ferment their beverage. Still great for making bread and feeding chickens! Depends a bit on what type of grain, but still usually useful for at least supplementing their normal feed.

Fermented grain is stuff that has been soaked and has been sitting for a couple days, with "wild" airborne yeasts floating in and starting to ferment the grain.

So "spent" is just wet/soaked grain, while fermented has been sitting in that wet state for a few days. If you took spent grain and added some water back to it, and then let it sit, it would turn into fermented grain.

so both of these grains are safe to feed chickens right? I have been doing some reading on the fermented grains and it seems safe enough.

 

[paneubert]

so both of these grains are safe to feed chickens right? I have been doing some reading on the fermented grains and it seems safe enough.

Yes.