Fermented Feeds

[Hophead]

I use an organic 17% layer feed to ferment. In a few days it smells like vomit. Has the normal white yeast on top a and no fuzzy stuff. It definitely has a sour smell but it seems out of balance. Is that ok?

 

[pdirt]

Does your feed have fish meal in it? Also, are you using any starter product or just plain water? Do you have a way to test pH? Some ferments do produce some off odors but are actually fine to eat. I've heard fish meal can do this but that has not been my experience. PH and a sour smell are good benchmarks to go by.

 

[Hophead]

Does your feed have fish meal in it? Also, are you using any starter product or just plain water? Do you have a way to test pH? Some ferments do produce some off odors but are actually fine to eat. I've heard fish meal can do this but that has not been my experience. PH and a sour smell are good benchmarks to go by.

It has no fish meal. It has fine ground mullusks shells and dehydrated seaweed meal. I tested the ph and is around 7.

 

[pickitfarm]

Lol, good to start experimenting with the EM first before using it with animals. Though I skipped that one and just started drinking the stuff first! I haven't composted much with it, so let us know how it goes.

One of the best parts of EM are the lactic acid bacteria. This guy has a video on how to grow your on LABs for pennies. I tried it once but never ended up using the stuff. I might try again in the spring to use for my coop spray down treatment:

Thanks for posting the link. I watched it and am in the process of trying to make it. Would I still need EM?

 

[pdirt]

EDIT: Ah, I see now I confused pickfarm's post with Hophead's. Sorry bout that, so the response below is for both of you, but not fully applicable to both of you!


A pH of 7 is not good.i wouldn't feed it to your chickens, but you could compost it. The reason for a pH of 4.5 or less is the lower pH is not a hospitable environment for "bad" bacteria to grow. It also is evidence that the lactic acid bacteria are producing more lactic acid.

I have made the lactic acid culture I the video, but I haven't yet used it to ferment chicken feed, so I can't comment on that. You could try it with a small portion of feed and let us know how it turns out. It's also possible that your first attempt at fermenting your feed just didn't go well and trying again (with a small batch) might produce more favorable results.

I prefer to use EM because, it works, it creates superior nutrition compared to regular fermenting and it's rather inexpensive. Some folks don't like having to rely upon a purchased starter culture, but if you "extend" it properly, one bottle can last a long time. There are also supposed recipes to create your own EM from scratch, but I haven't yet experimented with those.

 

[rottnwarrior]

Ok so I've been experimenting with mine and I notice a few things so far. It seems to work great if I keep replacing what I take out and adding more water, instead of starting over every few days. But if I let the level in the jar drop and I don't rinse off the sides, the stuff stuck near the top gets moldy and stinks to high heaven. If I put too much food in and it soaks the water up like a sponge but isn't covered by a good layer of water, it stinks pretty bad. When I scoop it out of the jar I scoop from the bottom so it stirs it up a bit. If it sits and doesn't get stirred up a little now and then.... You guessed it, it stinks. I've got it down pretty good now. Can't wait til warm weather so I can do it in buckets outside.

 

[Hophead]

Thanks pdirt! I noticed at the bottom of bucket, not the false bottom, it had a lot of sediment from the grain crushed. Should that be stirred up as well? I don't feed them all at once. Lets say for instance that I don't feed them all the grain within a few days from the first batch. The longer the grain sits, will it start developing more off aromas/flavors?

 

[pdirt]

Thanks pdirt! I noticed at the bottom of bucket, not the false bottom, it had a lot of sediment from the grain crushed. Should that be stirred up as well? I don't feed them all at once. Lets say for instance that I don't feed them all the grain within a few days from the first batch. The longer the grain sits, will it start developing more off aromas/flavors? 

It should just get more sour, basically like sourdough, if you've ever made that. The stuff on the bottom is good stuff as long as the pH is 4.5 or lower. If you keep getting off odors, try starting a fresh batch and see it does it again, or have you tried that already?

EDIT: If you let your FF go very long, it will get quite sour. I'm not an expert on acidic foods for chickens, but I know that a 100% diet of very acidic foods for humans would not be ideal, I assume it would be similar for chickens. I haven't let mine get overly sour so I don't know if they wouldn't eat it or something like that. I try to keep it mildly sour and do supplement with some dry feed. Not sure if this is the "best" way to do things, but it seems to be working for me and our birds.

 

[Hophead]

I did another batch. Cleaned with oxy clean free then use Star San sanitizer that I use for my brewery to make sure there are is no bad bacteria. I use cider vinegar with mother for starter. It will start fermenting in 12 hours. I'll take a few photos of ingredients and my set up.

 

[Rhinoman]

This question is directed at those who do, not are planning to do. I am currently feeding my hatchery flock fermented feed. I ferment in three containers. The food ferments for three days I rotate the buckets. I get about 10-11 eggs a day right now out of nineteen 9-1/2 month old pullets. My birds are dirty from the ash bowl in the coop but they seem to have good vigor. In other words they are healthy, as far as I know with my limited experience.

I want to feed my new Heritage Ancona chicks fermented feed next month when they arrive. I must admit it scares the crap out of me! Currently my mix is whole corn, wheat bran, alfalfa, whole steamed oats, rolled barley in equal parts with 5% fish meal and 5% BOSS. I am thinking this might be too large for my chicks to handle and I could start the chicks on un-medicated starter for a few weeks than offer some of my fermented feed slowly.

Please can those of you with experience advise.