Fermented Feeds

[har]

What i did when my birds were chicks is i added warm water to medicated feed(so it resembled oatmeal)once a day,usually in the morning,most chicks love this and it does encourage eating,but i always had medicated chick crumbles available at all times.

I started fermenting feed after mine were off medicated feed,but i still have crumbles available to them all day,as not all my birds love fermented feed,this way i have no worries as to whether they are eating enough. This is a personal preference and not all do this,but for me and my birds it works,i have never had any health issues and all my birds are healthy,beautiful,friendly chickens.

Thanks

 

[Chickiemama2002]

Ok so am I understanding this correctly with fermented feed you need to put fresh feed in the feeder each day correct? What if they don't eat it all in one day do I need to dump it out or can it stay for a day or two? If it can stay in the feeder how long can it stay in there? I am just thinking about when I go on vacation now our girls have an automatic waterer and a gravity feed dry pellets, this will last about a week but with fermented feed would I have to find someone to come feed them each day?

 

[pdirt]

Ok so am I understanding this correctly with fermented feed you need to put fresh feed in the feeder each day correct? What if they don't eat it all in one day do I need to dump it out or can it stay for a day or two? If it can stay in the feeder how long can it stay in there? I am just thinking about when I go on vacation now our girls have an automatic waterer and a gravity feed dry pellets, this will last about a week but with fermented feed would I have to find someone to come feed them each day?

Yes, ideally, you put out fresh fermented feed each day. For adult birds, start with 1/2c FF per bird per day (I feed in the morning) and see how quickly they go through it. If it's all gone in 30 minutes or less, you might need to give them more. If they still have feed left over by the late afternoon, you probably fed them too much. Some trial and error will lead you to the correct amount for your birds. I have read that some birds are more feed thrifty than others and some folks actually feed up to 2c of FF per bird each day.

It's completely fine for their FF to sit out for a day or two. The acid created in the fermentation keeps it fresh. Ideally, though, you'll want fresh feed each day. You also don't want to attract rodents with feed sitting around like that.

What we do is let them fill up on FF in the morning and then open up their gravity-fed treadle feeder full of dry feed. That way they can self-regulate and I don't have to be so exact as to if they have enough FF or not. Especially since they are still cooped up and there isn't much yet for them to free range on. When they start free ranging more I might even stop feeding them dry feed altogether. But if we go away for a few days, I'll just leave them access to the dry feed and skip the FF for the time being. But we do have a rooster with the hens, so we usually want someone to pick up eggs every 2-3 days when we're gone so we don't come back to eggs with embryos growing in them when we're not prepared to raise chicks!

 

[kpgoldstar]

Ok so am I understanding this correctly with fermented feed you need to put fresh feed in the feeder each day correct? What if they don't eat it all in one day do I need to dump it out or can it stay for a day or two? If it can stay in the feeder how long can it stay in there? I am just thinking about when I go on vacation now our girls have an automatic waterer and a gravity feed dry pellets, this will last about a week but with fermented feed would I have to find someone to come feed them each day?

Everything pdirt said. I don't give my hens access to dry feed at all. They've been on ff since I got them at 2 weeks old. They just started laying a couple weeks ago and are about 5 months old. They've never had dry. Yes, you do have to feed daily. I feed in AM and give an afternoon snack of FF, some only feed once a day. We have to get a babysitter to feed when we are gone for even a couple of days.

 

[chiknhurder]

That thread will take a life time to get thru just to get some info.

Maidenwolf brings up an excellent point regarding the huge fermentation thread. When a thread reaches thousands of posts, it might be best to delete it and start it over. Nobody has that kind of time on their hands just to glean a little info.

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha Chickiemama,

You kind of do have to feed FF daily. I feed mine in the morning and afternoon. I let them forage when I come home from work then I feed them inside the pen and theyʻre done for the day. On the weekends, they get fed 3 times a day. Spoiled. But When I feed, the food is gone in 1-2 minutes.
When you go on vacation, itʻs better to put the automatic feeders. Make sure you have 2 because they get stuck sometimes. Just go back to FF when you get back. Have a friend feed them FF when she can and check on the autofeeders too.

Aloha, Puhi

 

[Beekissed]

Maidenwolf brings up an excellent point regarding the huge fermentation thread. When a thread reaches thousands of posts, it might be best to delete it and start it over. Nobody has that kind of time on their hands just to glean a little info.

Delete two years of compiled information simply because someone doesn't want to read?

What about those who want to read it? It's not "a little info"..it's many people's experiences with this feeding method that form a complete picture of the worth of the method. There are very few studies out there done on the use of FF for poultry and certainly none on backyard flocks, so those anecdotal stories and reports are all we have when needing to know the capabilities of this method.

Delete two years of other's hard work because you don't want to do any hard work(though I don't consider reading hard work)? Lovely. You wouldn't even have this thread right now if that thread had not come to be, of that I am fully convinced.

That "natural" chicken keeping blog you all are so fond of? She got her information from information that started in the big FF thread and was carried over into one of mine...I wouldn't be so quick to scorn the source of it all.

 

[chiknhurder]

Delete two years of compiled information simply because someone doesn't want to read?

What about those who want to read it? It's not "a little info"..it's many people's experiences with this feeding method that form a complete picture of the worth of the method. There are very few studies out there done on the use of FF for poultry and certainly none on backyard flocks, so those anecdotal stories and reports are all we have when needing to know the capabilities of this method.

Delete two years of other's hard work because you don't want to do any hard work(though I don't consider reading hard work)? Lovely. You wouldn't even have this thread right now if that thread had not come to be, of that I am fully convinced.

That "natural" chicken keeping blog you all are so fond of? She got her information from information that started in the big FF thread and was carried over into one of mine...I wouldn't be so quick to scorn the source of it all.

This was just my suggestion and not a mandate so relax! Don't turn my post into something it's not. But since you brought it up and stated your opinion, I'll follow suite. When I need a quick answer I come to the forums. When I really want to learn every detail about a subject, in depth, I do the research. I'm not looking for a thousand different opinions on the same subject with all of the arguments and bantering back and forth. I want to know what works. I personally don't have the time to sit for days on end and read while trying to glean information to answer my simple question. I don't need the history of fermentation. If that's what you like to do, I get it.

 

[LindaB220]

This was just my suggestion and not a mandate so relax! Don't turn my post into something it's not. But since you brought it up and stated your opinion, I'll follow suite. When I need a quick answer I come to the forums. When I really want to learn every detail about a subject, in depth, I do the research. I'm not looking for a thousand different opinions on the same subject with all of the arguments and bantering back and forth. I want to know what works. I personally don't have the time to sit for days on end and read while trying to glean information to answer my simple question. I don't need the history of fermentation. If that's what you like to do, I get it.

Why not just jump right in and ask a few questions. I couldn't read it all, but I did read enough at the beginning to get a good idea of what to expect. People are delighted to answer questions about things they are passionate about.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Just for the record, that post by Maidenwolf regarding taking a lifetime to read a thread was posted over a year ago in February of 2013. She was also referring to the thread - Fermenting Feeds for Meat Birds. Some posters were complaining about that thread which had some individuals on there who were not welcoming to newcomers asking questions that possibly had been answered before.

I am passionate about FF and I post here and on the thread - Fermented Feeds - Anyone Using Them? - I find both threads to be helpful and friendly to chicken keepers of all levels: new, seasoned, just a few birds, or hundreds of birds. We all have our opinions and fact of what works for each of our flocks. There is no right or wrong way to keep chickens. Ask away and those of us who are willing and giving of our time, knowlege and experience will help you out.