- Thread starter
- #11
Got it, I guess I wasn’t looking at a true ferment. I was looking at 4 tubs mixed to set rotating through the numbers every day so they would have 4 day old food at the longest. Keeping completely submerged as you described this is more of a mash I suppose not a ferment. As I was thinking you certainly describe fermentWith FF you have to be really careful how you make it. The food has to always be completely submerged underwater. If it expands over the water line and it makes contact with air then bacteria will grow. I did back slopping, where you start with about 2-3 days worth of FF, let it ferment for 3 days, and fed their days worth to them. Once I took food out, I replaced it with more food, then mixed it up and added a little more water if needed. Because some of it was already fermented, it ferments the new food and water incredibly fast. About once every 3-4 weeks or if it ever smells bad, dump it and start a new batch. I only have 3 chickens right now, so I used a 1.5 gallon jar with a lid. Plastic seems to have a talent of storing bacteria well, so try to use something metal or glass with a towel over it to keep flies out if you can. The one I had wasn’t fully sealed, so air could get it which is necessary. I know a lot of people simply put it in plastic 5 gallon buckets with a thin towel and a large rubber band around it to keep it on. If you only have plastic, then start a new batch every 2-3 weeks. As stated above, it can have It’s issues if you let bacteria or flies get into it, but if it is made well it’s really healthy and the birds absolutely love it.