So after seeing someone suggesting fermented food to cut back on water drinking and food wasting I thought to give it a try. Results were awesome, they only eat twice a day and it only takes 1/2 a cup of food and that last them the day (5 birds(Coturnix)).
When I first gave it to them they just kinda looked at it for 20 or so minutes but after that they dove in and completely avoided the dry food (same food just not fermented). I thought the smell would be strong so I kept it in a spare room but after 5 days (some say it only takes 4 but mine took 5) it just smelt a little sour but no worse then sourdough bread. So I moved it back to the kitchen. So far I only have it in a gallon bucket and I put 8 cups of food and water and let it sit stirring it daily.
First day I didn't notice anything different with the birds but by the 3rd day they were really excited every time I would open the coop to give them more. They would be bouncing around the coop like they lost their minds but soon as I plopped the food in the bowl they just mobbed it.
My pros and cons:
Cons:
smell (might be worse if it was done in larger quantities)
Pros:
Happy birds
poop size is cut next to nothing (before they were about the 3/4 to 1") about 1/4" now. and they don't poop as much I would normally have to clean their coop twice a week but doesn't look like I will need to do it more than 1 a week.
Not drinking even close to the amount they were before I started feeding.
only been feeding them for 4 days on this so I can't say what the long terms are but I can already see a big difference in their behavior, droppings and water intake.
When I first gave it to them they just kinda looked at it for 20 or so minutes but after that they dove in and completely avoided the dry food (same food just not fermented). I thought the smell would be strong so I kept it in a spare room but after 5 days (some say it only takes 4 but mine took 5) it just smelt a little sour but no worse then sourdough bread. So I moved it back to the kitchen. So far I only have it in a gallon bucket and I put 8 cups of food and water and let it sit stirring it daily.
First day I didn't notice anything different with the birds but by the 3rd day they were really excited every time I would open the coop to give them more. They would be bouncing around the coop like they lost their minds but soon as I plopped the food in the bowl they just mobbed it.
My pros and cons:
Cons:
smell (might be worse if it was done in larger quantities)
Pros:
Happy birds
poop size is cut next to nothing (before they were about the 3/4 to 1") about 1/4" now. and they don't poop as much I would normally have to clean their coop twice a week but doesn't look like I will need to do it more than 1 a week.
Not drinking even close to the amount they were before I started feeding.
only been feeding them for 4 days on this so I can't say what the long terms are but I can already see a big difference in their behavior, droppings and water intake.
