Fermenting chicken feed, Good idea?

[black_cat]

Mine like suet feeders with stuff in them a lot.

 

[black_cat]

I happen to have cheesecloth, so I think I may as well use it...I'll start doing some fermenting tomorrow!

Oh shoot....just realized that I impulsively used my big jar to make a faux fish tank...(not a real fish, i'd never keep a fish in such a small tank)

I literally did this tonight and entirely forgot about fermenting My brain has taken a vacation.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have four 5 gal buckets. Fill to 2/3 with my crumble, add water from the reservoir to cover 2", stir. Repeat as needed till its actually just under water. Put in barn and wait a few days.

There is always one bucket in the run, and at least one ready to go in the barn. When i have two empties, i make more, since my flock gets about 1/3 of a bucket each day.

 

[Brenda Jones]

I ferment the feed for my girls. I serve it in a shallow feed dish or deeper dog food dish. They love it, but they don't need much of it as they are able to extract more nutrients from the food being fermented, plus they are allowed to forage throughout the day. I am now also starting to sprout greens for them as our winter will be in full swing soon and foraging will be impossible.

 

[SulkyBantam]

I have been looking for ways to lower our chicken feed bill and I came across the Idea of fermenting chicken feed. Does anyone use this method? Will chickens get drunk off of it? and is this a good idea?

I use it for my indoor bantams as they are TINY and their droppings smell a great deal less when I use it.

 

[Dephora]

I love fermenting, both for myself and for my chickens.

Others have given great advice about how to ferment feed. I like to use e-jen containers because I have so many and they work great.

Originally OP you asked if there was a risk of getting your chickens drunk. I am happy to report to you that many people only wish it was that simple and easy to make alcohol
The process in making lactofermented feed and the process of making yeast alcohol are not the same. You will never get alcohol from letting grain sit, thought I have seen ALOT of DIY fermenting blogs mention that letting it sit makes the alcohol content too high, that is simply not true. It sours it for sure and makes it so your chickens wont want it, but it will not produce alcohol.

To make alcohol you have alot of steps. But in general you need to release the sugar from the grain, or the yeast has nothing to eat to create alcohol. So unless you plan to grind your feed into a powder and soak it and then boil it and then add even more sugar. You have nothing to worry about.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sorry if I changed the subject

Your thread, your subject.. saving funds, healthy birds, good and bad ideas being discussed.. No one's drunk YET..

I'm a sucker for going deep as the video called it.. I love that you are too! And you've GOT this..

My research agrees with what she's stating.. basically spot on.. only it took a LONG time to figure all that stuff out!

I enjoyed sprouting, foddering, and fermenting, even growing my own meal worm farm.. just for the sheer fun it. I find all are great treats or enrichment and MAY benefit a bird in NEED but other than that kinda pointless and feel like Debby Downer when I post such.. So happy to have another looking for the WHOLE truth and deciding what works for THEIR goals! I admit I didn't read the entire thread before posting (or did I?!) so might have missed something But you seem to grasp things well enough when presented with information. You are also POSSIBLY the first person to actually point out the DM value of fodder aside from sharing I've done myself.. at least that I've seen.

http://www.idosi.org/wasj/wasj16(4)12/9.pdf

Once I tortured the darkling beetles long enough (a year+) and gave up on the slow turn around more than a year ago.. I just found a whole air tight bin full of wheat (maybe ground) that has turned into a solid mass of stinking mildew something or the other.. Plus since my birds have enough pasture to not care much for fodder.. pick the seeds off leaving any green behind.. So have probably 25# still sitting un-sprouted and aging from the fodder thing.. never mind how much I spent on different containers for fodder, fermenting, meal worm colony. etc.. maybe also detailed in one of those threads I had posted...

It has been a lot of really fantastic adventures indeed!

My advice on these things.. go small and enjoy them for what they are enrichment for us and them. A value in it's own right.. despite not being $ saving per say.

I've heard of many adding in some (small chopped) hay (cubes) for their birds in winter.. where maybe no green is available.. Green feed can effect yolk color but are not required for healthy birds. There's a lot of small hay stuff left from the compressed timothy/alfalfa/other mix that I feed my guinea pigs.. which I sometimes add a handful (I hate wasting it and GP's won't bother with the small stuff).. to my flock raiser when I also add water to make a "mash" and offer as a treat.. my links provided on the FF studies showed some absorption benefit to simply wetting.. but again MOSTLY because with it being part of the routine.. the birds still go crazy and get excited about having another option especially fed directly by me.

I agree, trying new things is a ton of fun and has me interested in things I never cared for before.. chemistry, nutrition, genetics, etc.. hope you enjoy sharing your many adventures and outcomes!

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

I started mine today at about noon. The link I posted previously used a 1 to 1 feed to water recipe. I’ll take a picture tomorrow. I will leave it for about three to four days. Additionally. I’ll start another batch tomorrow. Probably start feeding it on Tuesday morning.

doesn’t this whole adventure kind of make you feel like a mad scientist?

 

[jeanette60]

I have been fermenting my commercial chicken crumble 17% protein, after reading many articles. Very small flock of Isa Brown hens. I have found that it is fermenting very fast. Around 24hrs, I'm assuming it's because its the start of our summer (South Australia) and I haven't had a cool enough spot for it to sit. It's around 75 to 100F. I've started putting it in the fridge after 24hrs. The hens love it and I am noticing better egg production, the feed lasts longer also.

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

I ferment my feed and love doing it. Scratch and Peck Feeds has some great links and information about it. I have to be careful in the summer as if you let it ferment too long in the heat

I feed scratch and peck too. But I swear I have the weirdest chickens in the world. Promise. I very carefully fermented the feed, But they won’t eat it. They take a couple of pecks and then walk away.

If you can believe this, they also will not eat scratch, nor dried mealworms. I’m so disgusted I can hardly see straight.