Fermenting chicken feed, Good idea?

[alwaysthere4chickens]

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Started this this morning....I did NOT fill it up that high originally.......next pic is a line showing where it was full of food to begin with.
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Looks like it absorbed a lot of water!

 

[black_cat]

Looks like it absorbed a lot of water!

Yep! It's a pellet feed, if that affects anything. I had the water about two inches above it, went downstairs to get cheesecloth, came back, and it had already absorbed all of that! I put another inch of water in and let it sit.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Started this this morning....I did NOT fill it up that high originally.......next pic is a line showing where it was full of food to begin with.

Wow that really rose! Does look like it can use a little bit more water, but I personally would rather have it slightly dry than too wet (as I don't strain out liquid).

 

[black_cat]

Wow that really rose! Does look like it can use a little bit more water, but I personally would rather have it slightly dry than too wet (as I don't strain out liquid).

I'm kinda nervous to add anything so I'm going to add more water after I use some of it. Should I start using it tomorrow?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm kinda nervous to add anything so I'm going to add more water after I use some of it. Should I start using it tomorrow?

Yup. I don't look to min/max the level of fermentation (i.e. waiting 3-4 days as some folks do) nor do I want to have to babysit multiple batches, so I'll feed out from a single batch from 24 hrs on up to 5 days or so (if I can't use it up by then, I made too much). My average batch lasts about 3 days.

Also don't be surprised if the hens are a little hesitant to try it at first. Some take to it immediately, others can be mighty suspicious of anything "new."

 

[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?

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

Just fed mine for the first time. At least they are not standing in it.

 

[alwaysthere4chickens]

I tried it out today and the chickens LOVED it. They are layers so I don't think they need it, but I will definitely use it more in the summer.

 

[Perris]

you may find the article that @Jenjens posted over the weekend interesting
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-me-research-study-on-fermented-feed.1428955/