Fermenting feed for layers?

[MamaKitty913]

Could be you are reading in the wrong places....

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

Thank you Bee! My grandma said the proof is in the pudding

We have beautiful eggs, nicely formed poo, and when utilized for meat birds ff significantly reduced odor, increased weights by 10% vs 'regular dry' chick starter (two brooders same hatch Cornish X from McMurray,loss 3 of 15 regular food vs 0 of 15 with ff). It's so easy that's why it's so hard lol! Big plastic bucket a few scoops of feed (crumble or pellet) a few glugs of ACv with the mother (found Braggs at all health stores)- water to top of this feed- cover wait a day stir the mix should smell a bit vinagery for a few days and you'll see bubbles, wait a few days to allow fermentation (usually recommended 3 to 5 days to allow for release of protiens/probiotics). Begin feeding my girls didn't like the way it "stuck" to their beaks but loved it, so they kept comming back for more. Of course my girls don't do plain yougert since it's too sticky, but for ff it's all good. Also can add just about any scratch/Boss etc. I l've been adding a few sprinkles of the brewers yeast each time I add more crumble to the bucket. only problem is here in La. it's so humid I had to vent mine to prevent mold, but if you STIR when you feed or add crumble that should do it IMHO. Thank you again Bee and Kuntrygirl

 

[mattsanity]

Are you feeding them in the aluminum pan? Just my opinion, but the acid of the FF will etch the aluminum, leaching the metal out into the feed, which is not good for your flock to be ingesting.

Hadn't considered the material of the feeder in addition to the ferment vessel. Thankfully I have a second rubber tub like the one I use for water... easy fix, and good catch! Thank-you!

 

[LindaB220]

It will keep as long as there are available sugars in the grain to feed the microorganisms involved in the fermentation process. That's a good long time...just stir it good each day before you feed it and you'll do fine.


This will happen whether your feed is covered by water or not. In the vocabulary of microbiology, lactic acid bacteria are “facultative” in that they that do not require oxygen, but are not inhibited by its presence; in contrast, certain other bacteria (for example Clostridium botulinum) are “obligate” anaerobes that require a perfectly anaerobic environment.

For the thousandth time on this thread, folks....you do not have to have your feed submerged in water to get fermented feed with the LABs in it. Think about it....what is the molecule composition of water? H2O...the "O" being an oxygen molecule. Your feed grain also has oxygen in it on a cellular level. You will not escape the presence of oxygen in this process, so be assured that you don't need to escape it, as explained in the previous paragraph.


Yes, it will keep until you get it fed. My buckets get fed out over a period of two weeks but could go longer than that without any problem....just add new feed eventually to keep the process going and you should be fine.

Hey Bee, I've decided to start mine in a bigger container. I have about 20 grown chickens now and a bunch of babies coming in the next couple of months. I think I'm going to do like Kassaundra and put it in an 18 gallon tote next to the coops. That will last me about a month before I need to restart it by adding more feed and water. I'm trying to simplify my life as much as possible and this will help a lot. And I hate wet feed. I keep it to the consistancy of mortar.

 

[LindaB220]

I started this with my layer feed a little over a week ago, so I'm definitely not an old hand nor would I say my results are of statistical significance. I still leave them dry feed in the coop and hanging in case someone didn't like the new stuff, but that's not been an issue. I take out a giant aluminum pan (because that's what I have available at the moment) of the stuff every day at 3 or so with the idea being they can go to bed with super full crops. There's some leftover every day and I've been leaving that and they finish it when they're let out the next morning. They seem very enthusiastic about it at the very least. I have new layers that just started last week a few days after doing this. They were about to start anyway so I can't credit the feed with starting egg production. As for poop, it hadn't been runny in the past and it still isn't. There does seem to be more of it and it's got more liquid in it, which makes sense. At the very least I do feel better about them being okay until I let them out in the AM since I don't leave water in the coop. I don't know that the food can really be hydrating them, but I certainly feel better about it.

My ferment bucket is down in the basement and I just portion it out with a smaller bucket that has holes drilled in the bottom to drain. It doesn't seem to sieve really well so I'll sometimes toss a little more dry feed in to make it more oatmeal than gruel. Maybe I could drill more holes in the bucket or maybe the mixture is not that wet. When I mixed it, it didn't get actively fermenting until 3 or 4 days later, but I just used the natural air method as opposed to an ACV or some other starter. The smell is pungent when I lift the lid, but it really is not rotten. It's like THE sourest sourdough ever, lol. I don't mind it, but some people might. For what it's worth it doesn't stink up the basement or anything and you wouldn't know it's there until you lift the lid on it. I throw in feed and a few scratch grains here and there with enough water to keep the whole mix covered, or saturated at the very least. I think it will take more experience from me to really get a feel for how much to add.

I've only been doing it a short time so I can't say if it'll cut down on feed costs yet and I don't have anything to compare my eggs to since they're new, but the yolks take up more of the egg than a store bought egg and they are orange. I can continue to report on that if it's helpful to anyone. There's not much for me to offer in the way of knowledge as a chicken newbie and being even newer to this method, but I thought I'd share my experiences thus far in case anybody else new stumbles on this and might want to give it a try. Sorry I wrote a book here!

One really good thing about this is it will cut down on the smell. I never smell anything in all my coops. I bought a 50# bag of Alfalfa pellets and add about 3 cups to my 5 gallon bucket. It helps give them the green that they are missing with winter. I've had the bag for months and still have a ton. It was $25 but cheap at the price. Bumps up the protein level a bit.
And yes, I have an aluminum pan so will have to change that out too. I have smaller stainless dog bowls that will work.

 

[Meadowchick]

I think I will also try a larger tote or one of our empty cattle syrup tubs for my next mix too!
I also have found that excess water is not needed.... Less for me to do too!

 

[LindaB220]

I think I will also try a larger tote or one of our empty cattle syrup tubs for my next mix too!
I also have found that excess water is not needed.... Less for me to do too!

I have a grey 18 gallon tote with lid that I'm going to set up when I get some more hatches going. It holds a 50# bag of feed comfortably and I'm storing it out by the coop. It will save me steps when time to make up the fermented feed. I'm in the south (La) and it doesn't freeze much. It makes it outside.

 

[puss58]

I travel a lot for work. My schedule right now has me away Monday, Tuesday, back Wednesday night, away Thursday then back Friday night for the weekend. Can the fermented feed sit without being stirred or used or added to for a couple of days? I have a long weekend coming up so I can get the fermentation process started. Thanks!

 

[RonP]

Short answer, yes.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Hey Bee, I've decided to start mine in a bigger container. I have about 20 grown chickens now and a bunch of babies coming in the next couple of months. I think I'm going to do like Kassaundra and put it in an 18 gallon tote next to the coops. That will last me about a month before I need to restart it by adding more feed and water. I'm trying to simplify my life as much as possible and this will help a lot. And I hate wet feed. I keep it to the consistancy of mortar.

I've found my chooks like the FF better when I keep it thick and it's soooo much easier to dish out when I don't have to drain it first. And they go through so much less feed (little to no waste, which is fantastic).

 

[RonP]

I will dish it out into a fine strainer, and let it sit for about an hour or so.

This allows the excess water to drain back.

Works well for me.