Fermenting feed for layers?

[RacillaTheHen]

Hey everyone,
Just wondering: I feed a bunch of whole grains ( my chickens refuse to eat crumble, no matter how organic).

So, wouldn't whole grains simply sprout? Does adding ACV takes care of that and it will still ferment?

Has anyone tried Kombucha with this? I was told chickens love the scoby. Again, mine are fussy like nobody's business. Did not touch it.
I only have two rescued bantam ladies in my tiny urban coop. They are likely perimenopausal

. Moody and flighty and all sorts of special. LOL. Just kidding. They do only lay like three months out of the year though. I don't mind In summer they keep the earwigs in my garden under control and earn their feed

 

[Beekissed]

You won't need to add ACV and they won't sprout....don't really know why but I'm sure someone out there does. Could be due to the high acidity of the ferment, as acetic acid is a byproduct of the fermentation process.

 

[missbecky]

I was just reading about this... On this link...

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html?m=1

 

[Beekissed]

I was just reading about this... On this link...

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html?m=1

There is a good bit of misleading information on that blog and you might find another site more comprehensive on the topic. Others that followed the advice on the blog you've cited have either had dangerous mishaps with exploding glass jars or needlessly laborious rituals associated with their fermenting efforts due to the false information.

Here's a better site for information on it: https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You won't need to add ACV and they won't sprout....don't really know why but I'm sure someone out there does. Could be due to the high acidity of the ferment, as acetic acid is a byproduct of the fermentation process.

They don't sprout because they get waterlogged. One doesn't submerge seeds to get them to sprout, they keep them moist with air exposure.
In fact, when growing barley fodder, a one hour soak works best. With a 24 hour soak, they won't sprout for 4 days after the 1 hour seeds or more and many of the seeds never will sprout.

 

[glib]

You won't need to add ACV and they won't sprout....don't really know why but I'm sure someone out there does. Could be due to the high acidity of the ferment, as acetic acid is a byproduct of the fermentation process.

Yes, add ACV (or nothing) to ferment (for four days), you can use anything, seeds or feed,
add water (for one day) to sprout (four days is the time here too, but the last three the seeds are covered and dry, or at least not soaking). Yes, barley may prefer a short soak, but corn, peas, and BOSS prefer one day. YMMV based on soaking temperature.

 

[missbecky]

My uncle used to do this for his pigs.  He would almost fill a 55 gallon drum with corn and then add water.  He would do this every few days and feed it to his hogs. He swore they grew faster.  I didnt think about using it with chickens.

I didn't think about that either. I guess this 'Fermented Feed' idea has been around a long time. We called it "slop".

 

[glib]

I didn't think about that either. I guess this 'Fermented Feed' idea has been around a long time. We called it "slop".

Yes, and for humans, we have fermented our food for thousands of years. The inexplicable fact is that large scale animal husbandry abandoned this principle, for several decades (they are getting back in with a vengeance now).

 

[enola]

We fermented the pig feed for years, and I didn't even realize it.

I have done an experiment over the past 2 weeks, concerning whether or not feeding fermented feed will save you money...... Our hours at work have been cut by a third. I have to watch every penny to keep from having to dip into savings. I guestimated how much feed to fed daily to cut my feed to 2 bags per month. I was feeding the pellets dry because of trying to ferment feed in winter. After 3 days on 2 cans of feed per day, I realized that they were not getting enough feed. So, I started fermenting their feed again. I am fermenting the two cans of feed now, and when I went to the barn today, all of the FF from yesterday was gone, BUT when everyone was done eating, there was feed left. And when I went to the barn tonight, there was a little feed left and six eggs in the nest box. So, I and convinced that FF will definitely help on the feed bill!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

X2 on both counts.

I started fermenting over a year ago. And when I started, it reminded me of slopping the hogs when I was a kid.

I still feed dry from time to time, like this week when the temps won't climb out of the 20s. But when it's warm enough, I've cut the feed usage by about 1/3. I believe it's a combination of things. Volume, reduced waste and nutrition.
Everyone knows the volume goes up but that's primarily water. They don't bill out feed so that waste is eliminated. By binding up the fines, (where all the micro nutrients are located) the nutrition of the original feed is maintained rather than as lost as dust the chickens won't eat. Then there's the unknown amount of increase in vitamins from fermenting.