Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[chingmai]

Thank you for your thread on fermenting chicken feed and on its advantages in terms of nutrition. I live in a tropical country and I do organic chickens for meat but I get the regular cobbs chicks from a hatchery and raise them for about 60 days in spacious pens with little fenced off yards. Only recently I have begun a 2-day fermentation of a mix of beans, high protein weeds, kale, a bit of ACV and non-chlorinated water. After a couple of weeks of this, mortality has improved tremendously and the chickens seem happier as they are more relaxed and quiet in their pens. Do you know if there is an organic chicken vitamin/mineral mix that I can also give them or what can I add to the feed that will complete their vitamin needs?

 

[Tikkijane]

What are your best methods for straining?
I'm pouring through a fine kitchen strainer, but it's time consuming.
Thought about putting a wire mesh in a bucket, but wasn't sure if I'd have rust problems. Or if the bolts attaching it would rust

You don't need to keep it soupy enough to strain. Really. You don't. Many of us like a thicker oatmeal, cookie dough etc consistency. It does not need to ve soupy and strained. I would have never started if it was going to be like that.

 

[Burns Homestead]

Ive been FF for about 3 weeks now well tonight when I went out to check on them they hardly ate any. I went and smelled the FF drum and it smells really vinegary but still has a yeast smell. I add to it everyday new feed and water I don't know why its getting so strong any suggestions?

 

[Latestarter]

As long as you keep adding daily, the bucket never really gets a chance to "empty out" and the ferment will continue to strengthen... That's why when you back slop you don't have to wait 3-4 days for it to mature. What I recommend is using the bucket till there is only about 1 serving left, THEN add the feed and water in the evening... it will be ready to go next morning and be a nice fresh yeasty smell without the vinegar smell and strength of ferment... Essentially, you'll be spreading out the mother in a smaller portion over a larger amount. You'll still get the ferment but less intense.

Don't worry about the birds cutting back... Mine did the same thing for about a week... I think it was a "growth spurt" in reverse kinda thing... I cut back on serving size while this was happening, and now they are right back to cleaning the trough. Just monitor and make adjustments as necessary.

 

[Burns Homestead]

As long as you keep adding daily, the bucket never really gets a chance to "empty out" and the ferment will continue to strengthen... That's why when you back slop you don't have to wait 3-4 days for it to mature. What I recommend is using the bucket till there is only about 1 serving left, THEN add the feed and water in the evening... it will be ready to go next morning and be a nice fresh yeasty smell without the vinegar smell and strength of ferment... Essentially, you'll be spreading out the mother in a smaller portion over a larger amount. You'll still get the ferment but less intense.

Don't worry about the birds cutting back... Mine did the same thing for about a week... I think it was a "growth spurt" in reverse kinda thing... I cut back on serving size while this was happening, and now they are right back to cleaning the trough. Just monitor and make adjustments as necessary.

I have noticed they were eating alot I was having to feed 2 times a day today I didn't but also They look alot bigger then they did 2 or 3 weeks ago there breast are widening There feathers are coming back in beautifully.

I will start doing it that way because originally I started out with a weeks of food which is 3/4 full of a 55 gallon drum every day I add what they would eat the next day to that so it still would ferment so alot of that has been in there for 2 or 3 weeks.

Thank You....Melissa

 

[LindaB220]

Thank you for your thread on fermenting chicken feed and on its advantages in terms of nutrition. I live in a tropical country and I do organic chickens for meat but I get the regular cobbs chicks from a hatchery and raise them for about 60 days in spacious pens with little fenced off yards. Only recently I have begun a 2-day fermentation of a mix of beans, high protein weeds, kale, a bit of ACV and non-chlorinated water. After a couple of weeks of this, mortality has improved tremendously and the chickens seem happier as they are more relaxed and quiet in their pens. Do you know if there is an organic chicken vitamin/mineral mix that I can also give them or what can I add to the feed that will complete their vitamin needs?

Sounds great. Make a little more and save it to add to the new batch and it will be done overnight. That way you won't have to keep adding the ACV. Not sure about the organic vitamin mix.

 

[LindaB220]

I have noticed they were eating alot I was having to feed 2 times a day today I didn't but also They look alot bigger then they did 2 or 3 weeks ago there breast are widening There feathers are coming back in beautifully.

I will start doing it that way because originally I started out with a weeks of food which is 3/4 full of a 55 gallon drum every day I add what they would eat the next day to that so it still would ferment so alot of that has been in there for 2 or 3 weeks.

Thank You....Melissa

Melissa, how many birds are you feeding. and what age are they? Are they able to get out to a run at all. Or roam? You might want to give them a small feeding (table scraps and scratch) in the morning and encourage them to scavenge and then feed a larger amount in the pm .

 

[Latestarter]

I have noticed they were eating alot I was having to feed 2 times a day today I didn't but also They look alot bigger then they did 2 or 3 weeks ago there breast are widening There feathers are coming back in beautifully.

I will start doing it that way because originally I started out with a weeks of food which is 3/4 full of a 55 gallon drum every day I add what they would eat the next day to that so it still would ferment so alot of that has been in there for 2 or 3 weeks.

Thank You....Melissa

OH my!

that's a LOT of ferment over a LOT of time! That's a lot more than a bucket! Set a fire, cap it & add a coil then bottle some o' that stuff!

I can now understand why it smells so strong! Yeah, for the next week or so, concentrate on emptying that barrel to around 4-6 inches left at the bottom. Just feed it out... don't worry, the birds will eat it, but because it's been fermented so long, they probably won't NEED to eat as much as normal as you work down into the deeper levels

Because the lowest/deepest level has been fermenting so long, it is most likely "tapped out" with nothing left for the good microbes to feed on. As a result I would recommend that you still add SOME fresh grain daily as you try to feed your way down through it. Just enough to keep the ferment going... not a full days worth of food for the ladies. When you get down to about 1/3 of a barrel, add maybe 1-2 days worth of food, stir it real well to mix the strongest stuff in with the new grain, then continue feeding it down.

Now for the GOOD news! When you finally get to where you only have 4-6 inches left in the bottom, THEN it's time to add about 1 WEEKS worth of food, water, and stir well. Then don't add anything else until you're back down to 4-6 inches from the bottom again

12 hours later, go take a sniff, it should be right back to that nice sweet/sour yeasty smell (that I kinda like) that we're all shooting for.

There's no need to make this a daily chore! Isn't that great?! Glad I could help! Happy chickening!

 

[Kassaundra]

I do mine in a 33 gal bucket it ferments each batch for several weeks w/o issue. But mine is grain and not pellets or crumbles.

 

[Latestarter]

True, but I don't think you're adding fresh grain daily in the same amount that you're feeding out... You feed out till near bottom and then re-fill, right? I know the FF will keep for 2-3 weeks with no issue, but if she's been refreshing daily, the bottom of that 55 gal barrel hasn't seen the light of day or fresh air in a long time... I believe it may be tapped out by this point. Never having "been there/done that", I'm just surmising....