Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Miss Lydia]

It is a great feeling. Throw in there the green beans I grew and canned myself and some homeade dumplings. I am on a mission to be completely self sufficient. I have been gardening veggies for years now I have the chicken for both eggs and meat. I can't decide whats next a cow or a pig.

Don't forget about the great fertilizer that comes from them chickens.

 

[Reurra]

I'll have to see if i can find it here. In Nova Scotia things like that are scarce. Is there a culture I can buy to add, like a yeast packet type product?

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have a health food store or a special aisle in your grocery that sells organic products? You can make your own with apples, peelings, and water in jar, then ferment the liquid for a month. There are many recipes online using frozen unpasteurized apple juice, or adding regular ACV to some with the mother and letting it ferment making a larger amount.

 

[Beekissed]

Actually, you won't need it...really. We just use that stuff to jump start the stuff. You can add feed and water to a bucket, put it somewhere warm and leave some airflow. The mix will pull yeast spores from the air and start to ferment. Let it do that...you can stir it every once in awhile, maybe once a day, until it grows its own lactobacilli.

It will start to look milky, tan, bubbly, smell faintly sour/sweet, then move more towards sour or beer smelling.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well these buckets have only been going for 4 days. Maybe that's why..

My chick bucket has been going for 3.5 weeks.

Maybe you could bring a 5 gallon bucket in the house, make some feed and add a bunch of extra water, then "cook" it for 3 days. Then pour off the extra water ferment in all of your bottom buckets. Mine ferments great at 70 degrees for 3 days, then the fermented liquid works faster.

 

[aoxa]

Actually, you won't need it...really. We just use that stuff to jump start the stuff. You can add feed and water to a bucket, put it somewhere warm and leave some airflow. The mix will pull yeast spores from the air and start to ferment. Let it do that...you can stir it every once in awhile, maybe once a day, until it grows its own lactobacilli.

It will start to look milky, tan, bubbly, smell faintly sour/sweet, then move more towards sour or beer smelling.

You must have a file where you keep these instructions for ease of copy/pasting. Or your fingers must get tired

Any harm in adding more ACV?

 

[aoxa]

Once my chicks are done their batch here, I'll be adding their ferment to the other buckets, so that is a great idea! Thanks.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:

Got a question! Are you folks pulling those buckets apart a lot? If so, can I ask why? I think I'm missing something....

Sorry, I fell behind on my reading, so I'm late replying...
Yes, I am pulling my buckets apart, every day, lol. I am one of those that make feeding FF a little harder than it needs to be...

But I have my reasons for doing so...

2 reasons: Draining before feeding, and what I consider to be exaggerated/more effective back slopping. I know the holes in the buckets allow the FF water from the bottom to seep in and soak into the feeds, but I want to be 100% sure that all the beneficials are well dispersed thru my FF mix and are being well fed 24/7 so that the bad bacteria never get a foot hold. After draining and scooping out the FF I need to feed I'll set the FF bucket with the remaining feed left in it into a 3rd clean bucket with 4-5 inches of fresh water in the bottom of it, then I add fresh dry feeds to my FF bucket, and pour the soupy FF liquid over it, rinse the sediment out of the bottom, add that in too, top off if needed, stir it well and let it ferment 48 hrs before feeding from it. I have 2 2-bucket systems going (2nd system was started with FF liquid from the first system) and I use this drain/feed/exaggerated back slop 3-bucket method for both, alternating which system I feed from each day, so they both get a 48 hour ferment/soak.

More work than is really needed? Yes probably, but it works for me/my situation (and my birds). In my mind... there is method to my madness, I swear! I've been doing this 3-bucket method since the 3rd week in October, with the remnants of my original mix of FF liquid still working it's magic. (I consider that FF liquid as liquid gold, lol). My mix has never gone bad or funky in any way, no mold has started in the buckets and my birds are healthy and lovin' their FF

 

[Toast n Jelly]

I'll have to see if i can find it here. In Nova Scotia things like that are scarce. Is there a culture I can buy to add, like a yeast packet type product?

Don't know if this is a good idea but every once in awhile I add yogurt whey along with ACV. It seems to be more bubbly when I do. Course I could be wrong to use it as Bee has never mentioned using whey.

 

[tallgrass]

Home made ACV

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/how_to_make_apple_cider_vinegar.html