Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[galanie]

Reporting in again on my entire flock eating basically just scratch with wheat added that is fermented. They are all mixed together, from the 5 week olds to the 2 year olds. All are doing great. I am fermenting soybean meal separately and offering a bit of it separately from time to time and some go for it, some don't. But all are fine, they're foraging like mad, and healthy. Their poos have the consistency of horse "apples" with all the roughage and grass they're eating.

The babies are growing just as well as any I've ever raised on flock raiser and they don't sneeze while eating like they did on the dry food.

This started because they did not and will not eat the Purina layer food I got them. Even now, fermented, they won't touch the stuff. The local brands they did eat but not with the gusto that they attack the grains they're getting now. I don't know what to do with the 25 pounds I still have left but I'll probably end up just composting it. What a waste. They're supplimented with mealworms from my setup here, scraps and leftovers from the kitchen, and fruit rinds, etc. from the neighbor, a vegetarian that adores animals. All still healthy and thriving.

So in spite of this low protien, woefully lacking in trace mineral (I guess) feed, all are still perfectly healthy and thriving after a few months on this stuff. I've seen no slowdown in laying but one really needs more calcium. She's just that way. So I'm also offering crushed eggshell in addition to the oyster shell that I've always had out for them to see if that helps. Because of the chicks I don't want to add it to the feed.

 

[wingstone]

quail hatched out early, they were started on non med chick started simply because that is what I got, game bird feed is on order and should be here thursday, will start fermenting feed as soon as I get it....will try to keep posting on progress even though I do not have anything to compare them to....first time with quail.......15 hatched so far still got 20 eggs in incubator....These are cots and my goal is to cut down on smell and have them ready for freezer in 8 weeks...

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

quail hatched out early, they were started on non med chick started simply because that is what I got, game bird feed is on order and should be here thursday, will start fermenting feed as soon as I get it....will try to keep posting on progress even though I do not have anything to compare them to....first time with quail.......15 hatched so far still got 20 eggs in incubator....These are cots and my goal is to cut down on smell and have them ready for freezer in 8 weeks...

 

You should start your ferment now with the chick starter. Get the good bacteria started and then just add the gamebird when it arrives. It will only take about 12 hours for the ferment to start. Can't wait to here your results!!

 

[dirtylittlefly]

I did a fecal examination today...yeah, I know it's gross but I'm a nurse and a mother, so it comes natural to me.

I separated and examined a large dropping from one of my CX and found grass, pieces of bug shells, etc. and very little feed residue...a tiny fragment or two of what looked to be corn. I smelled it and it had absolutely no smell whatsoever, which surprised me...I have a very sensitive nose, much to my dismay, so I can pick up on smells real well.

I am a nurse as well, and thank god I was born with a poor sense of smell!

I've read almost half this thread and have tried doing a search, so forgive me if this has already been asked. How long is the feed good for once you ferment it? I've got 4 chicks that I've started fermenting chick starter for, though I think I may have over done it. I gave them a bit last night before it was fully fermented topped with some dollops of plain yogurt and they seem to like it well. I've also started adding Braggs to their water. I'm trying this because we've almost gone threw an entire 50# bag of starter in only 5 weeks. It feels like too much, although they do love to tip over their feeder.

Is there a point when I should stop free feeding? They are all layers, except for my BR which has unfortunately become afflicted with testosterone poisoning. I hope to slaughter him at 20 weeks, though he's getting a bit rough on my girls so it may be sooner.

 

[Kassaundra]

I am a nurse as well, and thank god I was born with a poor sense of smell!

I've read almost half this thread and have tried doing a search, so forgive me if this has already been asked. How long is the feed good for once you ferment it? I've got 4 chicks that I've started fermenting chick starter for, though I think I may have over done it. I gave them a bit last night before it was fully fermented topped with some dollops of plain yogurt and they seem to like it well. I've also started adding Braggs to their water. I'm trying this because we've almost gone threw an entire 50# bag of starter in only 5 weeks. It feels like too much, although they do love to tip over their feeder.

Is there a point when I should stop free feeding? They are all layers, except for my BR which has unfortunately become afflicted with testosterone poisoning. I hope to slaughter him at 20 weeks, though he's getting a bit rough on my girls so it may be sooner.

I have mine fermenting in a large 30 gall trash can. One batch lasts several weeks, it does fine as long as it stays covered in the ferment water. I have been feeding this way (well w/ the grains) for about 1 year w/o any problems. I just started adding the layer feed over this past month or so.

 

[Beekissed]

Great to have another nurse on board!

As long as you keep it moist, keep it fed and stir it once in awhile, it's much like sourdough mix...it shouldn't go bad.

I can't speak for others on their laying flocks but mine are free ranged and are only fed once a day. Even if they hadn't been free ranged, I still wouldn't offer them free choice feeds due to attracting rodents to the coop when the feeders are left overnight full of all that feed.

If mine were confined to a run I'd probably feed a little in the morning and a little in the evening. Some breeds tend to overeat if left to their own devices and will have problems related to this such as sour crops, fat collecting around the reproductive organs that hinders egg laying/production, causes prolapses, etc.

 

[dirtylittlefly]

Kassundra, Beekissed- Thanks for your input! I will keep you posted on how this is working for us.

 

[jrsckn]

All of mine are still free fed at 9 weeks. They have had the last of the starter feed in the feeder in the coop for a week now and have hardly touched it. They got fermented twice a day but I cut back to once a day for the last couple days because its taken them all day to eat it; they finally discovered that they like grass lol.

 

[galanie]

As for no poo smell, I picked up on that too. I feed them close to my back porch so if it stinks, I know it! Thank goodness it's only me here or I'd never get by with that.

But now, I smell nothing. Well, no poo smell anyway. The flies still know it's there but my nose doesn't. I used to have to hose down the back porch to keep the smell down and soak off the runny dried stuff that stuck like part of the concrete. No more. I can just flick those things into the grass if I want to keep it off the concrete. Sort of like playing hockey! LOL!

They get fed a couple times a day, enough to eat but not enough so that much is left. It's close to the porch because I don't get as many varmits in it that way. And once they eat in the late afternoon, the feeders are left empty during the night. The exception to that is if I have new chicks. They get food available 24/7 for at least the first two weeks. But not in the main coop, in a smaller one that is more rodent proof and hopefully completely predator proof, at least for the predators we do have here. Still, as soon as I'm comfortable with them not having food 24/7, out it comes.

 

[brandislee]

I'm here for an update as well. I've been feeding my meaties (15 red rangers and 10 rosambro from MT-DI) fermented foods for at least two weeks now (can't really remember exactly how long). I feed them a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of unmedicated grower and scratch. When I need to mix more I mix it so it has at least half a day to soak. I usually mix a 5 gal bucket at a time, and pour it into a large metal mesh strainer over a second bucket. As they get bigger (they're 4 weeks old today) I'll probably ferment in two buckets.

Here's what I think so far.

It's a bit more work, but not much. For the first week I was also fermenting my layer chick's feed (but not my adult layers), but it was too much work, and I don't think they need the extra nutrition as much. I also had two of my layer chicks have crop issues during this time, which I don't necessarily relate to the fermented feed, but is worth mentioning (and yes, they have always had grit available). And for what it's worth both the adults and the layer chicks go CRAZY for the fermented food when they have access to it (my adults get it when I knock the old stuff out of feeders or spill or something).

Back to the meaties, though- I think they are tons healthier on this feed system. I had one go down in the legs and die in a few hours before changing to fermented food, and there were three others with severely curled toes, and they have all but recovered since changing food (one still has toes that curve to the side, but it doesn't seem to bother him). They love it, of course, and I feel like less food is wasted because they don't spill it all over the ground. They don't eat the oats, but it's not a waste because I either scrape that out to the layer chicks or adults.

But they're still eating a lot of food, about the same as before... BUT I know their feeding needs would have increased, and I don't know how much. I think that in many of the cases the extreme decrease of feed is more due to free ranging (and the fermented feed's possible increasing the absorption of the free range food). My chicks, for now, are in a tractor on my lawn (with plenty of space, and they're soon going to move to an even BIGGER tractor!) because my dogs will eat them, so I can't let them out until they're a little closer to adult size.

So far this is totally worth it. These are the healthiest, most vital meat chicks I have ever had. But I want to know why mine still have smelly poop when no one else's do!!! I guess it's probably not a stinky, and not as prolific, but it still smells!