Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Chickengirl1304]

I'm new to FF and have been going it for about 2 weeks. THEY LOVE IT! And they peck their bins absolutely clean however much I give them. They are large fowl layer hens and theres 28 of them. I ferment layer crumble. Question is,

How much should they be getting a day?

 

[countrygirl74]

I'm new to FF and have been going it for about 2 weeks. THEY LOVE IT! And they peck their bins absolutely clean however much I give them. They are large fowl layer hens and theres 28 of them. I ferment layer crumble. Question is,

How much should they be getting a day?

I free feed... You will notice they might go through periods of eating a lot, and not. Most people notice they eat a lot at first but then taper down. Sometimes they hardly touch their feed and other times I have to fill it more often. It's kind of a wait and see thing... the good news is that all in all, I have cut my feed bill by almost half.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

I free feed... You will notice they might go through periods of eating a lot, and not. Most people notice they eat a lot at first but then taper down. Sometimes they hardly touch their feed and other times I have to fill it more often. It's kind of a wait and see thing... the good news is that all in all, I have cut my feed bill by almost half.

Why have you cut it in half? Do they eat less of the FF?

 

[SunnysMama]

I am using LAB made according to the youtube video above but I have also added IMO, indigenous micro organisms.
This orange bucket was inoculated with about a cup of LAB/IMO concoction I cooked up in my kitchen. I actually brewed this stuff up for my venture into applying Korean Natural Farming techniques to my orchard/garden. The smell in this bucket is very sour but with a sweet/earthy scent mixed in also.


This blue bucket was inoculated with straight Braggs Vinegar. It has a very strong Sour smell. As to uses for the Hooch (liquid) I put a cupfull in the tank of my 4 gallon backpack sprayer along with 10 ounces of liquid fish and 2 ounces of emulsified neem oil and spray my entire orchard/garden about twice a week. This mix helps kick start the microbial activity in the soil and on the foliage of my trees helping the beneficial microbes to out compete the bad ones. The coop/run area gets sprayed down about once a month with a cup out of each bucket mixed in the 4 gallon sprayer, it has made the black muck around the duck pond less smelly, fostered the breakdown of the litter, and kept the general odor in check.

At what stage of the IMO did you add it and what is the benefit of it in the feed? I'm currently in the fermenting of stage 2. I was making mine for my garden.

 

[countrygirl74]

Chickengirl1304

Yep! They end up taking in more nutrients from the feed, thus eating less. It's good for the birds and me!

 

[Chickengirl1304]

That would be amazing

 

[Chickengirl1304]

I use a 5 gallon bucket nestled inside another one. I don't use all of the feed every day and always leave a few inches in the bottom and just add more. My question is if I do it this way is there really a need for the bottom bucket?

 

[SunnysMama]

I just put a Tablespoon in my 5 gallon bucket - a little goes a looong way. The least recommended dilution is a 20:1 ratio, and for some uses, it's 100:1 or 1000:1! So, I just did a small amount and it worked very well.

LAB - Lactic Acid Bacteria - Here's a link how to make it and all the great uses!

Thank you for the info. Do you seal your bucket up or just sit the lid on top? I usually just sit the lid on top but I was reading somewhere "Natural Chicken Keeping" I think, that you should seal it up with the Lactic Acid Bacillus. I was just wondering the reasoning because I thought that LAB would grow both aerobically and anaerobically. My new little CX chicks have really taken to the FF. They have had it since day one but I started it with some of the liquid from my grain ferment buckets that were started with sourdough starter and seem to be doing very well.

 

[yinepu]

I use a 5 gallon bucket nestled inside another one. I don't use all of the feed every day and always leave a few inches in the bottom and just add more. My question is if I do it this way is there really a need for the bottom bucket?

I have several 5 gallon buckets going. I don't nest mine

and like you .. I use most of each bucket every day leaving a bit in the bottom.. so I really don't see the need for nesting when we go through so much..UNLESS yours is extra wet and sloppy and you need a way to drain it...
Using the second nesting bucket (as far as I know) is for draining the FF... since mine is thick.. there's no need to drain it.

 

[countrygirl74]

Thank you for the info. Do you seal your bucket up or just sit the lid on top? I usually just sit the lid on top but I was reading somewhere "Natural Chicken Keeping" I think, that you should seal it up with the Lactic Acid Bacillus. I was just wondering the reasoning because I thought that LAB would grow both aerobically and anaerobically. My new little CX chicks have really taken to the FF. They have had it since day one but I started it with some of the liquid from my grain ferment buckets that were started with sourdough starter and seem to be doing very well.

I just set my lid on the top - no sealing. Haven't noticed any issues. I have ACV in there too - actually started it with ACV and then added LAB later just to give it some of that extra and different "good stuff".