Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Demosthine]

True grit like John Wayne? I'm sorry I saw that and immediatly thought of that movie.....

Ah, good movie. Good, good movie.

 

[Triple Willow]

Meal worms are easy I bought a tub at the pet store and am using an old ten gallon aquarium. I keep them outside under one of my coops, I fill it about eight to a quarter full with oatmeal wheat germ corn meal and chicken feed, for moister I throw in vegetables and fruit and potato scraps on occasion other than that they do very well on there own.

That does sound pretty easy.

 

[Triple Willow]

Didn't say you should avoid them.   I said if you avoid FERMENTING them...fermenting fishmeal smells like a dead body on the side of the road that has laid there a few days in high temperatures...so - yeah, I prefer to avoid meat byproducts in my ferment.

I am still working on finishing off the last of my H&H feed (which has fishmeal in it)...after that, I'm on my own mix....My own mix is two part.  The parts I ferment: grains, seeds and legumes.  The parts I add after the fermentation: nutritional yeast, ground meal worms, powdered kelp, spirulina, dried skim milk and supplemental vitamins and minerals.

I've also supplied the link to a Pearson's Square calculator that I'm more than happy to provide again for people if they would like to have it.

Please do post that link again. Lawdy! Lawdy! I remember back in the day balancing rations "long hand" with the charts, a pencil and a calculator! Technology can be great.

 

[grammykimi]

[FONT=lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]Posted in wrong thread......[/FONT]

 

[ssbs]

I bought some starter crumbles from a local mill and put it in a ceramic crock pot crock. I crushed up about 4 probiotic pills and added it to the feed then added 100-110 degree tap water that I had boiled. I also added a pack of live yeast which I had fed and watered. This was Wednesday night. I have been stirring and adding water as needed. Thursday the water on the top started getting milky looking. The feed was bubbling a little before I even stirred it. It smells like a a mix between Timothy hay and pizza dough. Does this sound about right??

 

[BCMaraniac]

I bought some starter crumbles from a local mill and put it in a ceramic crock pot crock. I crushed up about 4 probiotic pills and added it to the feed then added 100-110 degree tap water that I had boiled. I also added a pack of live yeast which I had fed and watered. This was Wednesday night. I have been stirring and adding water as needed. Thursday the water on the top started getting milky looking. The feed was bubbling a little before I even stirred it. It smells like a a mix between Timothy hay and pizza dough. Does this sound about right??

Sounds like fermentation success!!

 

[ssbs]

Sounds like fermentation success!! 

So is it ok that I used yeast? Someone said that they thought you aren't supposed to

 

[Kilsharion]

So is it ok that I used yeast? Someone said that they thought you aren't supposed to

...yes, it is more than fine to use yeast....

 

[Kilsharion]

Meal worms are easy I bought a tub at the pet store and am using an old ten gallon aquarium. I keep them outside under one of my coops, I fill it about eight to a quarter full with oatmeal wheat germ corn meal and chicken feed, for moister I throw in vegetables and fruit and potato scraps on occasion other than that they do very well on there own.

Yes, they are indeed easy....The gal at the feed store this side of the highway does mealworm farming and has offered time and again to help me get set up. But, I just don't have the space for the volume of mealworms I'd have to process to meet my current (and growing) requirements. I don't have room under my coops

(see signature for my coops "Small Coops" and "Landstown"). Add into that - I'm beginning a new job on the 10th of June and my hours will jump back up to ~60/wk pretty regularly again (instead of "when a project is going"); and, time becomes a factor as well. I know that you don't have to spend a lot of time to keep the colony growing; but, you do have to take time to remove the mealworms....at 10oz a day, that's quite a few mealworms to pick out of a colony.

My husband and son help out around the place building my great "town" up for me, keeping the trees and property under control (son is an arborist and landscaper), and so much more. But, the birds are all me. That means, buying, mixing and distributing the feed, growing the fodder, cleaning the coops, checking health, etc. So, if I take on a mealworm farm, I have to be able to have the time to get enough mealworms each morning to add to the feed I distribute. Abby, the gal from the feed store, says she will help me, so I'm seriously considering it (once the Livery is complete); but, the consideration will be put on perma hold if I can't find someone to help with pulling them out for addition to the feed.

Considering everything you put in there is edible to the chickens, I could use a similar recipe and just dump the whole thing; but, I'd have to calculate how it would affect my nutrition levels. I suppose I could also dump and dry them on the weekends and have enough to use that way. I really do need to give it some thought. Currently, I spend a considerable amount having bulk loads dropped here.

 

[Kilsharion]

Please do post that link again. Lawdy! Lawdy! I remember back in the day balancing rations "long hand" with the charts, a pencil and a calculator! Technology can be great.

- I use a spreadsheet which is easier for me (it actually works without having to call on Pearson's Square); but, I use the square to confirm my ration calculations. I do like my sanity checks. I was going to use a ledger; but, I've found that I'm now totally lazy when it comes to arithmetic and want the ease of just entering equations and letting the computer tell me the answer.

Pretty sad for an engineer, I know.


The reason I use multiple types of meat proteins is based on a study done back in the late 1800s/early 1900s where they found that viability of eggs, health of the chicken overall, and longevity of production seemed to correlate with a more diverse meat protein intake (as well as including some grain/vegetable protein). It was actually quite fascinating to read.

Here is Pearson Square - the online calculator. As I'm sure you'd know, just put the two different items in the Grain and Concentrate fields....

The only downside to PS is that you can only do two ingredients at a time.

Here is a decent overview of how the square works, for those who would like to know more about it.