Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Brada Puhi]

http://odorlesspigs.com/

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thank you Brada. I will get into all this stuff tomorrow. Right now my bed is calling me and my eyelids are responding first. I worked hard today... it was our first semi cool day in ages! Clouds all day and a breeze made getting some of the stuff on my "to do" list checked off!

 

[mlowen]

I don't remember who posted these, originally, nor which thread. The two I'm thinking are this one or the Natural Chicken Keeping one. It's also possible that I found the two pieces on the web somewhere...it's been a busy, stressful summer.

Make LABS

1. take a cup or so of rice and soak it in a cup or so of water .... shake it up, stir it ... whatever ... you get cloudy rice water.
2. Put this in a jar with plenty of headroom.... cover with a paper towel let stand for a week it will turn yellowish & grow some scum....
3. Strain off scum
4. Add Milk to the liquid ... 10 parts to 1 part
5. Put in glass jar with plenty of headroom , loosely cover with paper towel let stand a week
6. Curd will form liquid will be yellow
7. Strain Curds leaving LAB liquid
8. Feed Curd to chickens
9. put LAB into fridge for up to 1 year or mix 1 to1 with molasses and it can sit out on counter and be stored for up to 3 years!

TO USE: 20 parts water to 1 part LABs liquid ... mix & spray


More LAB info

Just read, "Lactic Acid Bacteria Recipe" in Acres, vol 40, no 5. The author wrote, 'Lactic acid bacteria are anaerobic microorganisms that have a low pH of 2. They can survive with or without oxygen and withstand high temperatures. They are very effective in improving soil aeration and dissolve chelates or minerals in the soil, freeing them up for plants to absorb. When plants absorb lactic acid it increases their disease and rain tolerance." It then gives the following recipe:
Wash rice, save the water.
Fill a jar 8 inches with the water.
Cover it with paper and set it in a dark spot for a week.
It will give a sour smell when done.
Add it to milk, ideally raw milk, at a 10:1 ratio.
In 5-7 days the milk will have separated.
Remove the floating stuff and save the liquid (the lactic acid bacteria preparation).
It can be stored in a fridge, or mixed with equal parts brown sugar and stored at room temp.
The bacteria is diluted 1000 times It can combined with IMOs, which are mostly aerobic and sprayed on fields. It is also used in compost, livestock water, and to water plants.

 

[mlowen]

Further LABS info: it doesn't say to keep it in the dark, but I kept it under my sink during both stages. And I used pasteurized milk.

 

[Beekissed]

I have another experiment I'm thinking of trying. If anyone remembers a while back, I tried fermenting a little moldy feed, with non-negative results. They weren't necesserily good, but nothing happened and no feed has been wasted since.

New (maybe) experiment: Fermenting Botulated canned food.

My grandmother-in-law doesn't not do a hot water bath when canning and has started sending cases of 3-5 year old canned food for us to feed to our chickens. I know they had chickens back in the day, but haven't got to ask if they fed botulated food to their chickens. Nevermind, just asked my wife, and apperantly her Gmom laughed at her when she asked about chickens getting botulism. They fed their chickens every scrap of food, no matter what condition it was in.

The www says that chickens can get botulism, if they consume enough of it to throw off their gut flora.

I use the double bucket method like Bee. So what I want to do, is overpower the botulism by mixing....maybe 20% scoby with 80% botulismed canned food. Maybe 50/50. I don't know.

We did crack open one can that didn't spew, but the top contents were much darker than the rest, so all of this may not have botulism.

Thoughts? Action Plans? Suggestions?

I'm curious...what would make you think the food has botulism? Just because it's older? I wouldn't mix any of the food with the feed for the simple fact that it's clearly not necessary...but I would dump it out and let them eat it if they wanted, not eat it if they didn't. Older, home canned food does not as a matter of course have botulism in it and that darkening of the food at the top is a natural process...does not mean it's bad food. We are still eating some canned goods from 2007!

 

[RedRidge]

I have another experiment I'm thinking of trying. If anyone remembers a while back, I tried fermenting a little moldy feed, with non-negative results. They weren't necesserily good, but nothing happened and no feed has been wasted since.

New (maybe) experiment: Fermenting Botulated canned food.

My grandmother-in-law doesn't not do a hot water bath when canning and has started sending cases of 3-5 year old canned food for us to feed to our chickens. I know they had chickens back in the day, but haven't got to ask if they fed botulated food to their chickens. Nevermind, just asked my wife, and apperantly her Gmom laughed at her when she asked about chickens getting botulism. They fed their chickens every scrap of food, no matter what condition it was in.

The www says that chickens can get botulism, if they consume enough of it to throw off their gut flora.

I use the double bucket method like Bee. So what I want to do, is overpower the botulism by mixing....maybe 20% scoby with 80% botulismed canned food. Maybe 50/50. I don't know.

We did crack open one can that didn't spew, but the top contents were much darker than the rest, so all of this may not have botulism.

Thoughts? Action Plans? Suggestions?

Much of the answer to your questions has to do with the type of canned food... is it "home canned in glass jars" or "store bought metal cans"
When I think "canned food" I think glass pints and quarts that were prepared properly with water bath or pressure canning. I realized after I read through this that you may not mean that?

If home canned... I'd feel safe for years and years.
If store bought metal cans? Well... you don't want me to go there... I won't let me family eat it so would I ask my chickens to?

Yes... I'm a food snob, I admit it. I truly believe that most food purchased in grocery stores is very unhealthy.

 

[colburg]

I'm curious...what would make you think the food has botulism? Just because it's older? I wouldn't mix any of the food with the feed for the simple fact that it's clearly not necessary...but I would dump it out and let them eat it if they wanted, not eat it if they didn't. Older, home canned food does not as a matter of course have botulism in it and that darkening of the food at the top is a natural process...does not mean it's bad food. We are still eating some canned goods from 2007!

It's not that it's older. It's that the top part of the food has changed color and some of the jars have changed color and others haven't. The contents thus far are salsa and spiced peaches.

The main concern is that these jars weren't hot water bathed and most of the lids have either popped up, or were never properly sealed in the first place.

I don't wanna mix it into my feed, just use the liquid from the bottom bucket to alter the microbes so that it's safe to feed the chickens.

 

[RedRidge]

It's not that it's older. It's that the top part of the food has changed color and some of the jars have changed color and others haven't. The contents thus far are salsa and spiced peaches.

The main concern is that these jars weren't hot water bathed and most of the lids have either popped up, or were never properly sealed in the first place.

I don't wanna mix it into my feed, just use the liquid from the bottom bucket to alter the microbes so that it's safe to feed the chickens.

This is absolutely perfect food for BSF - Black Soldier Flies

They are very high is protein and calcium.
I would use the BSF as a good go between for old foods and then you will have awesome animal protein after the conversion.
That's what I do. Although because I free range in the summer, I freeze all my BSF in the summer and then feed them in the winter.
I have many gallon size bags full already that I've accumulated this summer.
This is a great way to assure quality animal protein year round.

 

[Kassaundra]

It's not that it's older. It's that the top part of the food has changed color and some of the jars have changed color and others haven't. The contents thus far are salsa and spiced peaches.

The main concern is that these jars weren't hot water bathed and most of the lids have either popped up, or were never properly sealed in the first place.

I don't wanna mix it into my feed, just use the liquid from the bottom bucket to alter the microbes so that it's safe to feed the chickens.

Do you grow LAB? I would think since LAB has proven to neutralize through outcompeting salmonella and ecoli, your chances of it neutralizing the toxins in botulism would be greater. I would not try it personally, but be prepared to lose some birds if you do. Guess I don't understand the benefit vs the risk here, neither one of those food items are overly nutritious if anything would just be adding some calories (by that I just mean not particularly high in any vital nutrient)

 

[Kassaundra]

This is absolutely perfect food for BSF - Black Soldier Flies

They are very high is protein and calcium.
I would use the BSF as a good go between for old foods and then you will have awesome animal protein after the conversion.
That's what I do. Although because I free range in the summer, I freeze all my BSF in the summer and then feed them in the winter.
I have many gallon size bags full already that I've accumulated this summer.
This is a great way to assure quality animal protein year round.

Totally agree, or red wiggler composting worms