Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[galanie]

The scratch I get is milo, cracked corn, and a bit of wheat. To this I added wheat and oats, then the soybean. I have it figured that it's probably over 20% right now but I may be a bit off because I don't know the exact mix in the scratch, naturally, since it isn't labeled as to exactly what's in it. I think mine is really higher than I figured though because I went by volume instead of weight for the amounts. DUH. Soybean meal is tons heavier per measure than the other is, especially the whole unhulled oats. Mine pick out the wheat first, by the way. Guess they all have their own likes.

 

[TinaSwarr]

confused about the soybeans, I thought soybeans had to be cooked first to use as feed, and since i grow all these things how would I go about shelling things at a decent price, mixing would not be a problem since we still have the big feed mixers from when we raised pigs.......tried shelling some corn in my blender, did not go so well(I no longer have a blender). coming out of our own fields would be corn, barley, wheat,and soybeans. hubby says he can try other things that i would need but he would only do about an acre of them. and I also am in the process of starting mealworms, how much would this throw off the protein....self reliance is my goal here. will be planting half acre of sunflower this year can they also be used, would they have to be shelled

 

[SmokinChick]

So, as I wait pensively for ATF to bust down my door! Am I making hooch?
I have 8lbs. of mash brewing in (almost to small bucket) the garage. Bubbling like its on the stove! It does smell good enough to eat myself.
I am using 8 lbs because I am guessing that maybe close to my daily consumption soon.
I did feed them the mix I had in the cheesecloth. All went well after abit of hesitation.
Tomorrow I will attempt to drain off the liquid. And feed them the mash into their trough. I am out of mash, the mill ran out! I will start a three bucket system, with two days of fermentation. The third bucket will be my drain off bucket then will be used to start a new batch. As long as the bubbles appear in two days I'll be good.
Or until the ATF show up!
Hopefully this will result in less food eaten and happy birds?

 

[galanie]

confused about the soybeans, I thought soybeans had to be cooked first to use as feed, and since i grow all these things how would I go about shelling things at a decent price, mixing would not be a problem since we still have the big feed mixers from when we raised pigs.......tried shelling some corn in my blender, did not go so well(I no longer have a blender).  coming out of our own fields would be   corn, barley, wheat,and soybeans.  hubby says he can try other things that i would need but he would only do about an acre of them. and I also am in the process of starting mealworms, how much would this throw off the protein....self reliance is my goal here.  will be planting half acre of sunflower this year can they also be used, would they have to be shelled

The soybean meal you get at the feed store is from soybeans that have been roasted. Yes, it does have to be cooked first in some way. If you use peas though, it doesn't. This includes field peas and blackeye peas. For grown birds, the sunflower seeds dont' have to be shelled.

 

[Beekissed]

Sounds like you will have to invest in a sheller of some kind. It will probably pay for itself in the long run.

When the chooks are done with this grain mix, I may buy some fresh milled laying mash and mix in the barley and rolled oats. I like the sound of soybean meal for protein... but then I don't like the sound of some of it's properties, so if I have it in the laying mash ingredients at all(I'm sure there will be some there) it will be in smaller amounts than if I mixed it by bulk grain into my feed mix.

 

[shadowmane]

Hmmm... I have a feeling I've been feeding my chicks vinegar flavored mush. We haven't been using the 5 gallon bucket system, but have been letting the stuff sit for 16 hours before we serve it. Perhaps the stuff on the bottom might get fermented, but I don't know about the rest. I might have to adjust how I'm doing things. Dunno if I'll be switching feed soon.

 

[Beekissed]

Are you stirring it as you dip out feed? It does better with aeration, so I leave my lid cracked and stir it whenever I access the bucket. It will probably smell and taste somewhat like vinegar...ever taste pickled corn? Excellent stuff! Except this won't have the brine content in it.

When my top bucket is resting in the bottom, the liquid comes up and over the top of the feed in the uppermost bucket. I try to keep all the grain submersed in this liquid so they will all get a chance to ferment well. Right before feeding, I pull that top bucket up a little, hook it to the ceiling and let it drain into the bottom bucket, go feed the dog, check water supplies, etc. When I come back it's pretty much drained and I feed the chooks, lower the bucket back down into the ferment and am done for that feeding.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I served my half-grown chicks their first meal of fermented chick starter. They were already hungry and dug right in to it. If you have picky chickens I'd say to wait until they were hungry and to sprinkle some dry food over the top of the mush to get them more accustomed to the new texture. This stuff was slow to drain, I think I'll do something similar and leave it to drain while I go do something else. I thought I could just pour it through the colander and it would be ready, but it does need more time to drain off.

Do you use the grains to ferment because they're cheaper or because it's more beneficial (in terms of growth & health)?

 

[Beekissed]

Cheaper! I'm just feeding CX right now and I don't really care about long term results with them. As long as they are healthy, free ranging and eating feed that isn't old, bagged and of commercial grade, I'm a happy lady. It's also a plus that it's cheap, so I'll be turning out healthy meat that didn't cost me an arm and a leg to produce.

When the layers move in, I'll be adding layer mash to this ferment and do 50/50 whole grains(minus the corn) and laying mash. I can get fresh milled layer mash here, so I don't mind feeding that to the layers. The fermentation will just make it healthier, increase the nutrient value and provide a health benefit of probios. This means I won't have to buy feed as often and I won't have to worry about health issues...which I never do. My flocks are always incredibly healthy and productive and I attribute it all to preventative health management/husbandry.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

Are you stirring it as you dip out feed? It does better with aeration, so I leave my lid cracked and stir it whenever I access the bucket. It will probably smell and taste somewhat like vinegar...ever taste pickled corn? Excellent stuff! Except this won't have the brine content in it.

When my top bucket is resting in the bottom, the liquid comes up and over the top of the feed in the uppermost bucket. I try to keep all the grain submersed in this liquid so they will all get a chance to ferment well. Right before feeding, I pull that top bucket up a little, hook it to the ceiling and let it drain into the bottom bucket, go feed the dog, check water supplies, etc. When I come back it's pretty much drained and I feed the chooks, lower the bucket back down into the ferment and am done for that feeding.

Do you fill your bucket back up with feed before you lower it back down, for the next feeding? Do you only feed one time per day?