Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[leenie]

ACV is Apple Cider Vinegar. Bragg ACV is one brand which contains "the Mother" which is the live culture. You can tell if there is culture by the gunk resting in the bottom of the glass container or some may be floating on top as well. It's a cloudy ACV not clear.

Bragg Organic Raw Unfiltered ACV

 

[aoxa]

What is ACV with mother in it?  What does it look like?  Just to be sure we are talking about a form of Apple Cider Vinegar? How can i tell if it has "mother" in it?  Im looking to start a meat bird operation in the spring, so Im very interested to know what to do properly.

It will say on the bottle

 

[leenie]

A picture is worth a thousand words​

 

[aoxa]

​

A picture is worth a thousand words ​

This is what I use.

Though in a bigger bottle, it's the same price as Braggs, and has more of it per bottle (again not this bottle..)

http://www.omeganutrition.com/
Funny.. Just checked out their store, and I can buy it cheaper in the grocery store! $5.99 32fl oz.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Got a question! Are you folks pulling those buckets apart a lot? If so, can I ask why? I think I'm missing something....

No but wanted to put more holes around closer to the top of the bucket when I had the ff down pretty far. But they are stuck tight.

 

[aoxa]

No but wanted to put more holes around closer to the top of the bucket when I had the ff down pretty far. But they are stuck tight. 

My stuck bucket unstuck when I emptied the entire top one. Have you tried that? I don't mean waste the food.. Just feed all of it and then try to pull it apart. Maybe it will work then?

 

[3 NH reds]

No but they screamed a little.

For 5 days the JG rooster would fly up to the pan of ff I brought to the meaties as I carried it in. My wife got the camera for day 6 and he never did it again. I think he is just a trouble maker. Now that I am down to 2 turkey the amount of ff I make is less than half of what it was. Fine by me as making it in a basement is slow. If I did it upstairs I could see the hound dog getting into it.

 

[aoxa]

3NHRed:

My dogs will eat the FF as well. The poodle especially loves the stuff.

I have to be careful to cover it properly.

 

[flyinchicks]

The only time I ever took the buckets apart was when I was feeding out 50 meaties. Had to drain off a little because I was dishing so much out of the bucket that I was running into the water with my scoops. Trust me, if I still had to drain a 5 gal. bucket out each day, it would be done at the coop and not from the house.

When I first started this, I was draining off feed because I had to empty almost that whole bucket in a day's time on meaties but still retain enough of the fermented water in the bottom bucket to inoculate the bucket full of fresh feed that was being added. All that water was very valuable and full of the rich cultures. I had to ferment almost a whole 5 gal. bucket of fresh feed by the next day but I really wanted it to be a rich ferment.

Does that make any sense?

Now that I'm only feeding 10 birds, I just mix my feed thicker and I'm not feeding my whole bucket of feed each day, my feed gets to sit longer in the fermented water and cook well. I don't need to drain it to avoid feeding out my good cultures in a soupy feed...I can just mix it to my desired thickness and feed it like that. Got plenty of rich fermented water now to go around, so I don't drain it off at all. Just keep less soup in the bucket.

yes makes total sense. I have 30 laying hens and Saturday I butchered 20 cornish. I was going thru 2-5 gal buckets a day so the "good juice" helped speed things along. I was using every bit out of the bucket. I am only a few days past butchering but it seems like 1-5 gal bucket a day will feed the layers. I am still going to keep 2 bucket systems going to get a little more goody growing.

Also ate my first cornish I ever butchered last night and it was wonderful. I didnt season it at all and put in the rotisserie. I can only compare it to store bought since it was my first but yumm. It also felt good knowing that I was eating a chicken raised on FF. No medicated feed at all. Happy to be feeding this to my family. So thankful to all for sharing knowledge.

 

[aoxa]

yes makes total sense.  I have 30 laying hens and Saturday I butchered 20 cornish.  I was going thru 2-5 gal buckets a day so the "good juice" helped speed things along.  I was using every bit out of the bucket.  I am only a few days past butchering but it seems like 1-5 gal bucket a day will feed the layers.  I am still going to keep 2 bucket systems going to get a little more goody growing.

Also ate my first cornish I ever butchered last night and it was wonderful.  I didnt season it at all and put in the rotisserie.  I can only compare it to store bought since it was my first but yumm.  It also felt good knowing that I was eating a chicken raised on FF.  No medicated feed at all.   Happy to be feeding this to my family.  So thankful to all for sharing knowledge.

How many gallons are my buckets? I can't seem to find that info.. Just says dimensions. I go through two buckets a day for 140 birds.

Also..

Is 24 hours enough for it to ferment?

Should I get more bucket systems going?