Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[WalkingWolf1]

. . . . We didn't even start it w/ acv, didn't know about it, we just started w/ water and grains . . . .

Thanks for the followup. Yes, grains will definitely start fermenting once they get wet. The native yeast on the grain is what starts up the ferment. When the ole-timers would make wine they would do what they'd call a "natural ferment" which essentially was leaving the top open and picking up whatever yeast happen to drift by to start up their ferments. The ACV component introduces the bacteria (acetobacter sp.) that converts the alcohol produced during fermentation to vinegar. I like the "scale" you guys utilize. Seems to cut WAY down on the hustle and shuffle that seems to be such a big part of the discussions in this thread.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Ok, going to add 1/2 cup mealies to the FF for my birds. Thoughts, good, bad...am i crazy? (umm never mind don't answer that hehe

)
My indoor duckweed farm is slowing way down, must be because the house is cooler.
Our first snow hits tomorrow, and sharp temp drop tomorrow night. Got extra bedding to throw in tomorrow morning, and some cracked corn to add for fermenting grain bucket..
I think snow is pretty, don't get me wrong. I can live without it tho.
Can always "feel" a storm coming before I hear it on the news! joints get all stiff.

Would you please share how you do the duckweed indoors?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Would you please share how you do the duckweed indoors?

I have a 75 gallon tank with 2 Oscars, and a pleco. I bought some from an eBay dealer, but its a common thing in ponds here too i found out later.. I try to feed it at a cup i my ff 1X a week. Very high proteins and my waterfowl get very excited over it. Its an extremely high protein additive.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This pretty Roo was designated for the soup pot. But both my husband & I felt he was just TOOOO good looking. So I set him down to join the flock. Sired by Blue Cochin/Hen was a Black Copper Maran. He has light copper streaks in his neck feathers.






His legs are not as feathered as a Cochin, but he sure is good looking (to us). He and the rest of the flock have been eating FF since the first of Oct.

He's beautiful.

 

[groverlvchx]

OK today is day #3 of FF. My girls attacked it the first day, nibbled the second, and are avoiding it today. Are their tummies sore? I'm chalking it up to adjustment. I'll wait a week. My FF is nice and thick now, smells kinda pickley. I brought them a tray of fodder and they attacked that, so they're eating. I'm getting eggs every day. I'm going to stay the course...I hope the adjustment period is fast. Also, maybe I'm overfeeding. I'll cut back. Today I also gave them 2 cups of whey, which they usually love, but I poured it over FF and they wouldn't look at it. Hmmmmm....I don't have much time to hang out and watch them, I'll update you tonight. Did you all noticed an adjustment period? If so, how long did it last?

 

[Ashdoes]

I've been doing the FF for a few months now, and that's how my chickens eat. Some days they attack it and eat all day, other days they walk right past it and head to the dirt. I'm not sure if it's something the FF does for them, but it just seems to be one of the benefits and why we don't go through as much feed.

 

[aoxa]

I've been doing the FF for a few months now, and that's how my chickens eat. Some days they attack it and eat all day, other days they walk right past it and head to the dirt. I'm not sure if it's something the FF does for them, but it just seems to be one of the benefits and why we don't go through as much feed.

I love that part of it. So much less food eaten.

 

[NickyPick]

In my 1 bucket system, I have a mix of layena pellets, oats, barley & scratch grains and alternate with alfalfa pellets & BOSS. I fill up a 2 gallon bucket with the pellets/grain and add hot water, dump that in my 5 gallon fermenting bucket. The first day, I added a couple glugs of UPACV. Started feeding on day 2. I do use a strainer because at the moment, I'm keeping the FF in the utility room in the house. When the weather warms up, we'll move it outside and go to a 2 bucket system. This amount will last me about 3 days and at that time, the large bucket is mostly liquid, with a little bit of feed in the bottom. I add another 2 gallon bucket of grains/hot water and stir (usually in the evening) - and it's ready to go in the morning. I've been doing this for over a month now and the FF has never gone bad, always smells nicely fermented and the chickens alternate from scarfing it down to grazing throughout the day. If they don't finish one days feed, they get less the next day. Seems to work for us.

 

[kian]

I've tried two batches (I made mine in mason jars. I don't have a huge flock and I figured that this was a good size to experiment with). The first batch, it took them all day, but they finally ate it. The second batch... *looks into the run*... yeah it's still there. They aren't interested. However, I really do not know if I did it right or not. It smelled good to me, there were some bubbles (I used a bit of non-sweetened yogurt to get it started. Have no idea if that was even a good idea), but really, as far as I know I'm simply feeding them mush.

*goes back to read instructions again* I really want this to work

 

[groverlvchx]

Okay, stead as she goes! Thanks for the reassurances. Feeding less was one of the goals, so I should be happy they aren't eating more!
<feeling silly>