Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Miss Lydia]

I realize that some of these have been answered but I'll go ahead and chip another .02 into the pot. FYI, my mix is 1/2 pellets and 1/2 grain. I've only been fermenting for 4 months so I'm no expert, only my experiences talking here.
I had this problem in one of my buckets. Solution was to drill larger holes. Mine were 1/8" to 3/16" holes. Can't remember for sure.
I end up with feed in the bottom of my bucket too. Every once in a while, when I'm not feeling lazy, I backslop by pouring the juice over the top of new feed, rinse the bottom bucket and pour that on top as well.
I have tried keeping my feed completely submerged in water and just poured the liquid off the top and fed the mush. I've recently reduced the amount of water I keep in there so that I can get rid of the drainage step.
I do not strain or drain. Just scoop and feed. Sometimes it's a little wetter, sometimes drier. The chickies don't mind either way and it's easy to adjust it on the fly. Does it seem too mushy, add a little feed. Too dry, add a little water. It doesn't take very long to get your system personalized so that there's very little work in it.
Not true for me. We've gone on vacation and the only instructions I left for my inlaws for feeding was to feed the pre-portioned amounts that I already divied into buckets. It sat for 5 days with out being stirred no problem. I just started the same regimin I had always used. Didn't dump any FF or liquid.
I leave it until it's gone. Sometimes my 42 chickens will eat 2 gallons in one day without leaving a drop. The next day I'll put out a little over 2 gallons and half will be left. If more than half is left, I don't feed them anymore the next day and they can get the extra they need free ranging.
There is nothing wrong with that IMO. With no funky smells, I would stir it back in. I've had a layer like that, though not as completely covered, that just got stirred into the mix.
The white/beige stuff is feed and Mother. Reuse it in your next batch. I blast it loose with a water hose and pour it over the new feed.
It would work to do either by themselves. I ferment a mix of the two, no reason they wouldn't work seperate. I have 42 birds and 1-1/2 to 2 gallons per day is what they eat right now.

Been a while since you've been here? I id drill my holes larger works much better.

 

[All4MrD8a]

It did! "Blurp! Blurp! Poooohhhhh...." Just like that.

LOL That's what my dh sounds like late at night. Perhaps I should put him on FF. (I'm joking, of course. He was on FF long before I got the chickens.)

 

[Miss Lydia]

LOL That's what my dh sounds like late at night. Perhaps I should put him on FF. (I'm joking, of course. He was on FF long before I got the chickens.)

 

[Mumsy]

Bacon grease or lard is good for feathering. I know some of the OT's pour this over their feed once a week or so. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower hearts, boss, milo, oats, almonds, alfalfa & granola....all good for them as well & what I used as ingredients for the suet cakes I made. Mumsy who is on here has a detailed list of what she uses and what it is good for.

I also add garlic & cayene pepper to some as natural dewormers.

My hens have not turned their beaks up at any yet.

Well... When I used to condition my birds for showing and wanted feathers to grow in lush, I fed rusk-ed bread soaked in water drained off and then soaked in milk. Not too soggy. Milk and whole wheat bread is an old trick for good feathered exhibition birds from way back. It works for my birds. Fat or BOSS is good for shine. You could feed your birds everything in the pantry and they will eat it but you don't need to put that much effort or $ into the feed pan. Just a few additional quality ingredients regularly.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well... When I used to condition my birds for showing and wanted feathers to grow in lush, I fed rusk-ed bread soaked in water drained off and then soaked in milk. Not too soggy. Milk and whole wheat bread is an old trick for good feathered exhibition birds from way back. It works for my birds. Fat or BOSS is good for shine. You could feed your birds everything in the pantry and they will eat it but you don't need to put that much effort or $ into the feed pan. Just a few additional quality ingredients regularly.

?

 

[Mumsy]

?

Rusk-ed bread? It' an old timey term I guess. Oven dried bread. Like Melba toast. Like hard bisquits. Unbuttered. Unsalted. Just good thick slices of quality whole grain whole wheat. Nothing fancy. And whole milk or buttermilk. As much as the rusk-ed bread will take up. No slops.

 

[Mumsy]

?

Rusk-ed bread? It' an old timey term I guess. Oven dried bread. Like Melba toast. Like hard bisquits. Unbuttered. Unsalted. Just good thick slices of quality whole grain whole wheat. Nothing fancy. And whole milk or buttermilk. As much as the rusk-ed bread will take up. No slops.

edited to add: I don't feed this before birds go to roost for the night. It could cause sour crop.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thank you. I had never heard that term before. Sounds good though. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

 

[pigeonguy]

I finally started some today. I don't have UP/ACV so I will pick some up the next time I go into town. (Hubby has been stopping for groceries on his way home from work to save on gas money but he sometimes comes home with some interesting things even though I give VERY detailed lists. LOL) So I added regular ACV and figure it will take a bit longer to start. I do have a question: what do you use to cut your protein with? Currently I have 22% layer and 13% 9 way scratch. This will up the 22% to 34 and the 9 way to 25%. Should I cut it with just plain wheat or corn. I tried finding the answer but didn't read through all of the 4000+ replies. Thanks.

Hi,

I am very confused about how you're figuring your protein content...You say above that by fermenting you will raise the protein content from 22% to 34%. My understanding is that by fermenting you can increase the protein content by 12% (OF the original protein content), so that would be 12% of the original 22% as I read it, not an additional 12%. So that would work out to an increase of the 22% layer by around 3%, or up to 25%, not the 34% you mentioned.

I am also surprised your scratch is that high in protein. I've seen scratch here that is closed to 7-8% protein. I wonder what exactly the 9 ingredients are to get that much protein in scratch.

I am hoping Beekissed or someone else can please clarify this point.

Oh no, you were dead on sweetie. I just wanted to add that in for anyone using some odd numbered parts. I just learned it last night, so I got to feel smart for about five minutes too.

Okay. It makes much more sense that it increases 12% of the original content not an additional 12% protein. Not sure exactly what I was thinking when the original thought popped in my head.

I actually use a Pearson's Square to figure out the amount of the different feeds I need to reach an appropriate protein level. That or Metzer Farms feed calculator. Typically I mix 100 lbs of the 9-way with 50 lbs of the 22% layer and get a 16% mix.

My 9-way is made by a local mill. Its actually called "Poultry Power" 9-way plus. I never really looked at the label but the first ingredient is "grain products". Not very informative. It has BOSS, whole corn, wheat, oats, millet, 2 types of pellet and 2 other things that I guess I can't identify by visual inspection.

My mix is bubbling away this morning and now I may know why. The 9 way includes "dried yeast culture" and "dried extracted streptomyces fermentation solubles" not sure what this second one is. It smells like bread dough.

My take on this after reading for months about fermenting feed is that it raises the protein absorption by 12% not the protein value. So if you are feeding 16% feed and the chickens absorb 75% of that protein if you ferment it they will now absorb 87% of that same 16%.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My take on this after reading for months about fermenting feed is that it raises the protein absorption by 12% not the protein value. So if you are feeding 16% feed and the chickens absorb 75% of that protein if you ferment it they will now absorb 87% of that same 16%.

I don't really know for sure ..I read every scrap and post I see that relates to FF. Not just here, but mother earth news, anything i find on state ag websites...There's more argument to do it than the small amount that's not. but i do know they all look and act a lot healthier. I am spending a lot less for feed, probably 1/3rd. Been doing the FF for months now, and even my smallest guinea hen is thriving and just beautiful. Some of my flock were "give ups" that i sincerely had concern they would never improve. My stray barn cats look great, and my pug mix doesn't have skin problems & rashes anymore. My pigs just scarf it up as soon as the bucket is dumped! The only critters that aren't really interested are my alpaca, they were really attracted to the feed in the beginning, but are turning away from it now.