Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Mumsy]

That looks like a great mix. What do you differently in the other months?

Thanks. It's working well for adult layers and eight week old chicks. I ferment unmedicated chick starter separately until three or four weeks old.
I started lessening the alfalfa cubes. Grass is coming up where I live and I free range. The Alfalfa is for added protein and greens during the months they can't get it naturally. I also started taking out BOSS and corn scratch. They are coming out of winter in good weight and it isn't cold enough here to warrant the added fat and carbs. When Oregano, Chard, and Collards are going well in the garden, I will take out the dried Oregano last. By late Spring the FF will consist of Crumble, whole Oats, ground Pumpkin seed, and fresh crushed garlic only. Most of their ration will be found free ranging.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks. It's working well for adult layers and eight week old chicks. I ferment unmedicated chick starter separately until three or four weeks old.
I started lessening the alfalfa cubes. Grass is coming up where I live and I free range. The Alfalfa is for added protein and greens during the months they can't get it naturally. I also started taking out BOSS and corn scratch. They are coming out of winter in good weight and it isn't cold enough here to warrant the added fat and carbs. When Oregano, Chard, and Collards are going well in the garden, I will take out the dried Oregano last. By late Spring the FF will consist of  Crumble, whole Oats,  ground Pumpkin seed, and fresh crushed garlic only. Most of their ration will be found free ranging.

Thank you. It looks like most of the items I've been feeding dry to them are on your lists. Lol. Now I guess. Just need to ferment them instead. I give alfalfa hay to them and they munch on it all winter long along with the pumpkin and occasional garlic powdered scrambled eggs.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

This is Juliet on FF! (fermented feed)

& Juliet after her bath and haircut! If this doesnt work, the silkies will NOT get FF anylonger as I had a terrible time cleaning her up since its at her face and nostrils, I pray I didnt hurt her with all that water at her face! I cut most of her poof off, one plus is that she can finally see as you always had too much poof it covered her entire face. I had to be VERY CAREFUL not to cut her wattles under that mess at her beak too! She loved the meal worms at blow dryer break times!

 

[B J Hopkins]

This is Juliet on FF! (fermented feed)

& Juliet after her bath and haircut! If this doesnt work, the silkies will NOT get FF anylonger as I had a terrible time cleaning her up since its at her face and nostrils, I pray I didnt hurt her with all that water at her face! I cut most of her poof off, one plus is that she can finally see as you always had too much poof it covered her entire face. I had to be VERY CAREFUL not to cut her wattles under that mess at her beak too! She loved the meal worms at blow dryer break times!

Ha Ha, your Juliet looks like my Show Girl Ringo. I'm not feeding them quite as much FF because of how their heads & beards look. I've thought of trimming her topnot but was kinda afraid to.

 

[blessedchick]

This is Juliet on FF! (fermented feed)

& Juliet after her bath and haircut! If this doesnt work, the silkies will NOT get FF anylonger as I had a terrible time cleaning her up since its at her face and nostrils, I pray I didnt hurt her with all that water at her face! I cut most of her poof off, one plus is that she can finally see as you always had too much poof it covered her entire face. I had to be VERY CAREFUL not to cut her wattles under that mess at her beak too! She loved the meal worms at blow dryer break times!

Oh no! Poor Juliet! My silkies and showgirls are all on ff and I've never had any of them have trouble with it getting into their crests and beards. Maybe your ff has more moisture content than mine does?? Mine is pretty thick and not runny at all....hmmm...or maybe its the bowls that I use. I use those plastic dog bowls where they have to reach a bit over the slanted sides to reach the feed. That could have something to do with it since they do manage to get water in their crests while drinking out of the straight sided heated dog bowls. Just a thought...I'd hate to see you give up on ff (and Juliet looks BEAUTIFUL with her new crest-do!)

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: I also use dog dishes because a few cant see well so to help with all this miss pecks. No our feed is not watery, I use a mash and add whole grains. Thank you!

 

[Costa Rica Art]

As I have mentioned before I went to a 4 day ferment and it has really made a huge difference in the amount of mother on top of the mash and as I've read the amount of probiotics in the mash. Of course taking the fermenter off the shelf and setting it down burst most of the bubbles but I think you can see what a nice layer of mother is on top of the mash, I am guessing that it is almost a 1/4" thick (there is about 1" of water standing on top of the mash). When I first took the lid off the fermenter the amount of smell just filled the kitchen area, it was awesome, could have been a sourdough bakery. The main changes I have made is first and foremost is going to a natural yogurt for my starter, second is the 4 day ferment and I also tried adding molasses to the ferment which I changed to adding molasses to the FF after I have put it in the feed trough. It may have been the other ingredients in the molasses that affected the mother but I didn't think it was best to add to the ferment so it is being added on top of the FF in the trough. A couple of times a week I add maybe 12 ounces of my raw milk yogurt to the top of the FF in the trough, what a pandemonium results. The good ol' black hen loves the stuff, she is there first and leaves last. Oh, for those of you that have silkies and are having a problem with it getting all over their heads, pour your FF into a strainer and let it drip for 20/30 minutes, that will stop most of the problem, none of my silkies end up with any in their feathers. The amount of FF in the strainer when heaped up fills a 30" X 4" trough, the strainer is 10" across (this was the second batch out of the fermenter this morning).


You can see how the mash has fermented by the mother splashed in the sides of the fermenter during fermentation.


A second batch out of the fermenter on the left, still figuring out how much feed I can put in the fermenter without having it grow to where it slops over the side. Usually the strainer is heaped with mash. Straining the mash allows me to have water standing on top of the mash during fermenting so there is no bad bacteria growth and no mold. I can control the amount of liquid or lack of liquid in the trough. Allowing the mash to drain keeps it from sticking all over the chickens beaks/head/feathers.

 

[bobbieschicks]

[COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD]As I have mentioned before I went to a 4 day ferment and it has really made a huge difference in the amount of mother on top of the mash and as I've read the amount of probiotics in the mash. Of course taking the fermenter off the shelf and setting it down burst most of the bubbles but I think you can see what a nice layer of mother is on top of the mash, I am guessing that it is almost a 1/4" thick (there is about 1" of water standing on top of the mash). When I first took the lid off the fermenter the amount of smell just filled the kitchen area, it was awesome, could have been a sourdough bakery. The main changes I have made is first and foremost is going to a natural yogurt for my starter, second is the 4 day ferment and I also tried adding molasses to the ferment which I changed to adding molasses to the FF after I have put it in the feed trough. It may have been the other ingredients in the molasses that affected the mother but I didn't think it was best to add to the ferment so it is being added on top of the FF in the trough. A couple of times a week I add maybe 12 ounces of my raw milk yogurt to the top of the FF in the trough, what a pandemonium results. The good ol' black hen loves the stuff, she is there first and leaves last. Oh, for those of you that have silkies and are having a problem with it getting all over their heads, pour your FF into a strainer and let it drip for 20/30 minutes, that will stop most of the problem, none of my silkies end up with any in their feathers. The amount of FF in the strainer when heaped up fills a 30" X 4" trough, the strainer is 10" across (this was the second batch out of the fermenter this morning).[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD]You can see how the mash has fermented by the mother splashed in the sides of the fermenter during fermentation.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD]A second batch out of the fermenter on the left, still figuring out how much feed I can put in the fermenter without having it grow to where it slops over the side. Usually the strainer is heaped with mash. Straining the mash allows me to have water standing on top of the mash during fermenting so there is no bad bacteria growth and no mold. I can control the amount of liquid or lack of liquid in the trough. Allowing the mash to drain keeps it from sticking all over the chickens beaks/head/feathers.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR]

Cool. What's your set up for fermenting? What are those cups you are draining into?

 

[Arielle]

It has taken me 4 days to get through this whole thread as well as working on the thread about getting the flock back to health. I am going to give this a 1 year whole hearted effort, our forfathers sure didn't have a store handy a mile down the road filled to the brim with mass amounts of antibiotics and wormers. The longer I keep chickens the more I care about health and longevity and keeping the cost down where I can. I find I would rather have a flock longer and lay slower than birds that are done for after the first laying season. FF seems like such an easy cheap thing to do with maximum effect!

YOu may have noticed that the birds you start with are a big part of the picture-- The birds vary in their genetic abilites to fight dieases. If you buy old lines that have never been medicated with antibiotics, they are more likely to have innate immunites inherited generation to generation. THe more protected a flock has been the less natural abilites to fight diseases thru genetic abilities.

 

[Costa Rica Art]

Cool. What's your set up for fermenting? What are those cups you are draining into?

Here is a link to my system when I was fermenting for 3 days, same system but I added another fermenter.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds/820#post_9311538
The "cups" are plastic trash cans, they hold about 3 gallons of mash. When the mash was done draining after 20 minutes there was about 6" of liquid in the bottom which is what I use for the continuous starter after having used natural yogurt starter to get the system going.