Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Lacy Blues]

I have a few keets in the brooder, right now. I decided to give their feed a go at fermentation and see how they'd do with it. Today was their first try and they decimated it. Looks like I have a winner

I was actually having problems getting them to eat the regular food. But, the fermented disappeared. I'm so thrilled to see that. I can't thank y'all enough for starting this thread. As much as I ferment, you'd think I'd have considered fermenting feed...but, until this thread popped up on BYC it had never crossed my mind. Craziness.

Do you do a lot of fermenting for yourself? Aoxa put a link on here a while back regarding fermenting food for yourself and the health benefits of eating that way. I saved that link but it was on another computer which has since crashed and I hadn't taken the time to read that information yet. I'd really like to know about this if you could share? If anyone has that link for the fermented food for people and the benefits of eating that way and its ability to resist cancer, I'd really appreciate it if you would share that info again, thanks.

I have a quick question too!! So you can do this to teir regular layer feed?? Or does it need to be a mix of grains you buy at a grain/feedstore??

Yes, you can ferment lay pellet or chick starter too along with grains or without them. The lay pellets seem to feed out better if you keep it pretty thick.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I am a newbie jumping into this with both feet, help! I am gone all day every day - so I do not want to underfeed and have them hungry all day from too small of a morning meal, so I want to get a better idea of how much to feed so that will happen nor will there be too much waste. Should I leave their feeder with dry to free-feed in addition to the FF?

As a side note - should they have an issue of cleaning their "plate" with the FF bowl with the clipped beaks?

Sorry for rambling! Thank you!

Some of my girls also have clipped beaks, and they should do fine (maybe even better) with ff. They do have some trouble grabbing and holding onto things (kind of like you would have if all your fingers were cut off at the knuckles) but do fine when food is placed in a deeper dish. They can sometimes pick things up off the ground depending on how small the items are. My girls like the ff as it seems easier for them to get a good beakful, they can just kind of shovel it up.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

This may not be the same one as Aoxa's but it has a lot about fermenting. Also google 'fermented veggies' and the net is full of recipes. hth.

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/cu...-recipes#fermentation_articles_videos_recipes

 

[SunnysMama]

It is your assumption that I was being sarcastic. I was not being sarcastic in the least. The photo is that of a molded fermentation. You stated you were feeding exactly the same kind of resulted fermentation to your flock for months....therefore, you have been feeding the same kind of molded fermentation to your flock for months and they are fine. I'm not sure why you took exception to the statement as it was neither negative nor sarcastic. I'm not at all understanding the ease with which you took offense at a statement that was not intended to be offensive at all - just a statement of apparent facts. The statement clearly showed that my opinion was just that and that your opinion was different - AND that your differing opinion has resulted in no ill effects for your flock. So...deep breath...relax....and let go of the anger. No offense was intended nor was sarcasm intended or implied.




I am using H&H feed, my mix (legumes, quinoa and buckwheat) and purina scratch grains. I use 3:1:1 and it seems to come out lovely. I started it with a full bottle of ACV with mother and I add a tablespoon of active baking yeast to really get it going. Just using the ACV got me a nice colony going; but, it was not nearly so lively. I dumped that batch and did the ACV + active yeast and have this as a result. You have to be absolutely certain to keep at least an inch of water over your mix to protect it (I'm sure you do, already). When you stir it up, you will see a nice, thick layer of mother over the top of your grains. Just stir it in and watch the foam grow - it smells a bit like a mix between sourdough mother and fermenting beer. When/if the smell ever makes my nose start to wrinkle, or I loose that clear, brown colour to my hooch, I assume something's gotten into the mix that I don't want in there and I dump it and start over. Since I do not seal up my fermentation, and it's in a highly used area of the house (just off my kitchen), the potential for unwanted bacteria/mold/whatever is certainly not negligible. So, I rather err on the side of caution. But, I'm a worrier...I'm an engineer - I'm used to finding problems everywhere.....so, expecting positive results when things aren't exactly how I want them...well...my husband swears I have OCD about it

How much are you paying for the H&H feed? If you're spending the money to buy the non-GMO feed why do you buy the Purina scratch grains? I wish I could find someone locally that sold a good non-GMO feed!!!

 

[countrygirl74]

How much are you paying for the H&H feed? If you're spending the money to buy the non-GMO feed why do you buy the Purina scratch grains? I wish I could find someone locally that sold a good non-GMO feed!!!

Have you checked into www.azurestandard.com for non-gmo feed - see if there's a drop in your area. That's where I buy my feed. I just get the grower mash for all my birds and ferment that. I posted a couple pics a page or two back on how easy it is to drain. I get non-gmo scratch as well but I haven't checked azure for that yet as I still have a bag from a local drop from Modesto Milling.

 

[SunnysMama]

Have you checked into www.azurestandard.com for non-gmo feed - see if there's a drop in your area. That's where I buy my feed. I just get the grower mash for all my birds and ferment that. I posted a couple pics a page or two back on how easy it is to drain. I get non-gmo scratch as well but I haven't checked azure for that yet as I still have a bag from a local drop from Modesto Milling.

Thank you for the info!!!

 

[Kilsharion]

How much are you paying for the H&H feed? If you're spending the money to buy the non-GMO feed why do you buy the Purina scratch grains? I wish I could find someone locally that sold a good non-GMO feed!!!

Because they were out of H&H Scratch the last time I went, so I'm going through the Purina (the only other option I had at the time). Once I'm done with it, I'll be back on H&H Scratch **grins** The H&H feed runs about $28/50#.

 

[stone_family3]

I skimmed through the thread and didn't see it, but could I pick up some cheap bags of wild bird seed and throw that into the fermented food mix? If so would it be okay for both my layers and my production red roos?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Yes, that will be fine for all of your birds.

 

[B J Hopkins]

I've been feeding FF 4 parts Eggs pellets to 1 part Scratch since the first of Oct 2012. This Friday 3/8/13 I had to part w/11 of my chickens. The friend who traded for them said she is "AMAZED" at how the birds look. As she placed each bird in the carrier she was really impressed at their weight too.

FF does give great results!