Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[yinepu]

Quote:
Gotcha! so.... dog food.. cat food... fish food.. turtle food..... and so on is just people food in disguise.. (i can buy all of those at my local grocery store.. and they are labeled as pet food)

 

[ozexpat]

Gotcha! so.... dog food.. cat food... fish food.. turtle food..... and so on is just people food in disguise.. (i can buy all of those at my local grocery store.. and they are labeled as pet food)

you are now talking pets, not farm animals, when did you last see a label "quality sheep food"? we personify pets.

Someone asked a question, I answered it. i am ok with people who play gotcha and will be first to stand corrected but if you would like explanations of the nuances of our language, i am happy to oblige.

 

[ash10383]

Quote:
Thank you!! Now my next question is probably getting on the anal side of things but I'll ask it anyway: type of water used. I'm thinking I will have my FF going in the basement. there I can access our cold water that has gone through the water softner, but our attached garage has a faucet that uses our well water before the softener and in the kitchen we have an Reverse Osmosis filter...would one type of water be better or worse than the others? Crazy question I know.....

 

[Kilsharion]

Thank you!! Now my next question is probably getting on the anal side of things but I'll ask it anyway: type of water used. I'm thinking I will have my FF going in the basement. there I can access our cold water that has gone through the water softner, but our attached garage has a faucet that uses our well water before the softener and in the kitchen we have an Reverse Osmosis filter...would one type of water be better or worse than the others? Crazy question I know.....

Personally, I don't think it matters. Others may have a different opinion, and I'd be interested in hearing them

My water softener tap is slooooooow to provide water, so when I'm not feeling patient, I just use the regular tap water.

The type of water isn't important; but, when you are getting the first fermentation going, you'd probably do better to use warm water (just this side of hot). Too hot and you kill the yeast, too cold and it takes a while for the yeast to decide it wants to wake up. If you are using baker's yeast, it's pretty much dormant yeast. When you put it in with warm water, it comes out of dormancy. At least, that's the story I've been told over the years - someone correct me if I am mistaken, please.

Leaving your bucket uncovered, btw, is a way that people way back in the day used to make mead and beer. It's an attractant to the "wild cultures" and you can get some really interesting results depending on the yeast colony that decides to make your FF home. Just so long as the smell isn't horrible (like something died in the corner), you should be good.

I tested out a hypothesis I had developed from how my FF smelled from cycle to cycle...this is probably more info than you want; but, here you go.

When I used ACV with mother, no yeast and Purina crumbles (it was cheap and I was 'wasting' it in an experiment) and some scratch grains, the smell was just like sourdough starter.
When I used warm water, baking yeast, Purina crumbles and scratch, the smell was just like that of bread dough rising on the counter. No sour tang to it.
When I used ACV with mother, no yeast, H&H feed (non-GMO with fish meal and kelp) and scratch grains, the smell is a bit more "ripe", with a bit of sourdough tang.
When I used warm water, baking yeast, H&H feed and scratch grains, the smell is a bit more "ripe" than the crumbles, but it has a very subtle tang to it.

So, I'm making an assumption - and that's all it is - that the way the feed is processed to make the crumbles like Purina crumbles is what gives it such a breadlike smell. H&H isn't quite bread smelling. My point being - if your hooch is nice, clear and brownish in colour (like tanin filled water) and it doesn't smell like a week old dead body, you're good to go. If your hooch turns an obvious orange or yellowish colour ((this is before you stir it, btw)), or is very murky or cloudy, then take a good wiff and make sure it doesn't smell like dead body. Me, I dump mine when my hooch gets offcoloured; but, I'm paranoid. Many others on the thread don't get nearly as paranoid about things and their flocks are thriving. So - to each his/her own.

Experiment a bit and find out what works best for you. Some on here - Yinepu I think is one - doesn't even worry about having a hooch barrier....correct me if I'm wrong about that, Yinepu.

**hooch, btw is the water barrier between the skin that forms on the top (bubbles, etc) and the actual feed and yeast colony that are down below. When you stir, you disrupt the hooch - so to view it, very lightly take your spoon or strainer or whatever and clear a spot in the skin. Your skin may not cover the whole top, in which case, it's really easy to see the hooch without having to do a thing.

 

[yinepu]

Quote: I guessed you missed this guy:

(he seems to be missing from where you quoted me)

I could argue the fact that a livestock guardian dog is not a "pet" yet eats "dog food".. but i think you missed this little guy

so I'm not sure you can see I was pointing out the humor in it...

basically it's just ironic to me.. some people have had their chickens allowed by HOAs because they convinced them they were "pets".. there is even the website "my pet chicken".. Others have pot belly pigs as "pets". or goats as "pets" and mini equines ARE considered "pets" yet they all still eat "feed". and in some places a "pet rat" or "pet snake" would be considered to be vermin... I have always thought it was funny that there are farm ANIMALS.. yet a PET by the definition of "food vs feed" isn't considered an "animal"...
and I can take corn labeled as "livestock feed" and grind it up to make corn tortillas or corn bread.. so does that make me livestock if I eat it?

and again.. I hope you can see the humor as I intend it...

(adding these guys for emphasis)

 

[Noncentzter]

My ff is not runny, but I use a cat litter scoop to remove it from my buckets and it works quite well. It has "slats", not holes in it.

 

[Kilsharion]

My ff is not runny, but I use a cat litter scoop to remove it from my buckets and it works quite well. It has "slats", not holes in it.

Exactly! I hadn't thought of the kittie litter scoop. I've been using a slotted scoop - essentially the same thing, only smaller. I find holes to be absolutely tedious. They don't let it drain nearly fast enough.

 

[Kjordanov]

[SIZE=14pt]You buy food at the food store for humans and feed at the feed store for animals.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14pt]There is a subtle difference but the preservation of the English language is at stake.[/SIZE]

 [COLOR=333333][SIZE=14pt]Feed, [/SIZE][/COLOR]fodder, forage, provender [COLOR=333333][SIZE=14pt]mean [/SIZE][/COLOR]food for animals. Feed is the general word

Fodder [COLOR=333333][SIZE=14pt]is[/SIZE][/COLOR] especially applied to dry or green feed, as opposed to pasturage, fed to horses cattle, etc

Forage [SIZE=14pt]is[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]food[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]that[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]an[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]animal[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]obtains[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt](usually[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]grass,[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]leaves,[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]etc.)[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]by[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]searching[/SIZE]  [SIZE=14pt]about[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]for[/SIZE] [SIZE=14pt]it:[/SIZE]

Provender [COLOR=333333][SIZE=14pt]denotes[/SIZE][/COLOR] dry feed, such as hay, oats, or corn

So why were you searching or fermented human food??

 

[Kjordanov]

So why were you searching or fermented human food??

This is a chicken thread isn't it?

 

[mlowen]

This is a chicken thread isn't it?

Yes, but we are both monogastric (one stomach) and sometimes stuff applies to other species as well. Just info and some folks enjoying ironic language stuff and others maybe not "getting it" that it was funny.