Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[RedRidge]

For those who grind/mix their own feed... I have a ferment question...
I mix in two parts and then combine...
I grind the grains (non-gmo corn, field peas, oats)...
then I have a powdery pre-mix (limestone, nutribalancer, alfalfa meal, fish meal)

Should I ferment "only" the grains and then add the pre-mix each day as I scoop out the fermented grains, or
Should I ferment all of it? I'm just afraid all the powder ingredients will get "lost in the shuffle"....
Plus my grain mix is the same for the entire flock, my powder mix is different according to the protein I need for each group.

Would like to hear from folks that have done either of these two methods using their own recipe and not store bought pellets.

Thanks!

 

[ash10383]

I mix my own feed which includes fishmeal and yeast & ground flax...with my first batch of ff, I did my regular mix but like you said thought the fines got left behind after draining so I quit mixing the fishmeal and yeast in and just top dress the ff with fish and yeast after it's drained. I probably should do the same with the flax but I don't think it's as fine so I think it gets mixed in as I'm scooping it out.

 

[me me me]

It wasn't sealed my cover on my bucket is just an old tee shirt stretched crossed it with a rubber band to hold it

 

[Kilsharion]

For those who grind/mix their own feed... I have a ferment question...
I mix in two parts and then combine...
I grind the grains (non-gmo corn, field peas, oats)...
then I have a powdery pre-mix (limestone, nutribalancer, alfalfa meal, fish meal)

Should I ferment "only" the grains and then add the pre-mix each day as I scoop out the fermented grains, or
Should I ferment all of it? I'm just afraid all the powder ingredients will get "lost in the shuffle"....
Plus my grain mix is the same for the entire flock, my powder mix is different according to the protein I need for each group.

Would like to hear from folks that have done either of these two methods using their own recipe and not store bought pellets.

Thanks!

I use Austrian Winter Peas...I don't grind them down. They soften in the fermentation and are just the right size whole. I also use crimped corn and crimped oats. I don't grind them either.

If you are going to grind - just do a basic crack. Don't grind it down fine. The birds don't need a fine grind; and, I've found the ferment better just cracked/crimped.

Mix the powders after. I tend to leave a bit of hooch in with the FF and dump in the powders. It soaks up the water and makes the feed a nice consistency - and coats everything with the powders so the girls have less ability to skip eating it.

You do roughly the same thing I do, it sounds like

Only my powders are alfalafa meal, nutritional yeast, flax meal and mealworm. I also add a bit of kefir/raw goats milk depending on who it's going to.

 

[Nutcase]

I started reading this thread and have already started my fermenting feed process. I have a question: assuming you use a decent amount of ACV, is it possible that the feed would be fermented enough in under 10 hours? Because I started mine up about 5 hours ago and it already smells strongly of sourdough.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I use Austrian Winter Peas...I don't grind them down. They soften in the fermentation and are just the right size whole. I also use crimped corn and crimped oats. I don't grind them either.

If you are going to grind - just do a basic crack. Don't grind it down fine. The birds don't need a fine grind; and, I've found the ferment better just cracked/crimped.

Mix the powders after. I tend to leave a bit of hooch in with the FF and dump in the powders. It soaks up the water and makes the feed a nice consistency - and coats everything with the powders so the girls have less ability to skip eating it.

You do roughly the same thing I do, it sounds like

Only my powders are alfalafa meal, nutritional yeast, flax meal and mealworm. I also add a bit of kefir/raw goats milk depending on who it's going to.

Are you able to get nutritional yeast in bulk? Buying it at the health food store is so darn expensive that I just can't justify it. Would love to find a cheaper source.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
This is for chicks.... so I grind the non-gmo corn, peas and even the oats.
I've got my first batch fermenting and opted to go with adding the powders after, especially since my chick ration I make has fish meal. I know the ratio of premix to "dry" grains, so I soaked the grains for 24 hrs to determine the correlation of dry grains to wet grains... this way I know how much premix to add to the fermented grains.
I'm trying this on chicks... I have so many right now... if it works well I will do the same for the remainder of the flock who don't get all theirs ground.... it's the same grains but a different premix with less protein and more limestone.
I'll let everyone know how it's working, but so far so good... I think I'm going to like this fermented feed. AND it solves my problem of sorting.

 

[Kilsharion]

Are you able to get nutritional yeast in bulk? Buying it at the health food store is so darn expensive that I just can't justify it. Would love to find a cheaper source.

I found a place that sells in various bulk weights. A site called Bulk Foods. The 50 pounds of deactivated Brewer's Yeast is under $190. The fortified Nutritional Yeast 50 pounds is $300.

 

[BlueMouse]

oh well...ok..wasn't sure if I was supposed to grind em up to get them to mix in but extra work not on my agenda..

so I can deal with them floaters!
Can I add I vegetables to the mix as it ferments or do you need to add those at the begining

Fermented veggies are very beneficial! I feed my small flock fermented whole grains. I don't know how you run your ferment bucket, but mine never gets "empty" every day when I feed I add mroe dry grain and more water to cover (Just like using a sourdough starter.) whenever I have leftover hard veggies, carrots, broccoli stalks, the ends from snapping greans, trimmed stalks from kale or whatever, I just throw them into my food processor, whiz for a few seconds to chop them to about the same size as the whole grains, and stir them in. The chickens actually pick those parts out first frequently. I also add chopped dandelion greens and roots whenever I weed my garden, and dried herbs about once a week.

I'm interested in doing fermented feed. My chicks are 5 weeks old maybe older but anyhow onto the fermented feed. I will be fermenting their chick starter to start off with but what else can I ferment with the chick starter?

I use kelp meal in addition to my starter. It's high in minerals and aids in the efficient utilization of feed.

For those who grind/mix their own feed... I have a ferment question...
I mix in two parts and then combine...
I grind the grains (non-gmo corn, field peas, oats)...
then I have a powdery pre-mix (limestone, nutribalancer, alfalfa meal, fish meal)

Should I ferment "only" the grains and then add the pre-mix each day as I scoop out the fermented grains, or
Should I ferment all of it? I'm just afraid all the powder ingredients will get "lost in the shuffle"....
Plus my grain mix is the same for the entire flock, my powder mix is different according to the protein I need for each group.

Would like to hear from folks that have done either of these two methods using their own recipe and not store bought pellets.

Thanks!

I "top dress" the powdery stuff (kelp meal, ground eggshells, cayenne pepper and garlic from time to time) when I'm doing whole grains for the big kids, otherwise I think it would all just sink to the bottom. I grind my whole grains up for the chicks, then I just mix the ground eggshells and kelp meal into the ferment bucket when I add more. It makes the whole feeding process easier to not have to top dress and mix. But I wouldn't put fish meal into my ferment bucket, no siree bob. The smell would probalby drive me out of the house. I use vegetarian feed and supplement with raw meat for the chicks. I had to go get game bird starter for my guinea keets and MAN does that STINK to high heaven.

Nothing like the pleasant sourdough aroma of the whole grains. Not rotten or spoiled, just..... Stinky....

 

[me me me]

Question I know about cayenne pepper as a dewormer what other items do people cycle in to FF that deworm, delouse etc. ?