Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Regin]

... OF COURSE they are going to keep eating! OY!

Not funny, but at least you learned something and others (like me) are learning from you too.

 

[colburg]

Feed only the FF and feed only what they can clean up in 15-30 min. If you normally feed continuous dry feed and your birds are confined to a coop and run, then feed this amount twice a day. If you free range all the time, feed once in the evenings and enough that they have just a tad left over for breakfast but not a lot. This will encourage better foraging and will give them a full stomach when they go off to bed...saves you money and gives them a better form of nutrition than the feed for most of the day, then the feed acts as a supplemental nutrition.

I typically do exactly this with the free ranging. But, for a while I had to feed in the morning and noticed that I got more eggs when I fed in the morning vs in the evening. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[colburg]

I have a question! (After lurking for a few days) now that I have started the fermented feed...I need a chicken sitter, to feed the chickens, every time I leave town? When I used dry feed, I filled up the feeder and the waterer and I could leave for three whole days and come back and they still had food and water for one more day.... Now that I ferment I can't set out food like that anymore?? So... The only down side to ff is it has to be fed every day FRESH, NO setting it out for three days while I'm gone! That kinda sucks, but i am hoping the PLUS side of ff make up for that small unconvience.

It doesn't hust your FF to sit for several days. There is a lady who used to post quite a bit on this thread(forgot her name), and she keeps her FF in a 30 or 50 gal trash can for quite a while.

When we've gone on vacation, I'll set out enough pre-served buckets of feed so all the chick-sitter has to do is grab buckets of feed and give it to them. I feed 60 chickens 2 one gallon buckets of feed/day. so for a 4 day vacation, I'll fill up 8 buckets and tell them to feed 2/day. We've never had an issue or problem dooing it this way

 

[colburg]

Quote: Yes, that's normal. I've left some of mine out for up to 5 days in 100 degree heat without stirring and never hed any problems. Last winter I had some in a bucket for up to 8 days. It was just fine and the chickens gobbled it up like any other FF.

 

[Lacy Blues]

It doesn't hust your FF to sit for several days. There is a lady who used to post quite a bit on this thread(forgot her name), and she keeps her FF in a 30 or 50 gal trash can for quite a while.

When we've gone on vacation, I'll set out enough pre-served buckets of feed so all the chick-sitter has to do is grab buckets of feed and give it to them. I feed 60 chickens 2 one gallon buckets of feed/day. so for a 4 day vacation, I'll fill up 8 buckets and tell them to feed 2/day. We've never had an issue or problem dooing it this way

Her name is Kassaundra. She stops by every once in a while so if someone is looking to contact her, you won't have to look back very far to find her.

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes, I leave my FF in a large trash barrel it stays in there a couple to several weeks depending on how much they are eating, I scoop out a couple of shovels full and feed it out. I add water if I need to. I keep an inch or so of liquid on top of my grains. New grains and water get added every several weeks. My ferment water has been unchanged in 2 years, just added to.

Whenever I post about my large barrel of ferment I like to remind you guys I only ferment whole grains, not layer/grower/chick processed feed.

This barrel stays outside all year round, in the summer it is to the east of the chicken coop, in the winter to the south, and is black. I live in Oklahoma, those of you up north could not do this I'm sure. Yours would need protection from the extreme cold in the winter.

 

[shanmaria1]

So I've been fermenting processes chick starter non medicated for past month. Should I change water or keep adding to it?

 

[locoguru]

See post above you! Just keep adding!

 

[kakayona]

can i feed fermented feed to day old chicks?

 

[RedRidge]

can i feed fermented feed to day old chicks?

Absolutely... I have more than 60 chickens who are under 6 months old... many different breeds and sizes. None of them have ever had anything since day 1 but free range and FF. My adults have not had anything but free range, FF, and BSF for months now.