Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

I think the first clue in the post was the admission of having plenty of double yolkers in the past 3 years. I've been raising flocks of 10-50 chickens since I was 10 years old and can count on one hand the number of chickens who laid double yolk eggs...and that was dealing with production breeds such as RIR and WLHs for the first few decades.

Having that many birds with abnormal ovulation is indicative of something and it can't be a good thing...abnormal is abnormal. Overfeeding, increased soy proteins, keeping chickens until they are old, breeds prone to obesity and abnormal ovulation, etc. can yield abnormal egg production, reproductive cancers, abnormal shell production, etc.

The occasional weird egg is a given but having many, many occasions of abnormal laying in a short period of time would indicate a flock management problem or possibly something wrong with the water/environment. Time to change flock management, breed or where you live when you start getting abnormal laying that frequently.

 

[Triple Willow]

Good answer!

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Here's a question for you dedicated FF users and also those who tried and found it not to your liking....what do you find, if anything, that would/did deter you from using this method and why?  I'm thinking of issues like time, money, smell, etc.

After seeing the benefits to my flocks health and appearance, egg quality, etc. versus dry feed, I can't think of anything that would deter me from feeding FF ! If I had to choose one thing, it would be the odour. And I'm only getting odour when I add a couple of glugs of minced garlic to the feed every 4-6 weeks . Other than that, it's FF all the way !

 

[waltandlori]

Here's a question for you dedicated FF users and also those who tried and found it not to your liking....what do you find, if anything, that would/did deter you from using this method and why? I'm thinking of issues like time, money, smell, etc.

The only 2 problems I have is 1. Oldtimers disease... I forget to stir it 2x a day. I admit to remembering maybe once, however it does not seem to care, and 2. I am not as wise as to protiens etc... so am I doing harm to my critters if I mix 20% (for meatys) it doesn't seem so. I use that because that is what was recommended by the feed place and I bought a bunch of it. I think it may have something to do with that and layer is all they have. they have other animal feed but not much of a selection for each species. Bee I saw in another meaty thread (meatys nastiest chickens) where you showed how to have them without the smell etc. I made all kinds of mistakes this year as I did not have the same facilities as last. My layers were still small and were moved about the lawn/yard in the tractor so the meatys had the coop to themselves. This year no coop available (the goats got the new coop) and there are more of them so they stay in the tractor. What I have changed is I kick em out every day, so they are not just eatin' and poopin' in too small an area. They seem to like being outside they peck then run around and flap their wings generally looking like grounded wind socks. They have no problems with eating the FF (or anything else that looks like food lol). At night when I feed them they eat and lay right down like they are going to sleep. So really what's not to like.

Walt

 

[TexasLisa]

Welllllll I am with Walt! I forget to stir it twice a day but other than that, my flock loves the stuff. Plus it saves on money.

Lisa

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know who told y'all to stir it twice a day(maybe it was me, who knows?) but I've only done that the first time I ever made a batch...after that, it only gets stirred when I add fresh feed and each day before I feed. So, no worries about stirring...it will be what it will be whether you stir it or not. I've been gone from the place for up to 4 days when it didn't get stirred and it was fine as frog hair. I think stirring in the initial phase is just to encourage keeping the top moist and making sure all the grains are shifted into the FF fluids. At least, that's why I do it....

 

[NotAFarm]

Here's a question for you dedicated FF users and also those who tried and found it not to your liking....what do you find, if anything, that would/did deter you from using this method and why? I'm thinking of issues like time, money, smell, etc.

Bee, I've been using FF for a little over a year now (THANKS for getting me started!), I have no plans to stop for as long as I have a flock.
I think the toughest thing about FF for me is having someone that does chores for me when I am out of town. I am gone to visit my children and grandchildren (they live out of state) on 4 day weekends several times a year. I don't like asking my "chicken buddy" to fool with the FF. I don't see it as a big difference in time, but I do it everyday and have my system down. I look at any added time I spend in the coop and chicken yard as an opportunity to check-out the birds and become familiar with them. Someone doing chores for me just wants to finish and go back home. If I was paying someone to do it just like I do, it would be different, but these are friends that have chickens of their own and we trade-off doing chores for each other. I don't worry about the ferment while I am gone since I make sure to "feed" and stir and leave it in a cool place. It is fine upon return and I stir it, and then feed the next morning. When I am gone, the flock has free access to crumbles and some scratch thrown around when they are let out each morning. They are always happy when I return and they get the FF back!
Money....not an issue since I believe it is cheaper than dry....use less feed overall so less cost.
Smell...In the late spring through late fall my FF lives in the barn with the chickens and cats. No complaints about smell. I keep mine in the unheated attached garage until it gets too cold then on my laundry room floor in the house for the winter and don't think it smells bad......I use Purina Game Bird Startena that has animal protein this time of year to give them some help finishing their molt before it is too cold. No fish meal products here from the time it moves indoors until spring when it moves back outdoors, but I can see how that it could be a problem inside for sensitive noses.

 

[TexasLisa]

I don't know who told y'all to stir it twice a day(maybe it was me, who knows?) but I've only done that the first time I ever made a batch...after that, it only gets stirred when I add fresh feed and each day before I feed. So, no worries about stirring...it will be what it will be whether you stir it or not. I've been gone from the place for up to 4 days when it didn't get stirred and it was fine as frog hair. I think stirring in the initial phase is just to encourage keeping the top moist and making sure all the grains are shifted into the FF fluids. At least, that's why I do it....

That reminds me of a story I heard. A young bride had cut the end off of her roast and proceeded to put it in her roaster. Her husband asked her why she cut the end off. She says, "That is the way my mother cooks hers. I will call and ask her." She calls and ask her mom why she cuts the end off of her roast. Her mom replies, "That is the way my mom fixed her roast. I will call and ask her." The mother calls her mom and asks her the same question. The grandmother says, "I cut the end off of my roast so it would fit into the pan."

Lisa

 

[pipemum]

I have 8 CX chicks, about 2 weeks old. I've been feeding them fermented chick feed since day 1. They'll have gone through a 40lb bag of food in the next week or so...I feed 2x a day and have had some feed waste due to various things ( spills, I've been extra butterfingers lately.). Does that much for 8 meaties seem normal, a 40lb bag of feed in about 3 weeks? They get some scratch and have "free-ranged" a bit, but at 2 weeks old they barely go 10' from the pen.

 

[armorfirelady]

I have been using FF for over a year. I see no downfalls of using it even for my small flock of 8. My 4 youngest have been on it since I have gotten them. They are so healthy with beautiful feathers. A plus is the lack of poop smell in the coop. I am sure the DL helps with that to.

I only had one problem when I was on vacation that the chick feed went nasty. I think it was because one of my friends who was hen sitting forgot to add water and the temps were in the 90s while we were gone. Never had a problem before or after that. My hen sitters still feed the FF when I am gone. They are better at refilling it and adding water now

Hens only get fed once a day at dinner time so its easy for my hen sitters and my Mom when she feeds them when I work afternoons.

Within the week I am switching them over to grains instead of using commercial food. It will be fermented. I am hoping they continue to thrive. My older hens get messy butts while on layer feed and their prolapse is more pronounced. When they were off it the problems went away.

FF is the only way for feeding for my hens