Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[beverly evans]

Hey everybody, I'm here to say in all humility and embarrassment you can screw ff up and I did it! I kept thinking when people asked the same questions over ans over, "Gee, it's so simple why are they making it so complicated?" What I did was this. My kitchen is apparently too cold for ff to occur easily, one day to the next in other words. Some days it wasn't fermented and I'd think, "no big deal, today they get just feed, tomorrow they'll get their probiotics." Well they wouldn't eat it, because it didn't taste right and because it wasn't fermented it would go sour. The wrong kind of sour, and it tasted bad to them. I'd think "my chickens are off their feed; I wonder why?" The feed would sit there and they would never eat it, first because it wasn't fermented and then because it was the bad kind of sour. Then when I put out a batch that was fermented they'd eat it up. We think they'll eat anything but they do have a sense of taste and it matters what it tastes like to them. I would fail to add feed to the bucket some evenings, then add it in the AM to make it enough. This won't do. I am going to have a 2 bucket system from now on; one that's getting started and one that's already fermented. I find that because I don't heat my house it takes much longer to ferment. That is why sometimes it wasn't ready the next day. Anyway, if anyone can learn from my mistake, I'm happy. : )

 

[Beekissed]

You could just use the well fermented last of your batch to start your next one. Mine sits in a room that rarely goes above 50s and can drop into the 30-40s at night and mine ferments very well there. I can add fresh feed to some of the old batch in the bottom of the bucket and have a fully fermented feed bucket by the next day. Maybe you could mix larger batches and then backslop in this manner so you'll know the feed is always fermented.

 

[beverly evans]

Quote:
Thanks Bee, I don't know how to get fotos on here. She has a really huge front, hanging down, only today. I'm outside interacting with them several times a day. Otherwise she's acting normal. I'll let her go awhile. I just didn't want to have it stay that way because I didn't do what I should do when it should be done. I'll check youtube. : )

 

[beverly evans]

You could just use the well fermented last of your batch to start your next one. Mine sits in a room that rarely goes above 50s and can drop into the 30-40s at night and mine ferments very well there. I can add fresh feed to some of the old batch in the bottom of the bucket and have a fully fermented feed bucket by the next day. Maybe you could mix larger batches and then backslop in this manner so you'll know the feed is always fermented.

Yes, I always do that. My bucket is never totally empty before I replenish. I was only using one bucket because I only have 17 chickens; 5 are teenagers, and 5 are chicks bur everybody gets ff. Oops, I lied! I went to a poultry show on Saturday and came home with a bantam americauna and a cream legbar, plus 2 fertile very dark maran eggs and the worst! My friend talked me into taking 2 roosters off his hands. I thought the rumpless ancona he had was funny and suddenly I find I am taking two rumpless wonders home with me! So I have 21 chickens, not 17. Like someone said, "They're addicting!" : )

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, I always do that. My bucket is never totally empty before I replenish. I was only using one bucket because I only have 17 chickens; 5 are teenagers, and 5 are chicks bur everybody gets ff. Oops, I lied! I went to a poultry show on Saturday and came home with a bantam americauna and a cream legbar, plus 2 fertile very dark maran eggs and the worst! My friend talked me into taking 2 roosters off his hands. I thought the rumpless ancona he had was funny and suddenly I find I am taking two rumpless wonders home with me! So I have 21 chickens, not 17. Like someone said, "They're addicting!" : )

That's a puzzlement...wonder why you are not getting good ferment then? Are you using highly chlorinated tap water,perhaps, and it's killing your batch when it's the most weak...on the rebatch?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I don't currently have chickens, and only had some for the summer... But having kept animals all my life I would suggest that if they are acting hungry and even eating an egg or two, that they are likely hungry. I would up the amount (maybe feeding 2-3x a day) just to get an idea of how much they are eating if you give them free feed. Then once you get an idea of how much they need, you can taper it off. At the beginning, since they are hungry, they may over-eat for a couple days until they get used to having enough food, but you will notice that they back off their feed, or they get chubby (one or the other) which are both signs that you can step back on the amount. 

I also have to disagree. If I fed ANY of my greedy guts animals whenever they looked hungry they would be SOOO fat... My dog has learner to bring me her food and water bowls when they are empty. I will always refill their water bowl but sometimes they will finish eating and 10 minutes later she has brought her food bowl to my snoopy style and is hoping for a slice of pizza! I had a batch of CXs come in once that had been free fed scratch and there was more than a cup of food in each of their crops. They still ate the food I gave them.

Animals always are hungry!

 

[Kassaundra]

You could just use the well fermented last of your batch to start your next one. Mine sits in a room that rarely goes above 50s and can drop into the 30-40s at night and mine ferments very well there. I can add fresh feed to some of the old batch in the bottom of the bucket and have a fully fermented feed bucket by the next day. Maybe you could mix larger batches and then backslop in this manner so you'll know the feed is always fermented.

I think larger batches are easier to keep balanced. I read on here all the trouble people have w/ their ff, and I have kept mine going w/o acv, or any other additive, for over 2 years even through multiple freezing episodes, outside winter and summer. The only thing I can think of is it is b/c of my large batches.

 

[sarahsunshine]

I also have to disagree. If I fed ANY of my greedy guts animals whenever they looked hungry they would be SOOO fat... My dog has learner to bring me her food and water bowls when they are empty. I will always refill their water bowl but sometimes they will finish eating and 10 minutes later she has brought her food bowl to my snoopy style and is hoping for a slice of pizza! I had a batch of CXs come in once that had been free fed scratch and there was more than a cup of food in each of their crops. They still ate the food I gave them.

Animals always are hungry!

Ah well, I guess my animals must be special!

I haven't had a problem with fat animals, and I feed them as much as they want for the first month or so, and then adjust from there based on their body condition. In fact, I adopted too grossly overweight cats many years ago (19lbs and 16lbs) and brought them back to a healthy active weight (12lbs, 9lbs) despite the fact that they were already 9 years old when I got them and were pretty much couch potatoes.

Currently I have a dog that I can't get to gain weight despite him eating as much as he wants... I was originally feeding him what the package said for his weight and you could SEE (not just feel) all his ribs and vertebrae. The type of food I was feeding him is also known to be very high in protein and fat and cause a lot of dogs to be overweight feeding the package recommendation. I ended up feeding him 2x what they recommended! And no, he doesn't have worms, he just has a super fast metabolism (I actually took him to the vet because he just wouldn't gain any weight no matter how much I fed him). I am hoping that since he has just turned 18 months that he (or at least his metabolism!) will slow down... We clocked him at 55km/h last summer! All he wants to do is run and run and run some more!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Yeah, I have a husky who was like that... Suddenly now that she's 2 and a half I looked her over and she is chubby! And she will eat anything I put in front of her! Heck, even my snake will eat more often than he needs if I let him. I've had cats that were free-fed and indoor/outdoor, they'd eat all their food, hunt and eat birds and mice in addition, and they'd get really fat too. Also, chickens get pickier the less hungry they are. My egg eater ignored it the day she went on an egg eating binge when I put pellets and grain on the ground for her. But I put an egg in the nest box and she RAN for it!

 

[Kassaundra]

Ah well, I guess my animals must be special!

I haven't had a problem with fat animals, and I feed them as much as they want for the first month or so, and then adjust from there based on their body condition. In fact, I adopted too grossly overweight cats many years ago (19lbs and 16lbs) and brought them back to a healthy active weight (12lbs, 9lbs) despite the fact that they were already 9 years old when I got them and were pretty much couch potatoes.

Currently I have a dog that I can't get to gain weight despite him eating as much as he wants... I was originally feeding him what the package said for his weight and you could SEE (not just feel) all his ribs and vertebrae. The type of food I was feeding him is also known to be very high in protein and fat and cause a lot of dogs to be overweight feeding the package recommendation. I ended up feeding him 2x what they recommended! And no, he doesn't have worms, he just has a super fast metabolism (I actually took him to the vet because he just wouldn't gain any weight no matter how much I fed him). I am hoping that since he has just turned 18 months that he (or at least his metabolism!) will slow down... We clocked him at 55km/h last summer! All he wants to do is run and run and run some more!

I have a friend who has a husky like that, she had to get some super high calorie paste to add to her dog's diet just to keep a healthy weight.