Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Tikkijane]

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/kitchen/mixing-paddles/c1953.aspx

Variety of lengths and materials. Wood has a tendency to stay wet.....

I think it works great without holes. I found mine at my local feed store that also sells commercial restaurant equipment. I've seen it online somewhere. ... let me see if I can find one....

 

[Turk Raphael]

Hi Turk, do you have a post # so I can find the post I need in that thread? There are so many pages and I only have x amount of days left to live.

Ill see if I can dig it out.

 

[beverly evans]

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/kitchen/mixing-paddles/c1953.aspx

Variety of lengths and materials. Wood has a tendency to stay wet.....

Quote: I went to a restaurant supply store and bought a huge serving spoon about 2 feet long. It is perfect for stirring the ff and serving up into the troughs.

 

[CluckerClubbie]

Having trouble with my ff. Have been giving it to my laying hens since the beginning of Aug (today is 8/25). I've got the double 5 gal bucket method, and using water with a couple "glugs" of home made kombucha vinegar. At first the girls loved it, but the last 2 days they've been refusing to eat it at all. This evening I gave them some dry crumbles and they went right for it. I have noticed that the ff smells pretty powerful, but there is no mold, just the gray beginnings of a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Just like in the stuff on my counter that I drink myself). I moved the ff off of the back deck thinking that the heat was making it too strong to fast. I added some fresh water and feed to the mix. (when my kombucha gets to strong and vinegar-y I usually pour half of it out and replace with new sweet-tea.) I noticed that the cultured water is not draining into the bottom bucket efficiently. I'm using layer crumbles and it has gone completely to mush.

Anyone else have these troubles? I hate to throw away feed. I don't think it's rancid, just over-cultured. I'm considering giving up on this and just adding a couple tbsps live kombucha vinegar to their water instead. It's starting to feel like it's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[N F C]

Interesting stuff...subscribing now to learn more.

 

[beverly evans]

Having trouble with my ff. Have been giving it to my laying hens since the beginning of Aug (today is 8/25). I've got the double 5 gal bucket method, and using water with a couple "glugs" of home made kombucha vinegar. At first the girls loved it, but the last 2 days they've been refusing to eat it at all. This evening I gave them some dry crumbles and they went right for it. I have noticed that the ff smells pretty powerful, but there is no mold, just the gray beginnings of a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Just like in the stuff on my counter that I drink myself). I moved the ff off of the back deck thinking that the heat was making it too strong to fast. I added some fresh water and feed to the mix. (when my kombucha gets to strong and vinegar-y I usually pour half of it out and replace with new sweet-tea.) I noticed that the cultured water is not draining into the bottom bucket efficiently. I'm using layer crumbles and it has gone completely to mush.

Anyone else have these troubles? I hate to throw away feed. I don't think it's rancid, just over-cultured. I'm considering giving up on this and just adding a couple tbsps live kombucha vinegar to their water instead. It's starting to feel like it's more trouble than it's worth.

Mine is in 100 degree heat in a cooler in the pen in the sun. It is even hotter inside the cooler than outside because of the fermenting action. It gets real strong but that doesn't mean it's bad and they eat it just the same. Don't toss it. They will eat it. Don't give them a choice. Mine are being picky right now because it is so hot outside. They'd rather just eat watermelon and I can't blame them, but they won't starve themselves, believe me.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Without reading through the entire thread, I have a question.

How much do you feed your birds? Do you give them enough to fill their crops once/twice a day?

 

[CluckerClubbie]

Thank you for the encouragement! It occurred to me that I'd just given them "new" grit in the grit feeder and they'd eaten a lot of it. Maybe this made them less hungry and therefore more picky? Some mornings I go out there and find they've cleaned out the trough, and I wonder if I didn't give them enough. Then the next day they barely touch it. My kids do the same thing. They are 19 weeks today (the chickens, not my kids) and I'm checking daily for my first egg. I've noticed they seem more affectionate lately. Hormones? I get that way around my... well, maybe that's to much info. ;-)

I have some cornish X chicks and 4 broad breasted white turkeys a couple weeks old (my first meat birds) that I haven't been giving ff because I bought grower & starter mash instead of crumbles. I worried that it would just turn into cement. Should I give that a try?

 

[Kassaundra]

Without reading through the entire thread, I have a question.

How much do you feed your birds? Do you give them enough to fill their crops once/twice a day?

So much depends on if they are confined and the only food they get is what you give them, or can they forage for some of their own food, and if they can how much real forage opportunity do they have time wise and variety wise.

 

[Burns Homestead]

Thank you for the encouragement! It occurred to me that I'd just given them "new" grit in the grit feeder and they'd eaten a lot of it. Maybe this made them less hungry and therefore more picky? Some mornings I go out there and find they've cleaned out the trough, and I wonder if I didn't give them enough. Then the next day they barely touch it. My kids do the same thing. They are 19 weeks today (the chickens, not my kids) and I'm checking daily for my first egg. I've noticed they seem more affectionate lately. Hormones? I get that way around my... well, maybe that's to much info. ;-)

I have some cornish X chicks and 4 broad breasted white turkeys a couple weeks old (my first meat birds) that I haven't been giving ff because I bought grower & starter mash instead of crumbles. I worried that it would just turn into cement. Should I give that a try?

I have noticed that more about my chickens to the affectionate part maybe because I'm out there more who knows I'm constantly stirring the FF like every hour and now some are letting me hold them and are following me around the coop.