Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[LadyIsadora]

It did not matter how well I strained it. I literally strained it for 6 hours once making it almost back into a dry crumble. They take a chomp out of it & run to the water, back for a chomp, back to the water. Its like watching kids at a birthday party doing relay races. Funny, but the waste is just ridiculous.

Im thinking about trying something long & shallow for water for the summer, maybe like a rain-gutter so they can reach the bottom of the container and possibly
re-claim some of the loss. IDK

Its hard to make sure the water does not run dry in shallow containers.


I really want fermented feed to work for my duckies!

 

[Morrigan]

Thanks to this thread, I now feed my birds FF. I have a question I hope someone here can answer. Can I ferment grains, such as rolled barley or corn?

I ordered a bag of whole barley from my feed store to make fodder with, but when I opened it, it was crushed or "rolled" barley with a little flattened corn, neither of which I can use for fodder. Rather than lug the bag back, I thought maybe I could just add it a little at a time to my flock raiser feed and ferment it. Would that work?

Thanks!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

That would absolutely work! Lots of folks ferment grains in all sorts of states of process.

 

[Morrigan]

Great! I'll dump some in my next batch. Thanks.

 

[Latestarter]

If you thought they liked it before, stand back when you serve the new and improved version!

 

[rvroman]

Really quick question, can I use city tap water, or should I be concerned about the chlorine in it. If I should be concerned, can I use the water treatment I use on the water for my fish and turtle tanks?

Thanks!

 

[Latestarter]

Just use tap water.... the minimal amount of chlorine will make no difference. If you're that concerned about it, set the water on the counter overnight and the chlorine will evaporate out.

 

[rvroman]

Thanks! I used tap water and braggs acv with 10 lbs of non-medicated starter crumbles for the fuzz butts. I also mixed up a batch with 10lbs of a local organic scratch blend, 5 lbs of cracked corn, and 5 lbs of wheat for my big girls. I set both buckets in the garage without lids tonight until I can get some pantyhose (read about that trick in the first 100'or so posts in this thread) tomorrow. I am pretty excited to see what they think in a couple days.

On a totally different note today is the first day in a few years that I've posted on byc, life got crazy with nursing school and the Air Force, and being a mom and what not. It's so good to be back reading and posting and learning again!

 

[LindaB220]

Thanks! I used tap water and braggs acv with 10 lbs of non-medicated starter crumbles for the fuzz butts. I also mixed up a batch with 10lbs of a local organic scratch blend, 5 lbs of cracked corn, and 5 lbs of wheat for my big girls. I set both buckets in the garage without lids tonight until I can get some pantyhose (read about that trick in the first 100'or so posts in this thread) tomorrow. I am pretty excited to see what they think in a couple days.

On a totally different note today is the first day in a few years that I've posted on byc, life got crazy with nursing school and the Air Force, and being a mom and what not. It's so good to be back reading and posting and learning again!

Great!! Welcome back

 

[Latestarter]

Well hey! Welcome back! Since you haven't read far enough through the thread to reach it, you do NOT need to cover your mix with water! You do NOT need to strain the mix to feed it! You do NOT need panty hose (who wears those anymore?) to cover it! Don't worry about dirt/bugs getting into it... should that happen, the birds won't care in any case. They eat bugs, so a little added protein, & they scratch around and eat their own poop!

Just mix it up to the consistency of a loose oatmeal. Too soupy? add a bit more feed/grain. Too dry? add a bit more water. Then just stir/mix it up and let it set! You can stir it a few times if you want, but not really necessary... In 3-4 days (less if warm/hot, more if cool/cold) you'll be good to go. The grains will absorb most of the excess liquid and it should be like a firm oatmeal when you serve it. no muss, no fuss, no straining, and your birds will love you for it! When the bucket is almost empty, (leave a couple cups as a "starter" for the next batch) just add more water and feed/grain, give it a good stir/mix, and overnight it will ferment and be ready to go for breakfast!