Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[hyelaw]

Bragg's is fine, but a less expensive option is the 'with the mother' vinegar sold at walmart (brand escapes me, but it's the standard variety sold pretty much everywhere)and some other stores, right next to the regular apple cider vinegar, much cheaper than Bragg's.

You can either add some of the vinegar with the mother to already brewed ACV (I like to add a spoon of frozen apple juice to it as well to give it a bit of a sugars kick)and let it colonize, or to apple juice... even the cheap frozen kind. Adding it to apple juice takes a bit longer of course.


--As to why I don't bother covering mine with water. Well, there were lots of posts earlier in this thread from people who also didn't, and said it wasn't necessary. And if I make it to a consistency where it is covered by water it's too loose to be thickened to where my birds prefer it the most without adding too much(IMO) dry crumbles. They don't really like it soupy. Also, I don't want to mess with straining it to get it to a better consistency.

Yeah, I bought another brand that has the mother too, but can't think of the name. It had a white label and I want to say a barn and fences on it.

I'll try it out, thanks!

1700+ pages it way too many for me to read in this thread (isn't War and Peace shorter??), but I trust you. I still think I'd rather keep mine covered though. I plan to use a slotted spoon, and I feed them chia (did I mention my babies are spoiled?) so it won't be too soupy.

My poultry project has started costing me a small fortune, so I'm really hoping the FF works so I can keep their budget a little more reasonable.

 

[Latestarter]

Welcome all! Great thread to read through as there's a wealth of experience and practical application evolution over time.

Throwing in my 2 cents:

No need to cover it with water. Serves no real purpose, straining it takes too long, is too much work, and too messy.

The fruit flys, or whatever they are make no diff whatsoever. The birds when free ranging will eat virtually any bug they can get their beaks on. extra protein

You don't "need" to add anything to the mix for it to ferment just fine. All you need are the feed, additional grains you want to add, and water. Stir to the consistency of soupy oatmeal (it will thicken as the grains absorb the water and some evaporates). If too soupy, add additional feed... too dry, add additional water. KISS=Keep It Simple Silly. 3-4 days later depending on temp, you'll have a fully fermented batch of feed. I personally like the smell even as it strengthens over time.

I'm presently using a combination of 4 parts 20% protein layer pellets, 1 part oat groats (rolled/steamed oats), 1 part white millet, 1 part standard scratch mix, 1/2 part BOSS. ends up around 14% protein. They love it and polish it off every day. Right now, for ease, I feed out in the morning. In the afternoon when I get home from work I replenish and set it on the counter covered with a towel overnight. The next morning it smells wonderful and I do the whole routine all over again.

The whitish foam on the top is the GOOD stuff... stir it back in! I've had mine ferment for over 2 weeks on the kitchen counter (when outside air temps were sub zero and I couldn't feed it out) with no alcohol or mold issues. Just kept it moist and added a little more grain/feed at the end of week 1 and gave it a good stir. It was in a 5 gallon bucket and covered with a dish towel.

Amazing the difference it has made in the overall health and vigor of my birds. And the eggs are delish too!

Grats to all who are doing it and seeing the benefits!

 

[Kiwichins]

I ferment hens feed using water kefir grains as I always have spare from making water kefir, Loaded with probiotics and the hens love it http://www.communitychickens.com/why-and-how-to-ferment-your-feed/

 

[Tonycisse]

Where I am (senegal) there is no chance of getting APV would using fermented palm wine work? Palm wine is the natural sap from palm trees which ferments at a very quick rate(you can actually see the fermentation bubbling) turning to alcohol and then a vinegar within the space of a couple of hours...

 

[wlantry]

Where I am (senegal) there is no chance of getting APV would using fermented palm wine work? Palm wine is the natural sap from palm trees which ferments at a very quick rate(you can actually see the fermentation bubbling) turning to alcohol and then a vinegar within the space of a couple of hours...

Interesting question. I'd only heard of Palm wine through Tutuola's novel. Never thought about using it for vinegar. Guess: it would help for pH issues, but might have to sit for a while to develop probiotic advantage. I know people do use it in various forms of cooking around the world, so it might be worth a try...

 

[hyelaw]

I started my FF today, with water kefir. Can't wait to give it to them to try. That was a great article, thanks.

 

[Beekissed]

Where I am (senegal) there is no chance of getting APV would using fermented palm wine work? Palm wine is the natural sap from palm trees which ferments at a very quick rate(you can actually see the fermentation bubbling) turning to alcohol and then a vinegar within the space of a couple of hours...

There's really no need to use vinegar at all to start FF, especially in warmer temps. Your feed will form acetic acid as a by product of fermentation of the grains anyway, so no need to add any at all...it will make its own.

 

[Sutremaine]

I'm reading through the early parts of this thread at the moment and am struck by the variety of 'signature smells' people are getting. The main two seem to be yeasty (sourdough starter) and vinegary (ACV starter). I used old rainwater from a covered barrel as starter, and top-up water, and my bucket smells like plain sharp yoghurt.

The nice thing about rainwater is that it doesn't do anything. Leave the tapwater around here for long enough, and it develops viscerally distasteful grey swirls. An evil stepmother, if you will.

As for the pH issue being discussed at the moment, I wonder if any (safe!) additive that brings the liquid down to fermenting pH will do. A couple of years ago I was trying to get a wild sourdough starter set up, and one method of getting the good yeast and not the bad bacteria was to lower the pH of the initial flour/water mix so that the initial bloom of non-wanted organisms never happened and the yeast was able to start reproducing without competition. From what I recall it did the trick for a lot of people, but I'd have to go find it again to really check out the number of people who commented once, or multiple, times to say that it does, or doesn't, work. (I didn't comment, and it might or might not have worked for me. I got something growing and rising the dough, but I never got a decent loaf out of it. I never got a decent loaf out of the store-bought dried yeast, either.)

I think I have a healthy enough liquor to remove some of the population for testing, but I can't think what that testing would be.

 

[amccarthy4]

How much ACV do you put in the water?

 

[Beekissed]

You really don't need any ACV to get it started. At the first of this thread it was used, mostly because when I was fermenting it was in early March and still too cool outside for the ferment to start quickly, so mother ACV was used to kind of jumpstart things, which it seems to do but in warmer weather it's not needed at all...fermentation happens pretty quickly in hot weather.