Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[beckyjo]

Love all the feeder ideas!! I have to tell you that I have learned so much from this one thread and yes, I have read all of the 460 posts.

A million thanks to everyone from a newby (to the meaties world) who learns something new on here every day.

 

[griffinkid02]

I haven't dumped it out... yet. As you said, I'm waiting on one of our guru's to voice an opinion. I'm just concerned, to my knowledge yeast and other fermenting type molds don't produce those fuzzy white spore making bodies. The smell has changed, it's not an unpleasant smell, but it is definitely not the same as it was three days ago. My other clue was that when I got up this morning the chicks had eaten less than half of their allotment from yesterday but were clearly ravenous, as they attacked the sides of the brooder as soon as the saw me. I wasn't sure what was wrong then but decided to assume that they knew what they wanted and filled their regular feeders with dry crumbles. I had to refill the dry feeders when I got home tonight, the leftovers of the FF still untouched. Since they have been preferring the FF to the dry, I couldn't think of any reason for them to suddenly reject it so completely. That's when I took a closer look inside my bucket tonight and noticed the changed appearance and smell. I have an extra bucket that is clean going to start a whole new batch to cooking though, just in case, won't hurt anything if the first one IS OK, and will save time if it's not.

 

[griffinkid02]

Ok. I stand corrected

. I just went and stirred the old batch to see what it was like under that fuzzy film....

Those were NOT gnats that died in the drainage

. They were some miserable form of hell-bug. And they were really carrying demonic armageddon plague mold. That was undeniably the WORST smell I have encountered to date. As soon as my spoon broke that film all I could do was back away gagging and trying not to breath myself to death

. If I didn't know better I'd swear that there was actually a big green cloud released.... That stuff is SO gone bad. I will have to dispose of it somewhere in the next couple of days

.

I don't think it went bad from sitting to long, whoever mentioned that. I think it was the bugs that drowned in the little bit of water that drained out of my scoop. I'm guessing that they provided a more protein rich meal for some "bad" molds and there wasn't enough yeast in the meager little bit of drained water to fight it off. Then I dumped the infected cultures into my big bucket

, and thus accidently committed a NATO biological war crime....

 

[galanie]

Awesome!! Hubby built mine today using a 6" pvc pipe. He cut it in half and made two feeders. Our birds are outside in a Salatin style tractor so I needed a feeder that could be set up outside as that is where they are fed. I will add additional boards to the ends as they grow to keep the feeder up. My hubby works for an irrigation center so we got our piece of pipe from the waste pile for free. The lumber was scraps leftover from the contractors that just built hubby's new shop and we bought 2 end caps and cut them in half also. We got 2 feeders for the cost of the 2 end caps. Will put them into use tomorrow and will let you know how they work out.
Here's a picture of one of mine....

Mine are pretty much like this but I just left the ends open and stuck some leftover pipe bits on bottom with pvc glue to keep it steady. I feed outside too and cleaning the thing is simple plus no worries about drainage. I don't fill it enough to worry about feed spilling out the ends.

 

[galanie]

Ok. I stand corrected . I just went and stirred the old batch to see what it was like under that fuzzy film....

Those were NOT gnats that died in the drainage . They were some miserable form of hell-bug. And they were really carrying demonic armageddon plague mold. That was undeniably the WORST smell I have encountered to date. As soon as my spoon broke that film all I could do was back away gagging and trying not to breath myself to death . If I didn't know better I'd swear that there was actually a big green cloud released.... That stuff is SO gone bad. I will have to dispose of it somewhere in the next couple of days .

I don't think it went bad from sitting to long, whoever mentioned that. I think it was the bugs that drowned in the little bit of water that drained out of my scoop. I'm guessing that they provided a more protein rich meal for some "bad" molds and there wasn't enough yeast in the meager little bit of drained water to fight it off. Then I dumped the infected cultures into my big bucket , and thus accidently committed a NATO biological war crime....

Not sure exactly why but mine gets to smelling pretty dang rank after a while. I dump the nasty smelling sewage on the compost heap and start over when that happens. Funny thing though, when it gets like that my girls still eat the food like it's the best thing ever. I can't stand the smell though, it's like something died in there a couple weeks ago

I don't know as much as Bee for sure, but I know she says the white mold is fine. I get that mold but it's only after it starts smelling like old sewage from a slaughter house that I dump it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't know either, maybe I need to stir more often, maybe it just needs to be refreshed periodically. I was feeding FF to my laying hens and to a pen of mixed-breed cockerels I'm growing for the table, just doing their layer pellets and their chick starter. They were all eating it well, but then the mix got to looking sort of "off", and they were leaving it in the bowls. I may just feed them dry for the rest of the long, hot summer, these cockerels are almost ready anyway.

I know that I will do this again when I get some CXs in the fall, thank you all for sharing your wisdom & advice!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I have a question about the mold thing, was it like the stuff that grows on bread? I wonder if it was picked up through the air or actually from the feed getting so much air, or the bugs you described you'd think they would ferment in the stuff too..I'm just trying to figure it out since I'll be going through the learning process and trial by error method can be tedious...it's been a long time since I worked in micro, but some people hated the smell of the yeast incubator, I thought it smelled like bread rising _-until we grew a particular nasty bug......when in doubt,throw it out!

 

[shadowmane]

LOL... experimentation is the game. Find what works. However, when dealing with yeasts and stuff like that, you have to remember they are susceptible to the same sorts of things breads are. Vinegar is more acidic, so I imagine it gets different sorts of hibijibis growing in it.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I have the mentality that if I wouldn't eat it....there is no way in hell I'm feeding it to my chickens because I'll be eating them!! I'm fermenting with sourdough starter and I know when my starter has gone bad. I may not be a guru on fermented feed but I think I'm capable of determining when my ferment has gone bad and I agree with "Achickenwrangler#1".....when in doubt, throw it out!!! Why risk it?

 

[Kassaundra]

Mine has been going for about a year, I just feed out and when I get low add more grains, feed and water. But it has just been grains until this past couple of months. Mine has never grown fuzzy stuff, and while I don't find the smell as pleasant as most of you, I think it stinks, it certainly doesn't make you want to vomit. My lid is loose fitting and gets small bugs all the time, mostly flies and gnats w/o any ill effects, but mine is in a large trash can. If I were you I would thow it out and start over.