Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Jeanette56]

Thanks for all the replies on fermenting grains!
They have been a big help

 

[MJFarm12]

I tried this (fermenting with the bucket in a bucket with apple-cider vinegar) with my 50 broiler chicks and used one 50# bag of starter in about 14 days. I fermented the regular feed for a few days and then quit when they had been on pasture for a couple of days. The chicks did great and we only lost 1 the second day. Then the rest did well even though we had several days in the high nineties. We just processed last weekend.
I am going to ferment my starter for pastured turkeys and see if they'll eat it and thrive.

 

[SaintsGirl504]

Im thinking of starting the ff for the first time.. is there something i can substitute for the ACV with mother? I cant find it anywhere I live in a very small place and have limited stores
Or can I use the regular ACV? I have dark cornish meaties and would be very interested in this method. I can use scratch grains and crumbles? Any help would be appreciated. Sorry If i seem like a noob... which I am.

 

[MonsterClucker]

Im thinking of starting the ff for the first time.. is there something i can substitute for the ACV with mother? I cant find it anywhere I live in a very small place and have limited stores
Or can I use the regular ACV? I have dark cornish meaties and would be very interested in this method. I can use scratch grains and crumbles? Any help would be appreciated. Sorry If i seem like a noob... which I am.

I know you can use bakers yeast until you get the braggs. I'm interested in the scratch mix with the crumble, I asked the same question a while back and got mixed answers.

 

[jrsckn]

I fermented scratch grains with my crumbles and I also used yeast when I ran out of ACV. The only drawback with yeast is it makes the mix thick like bread dough and harder to stir but it ferments well.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Some people have fermented just grains with just water. It takes longer but once it gets started it goes really well from there without any added "fermenters". You can also ferment your crumbles separately or together with the grains. Just keep it lightly covered so no other type of mold spore gets introduced to your bucket. I use a wire rack on top of the bucket with a dish towel over that so that it can breathe. You can use scratch grains with the cracked corn but whole grains are better for them. Your choice. You can ferment just the grains and feed the crumbles dry. However you want to do it or find that it is easiest for you.

 

[tallgrass]

Fermenting heads of Milo. I was wondering why you couldn't ferment heads of milo. Milo is a main ingredient of chicken feed. The milo seed is very hard. Fermenting it would soften it enough for feed wouldn't it? As for the head of milo. I see fields of Milo that never get harvested because the local elevator has shut off buying it etc. I am thinking that this might be a very cheap source of feed. HAND PICK THE HEADS AND STORE THEM AND PULL OUT A WHOLE HEAD AND FERMENT THEM. MOST LIKELY A PERSON WOULD NEED A LARGER FERMENTER THAN A 5 GAL BUCKET. FEED THE FERMENTED HEAD AND JUST DISCARD THE REST AFTER THEY FINISH. sorry about those caps!!!! Might need to add more grains for protein as well.
Farmers around here will let you pick it for free or the same as free.
Opinions?

 

[Lacy Blues]

Wow! That sounds like a goldmine! I think because it is harder than most other grains you might just need to ferment it longer. Use a 30 gal plastic trash can! That'll hold 'em!

 

[jrsckn]

I've been fermenting milo for about a month and they love it. I don't get it separate, it's a main ingredient in scratch from my local mill.

 

[Kassaundra]

Fermenting heads of Milo. I was wondering why you couldn't ferment heads of milo. Milo is a main ingredient of chicken feed. The milo seed is very hard. Fermenting it would soften it enough for feed wouldn't it? As for the head of milo. I see fields of Milo that never get harvested because the local elevator has shut off buying it etc. I am thinking that this might be a very cheap source of feed. HAND PICK THE HEADS AND STORE THEM AND PULL OUT A WHOLE HEAD AND FERMENT THEM. MOST LIKELY A PERSON WOULD NEED A LARGER FERMENTER THAN A 5 GAL BUCKET. FEED THE FERMENTED HEAD AND JUST DISCARD THE REST AFTER THEY FINISH. sorry about those caps!!!! Might need to add more grains for protein as well.
Farmers around here will let you pick it for free or the same as free.
Opinions?

My only concern wouldn't be the fermenting, think that would go well, storage would be my issue, where/how to store to avoid both rodents and mold. But I agree w the gold mine comment if you have good storage.