Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

I'd keep giving them some layer mix...at least 50% during the winter months, particularly if they all start laying.

 

[Leahs Mom]

you ladies crack me up!

I have a question for knowledgeable fermenters and those who talked about adding garlic to their ferment: did the/would garlic cause any problems in the ferment? I ask because I know garlic is anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial, BUT I don't think it's anti-yeast. As I aim to swing my ferment back to a safer, yeasty ferment full of acetic acid, I might add some garlic...thinking that it may hold those other things at bay. Thoughts??

I thought the exact same thing but...
When I ferment pickles I put in whole garlic cloves. Fermented Garlic cloves are wonderful!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I am really intereseted in adding alfalfa pellets. Has anyone tried adding these? Any other suggestions on what to add?

And what about for the winter? Do you still add in layer food? Or can I give straight grains? (my hens have not started laying yet....maybe in a week or 2.....or should I keep the layer pellets in there since they are going to start laying later?)

I've done this... lately though I haven't seemed to have my memory in gear and it has been being forgotten! It works well and gets some green stuff in them... that and chopped garlic.

I would keep using the lay pellets.

 

[Tivona]

I am really intereseted in adding alfalfa pellets. Has anyone tried adding these? Any other suggestions on what to add?

I have been adding a handful of alfalfa pellets in with the feed for all my birds. I started as I have some geese that are currently not getting to free range and I wanted to give them some greens other then the kale and dandelion that I have been tossing in. The alfalfa pellets need to be softened before feeding to the birds any way and they seem to ferment well causing no problems with my mash.

 

[armorfirelady]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I can only buy in 25# bags......Will it last in a tub? I have heavy duty tubs with locking lids because I keep the food in the garage & have squirrels & chipmunks & mice who love to get into whatever food they can find.

Will other grains last for a long time as well? I would love to add more whole grains into their FF. But unless I can find someone near me to split them they are going have to last for awhile with only 4 hens

 

[griffinkid02]

No offense taken. I have just read about a lot of people here that put yeast in their grain wait one day then serve. Can any one deny that is alcohol. I will remember that when I do my meaties next year though and did read it here before guess it never registered.
I'm just an old country boy and have seen worse things done to save a buck and I'm all for it. Never seen this but that's probably cause people here have fields and fields and fields of grain that they just threw on the ground for the chickens.

The length of time the grain needs would depend onthe amount of grain fermenting, and the strength of the cultures the grain is being added to. Someone starting out with a whole fresh batch of grain each time; yep, that might just be alcohol after only 12-24 hours. This is why I ferment in a 5gallon bucket. I am feeding 28 Bantams and one two RIRs. I I use about half a gallon of wet FF a day, coming outo f a 5gallon container. With a continuous batch going the probiotic bacteria are already strong and will be convertine the alcohol as it is produced by the yest, so it wouldn't build up to any kind of concentraion. I add 1 quart jar of grain everyo ther day, and a half quart jar of layer mini pellets on the days I don't add grain, once I week I don't add anything to the bucket (otherwise I would run outo f bucket). This isn't a set schedule that I adhere to, just the pattern I follow based on the levels of feed in my bucket. I also add ACV from time to time because I prefer the smell of that to the smell of just the plain grains fermenting, lol. I really don't think that alcohol is an issue here, once a batch has gotten well started, the alchol should be being converted at the rate it is being produced.

 

[Beekissed]

Same here....good fermentation going in the larger volumes by the time you actually feed. Backslopping speeds this along a good bit.

 

[pigeonguy]

The length of time the grain needs would depend onthe amount of grain fermenting, and the strength of the cultures the grain is being added to. Someone starting out with a whole fresh batch of grain each time; yep, that might just be alcohol after only 12-24 hours. This is why I ferment in a 5gallon bucket. I am feeding 28 Bantams and one two RIRs. I I use about half a gallon of wet FF a day, coming outo f a 5gallon container. With a continuous batch going the probiotic bacteria are already strong and will be convertine the alcohol as it is produced by the yest, so it wouldn't build up to any kind of concentraion. I add 1 quart jar of grain everyo ther day, and a half quart jar of layer mini pellets on the days I don't add grain, once I week I don't add anything to the bucket (otherwise I would run outo f bucket). This isn't a set schedule that I adhere to, just the pattern I follow based on the levels of feed in my bucket. I also add ACV from time to time because I prefer the smell of that to the smell of just the plain grains fermenting, lol. I really don't think that alcohol is an issue here, once a batch has gotten well started, the alchol should be being converted at the rate it is being produced.

Yep that makes sense to me.

 

[pigeonguy]

Bee this was from post #1
Quote Beekissed:
Do you think they means it increases you protein by 12% or increases the absorption of protein by 12%. Also if that were to be true would it also let them absorb the other things like fat, B vitamins and whatever else is slipping my mind that is also good for them.
I did see by the words (suppose to) that you probably weren't sure them but thought maybe you might have more info on it now.
Anyone else that has info on this feel free to comment.

 

[armorfirelady]

I'd keep giving them some layer mix...at least 50% during the winter months, particularly if they all start laying.

What do you mean by 50%? Now I just put in a couple cup fulls of layer feed, oats, scratch & boss & mix it all together before putting it in the FF. Should I be using more layer pellets & less of the other things?