Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Costa Rica Art]

I have a question, I ferment in the house with a 5 gal. bucket with a 2 gal inside of it, with a heavy towel across the top, well I am seeing tiny little flying bugs in the house and this morning when I got the ff up out of the bucket to drain I didn't see any bugs in there but when I took it outside in the dish there they were crawling on the ff, not alot but enough to see, has anyone else had a problem like this, They are the same bugs that were in my compost bucket in the kitchen about a month ago, got rid of them by dumping the bucket of compost and washing out the bucket. Am I destined to have bugs flying in my house with the ff in here?

I get these little flies/gnats/fruit flies every now and then. They tell me here to pour boiling water down my drains to kill the larva that hatch out in the grease ring in the drains and the sink traps. I have lids on my fermenters to allow gas to escape but nothing to get in. I don't think with proper fermentation using cloth to cover the fermenter is necessary, that is the only time I have had something get in that fouled the FF so bad it smelled rotten. Keeping a tight lid on the fermenter has stopped that yet still allows the gas to escape, keeping oxygen out as I understand it is also necessary or the wrong bacteria will be able to live and can spoil the mash.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have mine in the house, with an actual snap on lid, and haven't had any gnats. But, when I did a bowl on the counter of compost stuff, I had a lot. I'd suggest a tighter lid, with tiny holes for circulation.

I'm not sure I can make holes small enough to keep these gnats out, But the compost bucket is outside from now on, I'm pretty sure thats what started the whole thing.

 

[Taniamax]

How did you post this to FB? Just copy the link?
How do we avoid GMO feed for our chickens? I can't even find organic feed. Is there any common brands that isn't GM? This is so upsetting, no wonder we have so many health problems.

I think there is a "share" button that I used to post it on FB.

Though I can get chicken feed from my local feed store, it is pelleted, which I don't love. So, I buy organic chicken food from Azure Standard (http://www.azurestandard.com/). It's kind of like an online coop. The prices are usually not any better than anywhere else, but they allow people to form cooperative groups who place orders together and have everything shipped to one location (called a "drop point") for free shipping if you meet a minimum order amount. I buy Cascade Organic starter, grower and layer from them (made by Magill Ranch in Oregon: http://www.magillranch.com/Cascade-Feeds.html). It seems to be a pretty good feed and has greatly reduced the smelly poo compared to the organic pelleted feed that I used to use when I first got chickens. My chickens all love it, though sometimes it gets milled too fine which used to create a lot of waste, until I started using FF. By the way, I am already using less feed than I used to before FF and I still allow my girls to eat both dry feed and FF. I only started on FF two or three weeks ago.

 

[Beekissed]

I get these little flies/gnats/fruit flies every now and then. They tell me here to pour boiling water down my drains to kill the larva that hatch out in the grease ring in the drains and the sink traps. I have lids on my fermenters to allow gas to escape but nothing to get in. I don't think with proper fermentation using cloth to cover the fermenter is necessary, that is the only time I have had something get in that fouled the FF so bad it smelled rotten. Keeping a tight lid on the fermenter has stopped that yet still allows the gas to escape, keeping oxygen out as I understand it is also necessary or the wrong bacteria will be able to live and can spoil the mash.

Actually, the oxygen is not the enemy...and spores from the air is where most yeast for fermentation is derived. Oxygen and open air is the enemy only if you are making beers, wines and such. They don't want vinegar yeasts in their fermentation and have such systems that will keep it out...if not, it spoils their brew and makes it sour...like vinegar.

I never close the lid tight on my FF. Yes, the little gnats fly out when I access the bucket but I don't really care about that...they are just eating. They won't spoil the brew or cause any bad things to happen to the feed or to the chickens.

The wrong bacteria won't be able to grow or thrive if the good bacteria are cultivated properly...as in fed fresh feed to keep them thriving and growing, stirred so that the good molds and yeasts are distributed throughout and that mix is aerated and moved around a bit.

 

[Taniamax]

How long have your flock been on FF? If it's been awhile and if you have some NuStock I'd treat her legs, dust her with ashes in case she has any mites or lice and then I'd turn her in with the flock. Of course, that's just me....I'm a little more reckless than most folks on chickens.

Funny!!

It's just been about two to three weeks on FF. Do you think that is enough time? I don't have NuStock yet, but am going to get some (which reminds me, I have one of my little ones from this year that got a terrible injury and I wanted to see if NuStock would work for it - I'll post a picture and see if you all think I should try it). I was actually thinking about NuStock for the rest of my flock anyway, so I could just do everyone at the same time.

 

[Suzierd]

[COLOR=800000]I think there is a "share" button that I used to post it on FB.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800000]Though I can get chicken feed from my local feed store, it is pelleted, which I don't love. So, I buy organic chicken food from Azure Standard ([/COLOR]http://www.azurestandard.com/)[COLOR=800000]. It's kind of like an online coop. The prices are usually not any better than anywhere else, but they allow people to form cooperative groups who place orders together and have everything shipped to one location (called a "drop point") for free shipping if you meet a minimum order amount.[/COLOR] I buy Cascade Organic starter, grower and layer from them (made by Magill Ranch in Oregon:  http://www.magillranch.com/Cascade-Feeds.html). It seems to be a pretty good feed and has greatly reduced the smelly poo compared to the organic pelleted feed that I used to use when I first got chickens. My chickens all love it, though sometimes it gets milled too fine which used to create a lot of waste, until I started using FF. By the way, I am already using less feed than I used to before FF and I still allow my girls to eat both dry feed and FF. I only started on FF two or three weeks ago.

The share button I seen didn't have the FB choice. I'll try to just post the link.
Thanks for the links, the next bag of feed I buy I want it to be Organic.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Yeah! I finally finished reading this thread!

Started my layers and chicks on FF Friday using Purina Layer Crumbles (that's what I have to use up), Bragg ACV, ACV no mother, and water all in a double 5 gallon bucket set up with lid loosely on top and kept outside near the coop. It's been brewing since Thursday evening. I haven't been straining it perfectly so the feed is a little runny in the red plastic bowl. The flies apparently love this stuff as they have been adding to the mix.

My girls have been eating dry feeds (Flock Raiser and Layena), oyster shell any time they want, and free ranging in my backyard. I have various ages of various breeds. Oldest is over a year and youngest are just 9 weeks old. My flock of 14 has LF and bantams. One confirmed cockerel and possibly two unconfirmed young cockerels.

My goal is to see if feeding FF to my flock will eliminate dirty butts from gleet (I have nustock on order to put on them too) and poor feathering. I took pictures of them and will keep track of any changes.

 

[Taniamax]

Funny!!

It's just been about two to three weeks on FF. Do you think that is enough time? I don't have NuStock yet, but am going to get some (which reminds me, I have one of my little ones from this year that got a terrible injury and I wanted to see if NuStock would work for it - I'll post a picture and see if you all think I should try it). I was actually thinking about NuStock for the rest of my flock anyway, so I could just do everyone at the same time.

Here are the pictures of my little Araucana who has been attacked by something unknown. The color is a little bit brownish on the wound, not because of blood, but because I used a povidone-iodine solution on it last night. There was no blood when I discovered the wound, so I think it did not bleed much or else the rain washed it off while free ranging. I thought my bird all of the sudden grew a giant tuft, but when I looked at it last night, I found a serious wound. Any ideas about what I should do? The bird is acting normal.

 

[Beekissed]

Nustock would sure help to soften that area and promote more feather regrowth, while keeping the flies and other birds from bothering the site.

 

[Taniamax]

The share button I seen didn't have the FB choice. I'll try to just post the link.
Thanks for the links, the next bag of feed I buy I want it to be Organic.

You are welcome. I hope that you can find some close to home.

I figured out how I did the "share" button. When you hit it, several options appear. Towards the left, you will see a F button, a bird button and a g+ button all in a row. Use the F button and it will link to FB for you.