Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[scrapingran]

Would scratch work for older hens?

 

[Beekissed]

No the inner bucket was sitting in the water of the outer bucket.

It's fine...it's just getting a strong, old ferment going. It's just a little more...fermented..than is ideal, though the more ferment the more beneficial microbes, I have found the chickens prefer fermented but not TOO fermented and the mix needs fed more often, turned over more often.

Mix less feed and feed it more often with fresh feed. The water in the bottom of the bucket is fine and is your reservoir for the good microbials, so not to worry if it smells stronger than your feed mix...it's supposed to.

I fixed the formation of more mold by moving it to a cooler spot in the house, feeding it more often and using it more frequently. With this small number of chickens it's hard to gauge how much to keep fermenting like when I was feeding meaties...it was easier then. They used up almost the whole 5 gal. bucket in a day or two, so it was easier to use the backslopping method to get just the right level of fermentation. It's much harder with smaller flocks and must be scaled down, used more frequently and fed just as frequently to produce that pleasant pickled smell without it going into hard fermentation with that strong alcohol smell.

 

[texasmomma]

I have 6 pullets who are eating grower/layer and 2 baby chicks who are eating the chick starter. It is very hard to determine how much to keep in the bucket to ferment. I've been adding extra feed every couple of days and find that I have to add a water, too. It froze last night and should be cooler the rest of the week, so I don't know how the fermenting will go. I may need to bring it inside. Dunno where it is going to go though.

Still have those baby chicks in the house and it is driving me nuts. I don't have a safe place for them to be outside. We caught one 'possum, but I think there is another one out there that just isn't interested in the cat food or seeds. The mice are eating the food, though.

Gonna figure out a better brooder so these chicks can go outside where they belong. We have company coming next week with their dogs and that should provide some new challenges as well.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's fine...it's just getting a strong, old ferment going. It's just a little more...fermented..than is ideal, though the more ferment the more beneficial microbes, I have found the chickens prefer fermented but not TOO fermented and the mix needs fed more often, turned over more often.

Mix less feed and feed it more often with fresh feed. The water in the bottom of the bucket is fine and is your reservoir for the good microbials, so not to worry if it smells stronger than your feed mix...it's supposed to.

I fixed the formation of more mold by moving it to a cooler spot in the house, feeding it more often and using it more frequently. With this small number of chickens it's hard to gauge how much to keep fermenting like when I was feeding meaties...it was easier then. They used up almost the whole 5 gal. bucket in a day or two, so it was easier to use the backslopping method to get just the right level of fermentation. It's much harder with smaller flocks and must be scaled down, used more frequently and fed just as frequently to produce that pleasant pickled smell without it going into hard fermentation with that strong alcohol smell.

Thanks Bee i am starting over just finished putting it together using the method again that is on the site Bulldogma set up. It's a wonder mine weren't all stumbling around fist fighting with that strong alcohol smell coming from under the ff bucket. or laying under the roost instead of on it. I just did enough for a couple days and will add as needed.

 

[Beekissed]

I was going to empty my reservoir because it is very strong...smells like a pickling crock full of 'kraut...but I decided against it. I'm just going to keep diluting it with fresh water without the ACV until it returns to a more balanced ferment and not so strong. I didn't want to lose all those good enzymes that had been growing so well under there.

 

[3 NH reds]

Would scratch work for older hens?

I have been fermenting scratch grains all along. Lots of healthy layers and other birds.

 

[3 NH reds]

I was going to empty my reservoir because it is very strong...smells like a pickling crock full of 'kraut...but I decided against it. I'm just going to keep diluting it with fresh water without the ACV until it returns to a more balanced ferment and not so strong. I didn't want to lose all those good enzymes that had been growing so well under there.

I have about 1 inch or more of pitch on the bottom of mine. When making beer it is common to use a heavy pitch rate to keep out bacteria and wild yeast that would ruin the taste. Pitch is the left over sediment from starting a batch and it has plenty of healthy yeast cells waiting to go again

 

[Beekissed]

Mine too...silky fine and rich in smell.

 

[chickachee]

I FF my dogs food. They have been feeding FF to livestock for as long as I can remember. I lived in MO for a few years and one old farmer fed every thing he had FF. Dogs, cats, sheep, pigs, cows, chickens. Most dog feeds are grain based. Read your labels. My dog is on rice and lamb or rice and chicken. I make it myself with out all of the garbage in it. Its cheaper and fresh. However I do cook my rice some. I use wild and brown.I keep the juices from the cooking and add it to the FF dog feed.

Hi Delisha,

Can you PM me and elaborate a bit on your "recipe" for your dog's food? I've been tossing around that idea for my dogs' food for a while.

Thanks,
Sheila

 

[chickachee]

Miss Lydia,
I don't use two buckets, just one. When my bucket is half full, I add more in, so that the fermented feed at the bottom is still there. Maybe this is worth a try? I know I tried the two buckets for chick feed, and it was always clogging. It must work better with mash, but definitely not working well with crumbles.

I use one bucket too. When I had two, I found that there was a large amount of layer feed sludge in the bottom bucket and ended up cleaning that out and feeding to the chickens a few times. The one bucket system works well, so far.