packleadr1
Hatching
- Aug 31, 2020
- 2
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So I decided to try fermenting our chicken feed. I'm doing it mainly to increase the health and immune system of my chickens. The reduced food usage and cost savings is just a side bonus. I currently use a good quality layer pellet from my local feed/ garden store at about $14/ 50lb bag. I have 12 hens and 2 roosters of the Barred Rock variety and they all eat the same food, which I know is debatable but I don't have the time or ability to separate their food and feed the roosters separately. We allow them to free range the yard each day, provided it's not raining, for a couple hours a day. We also throw them out some treats daily, whether it's scratch, bread, veggies, whatever. They seem to do well and are very happy, in the summer time we get 11-12 eggs daily, right now it's been very cold and rainy and we're getting 6-7, which I think is reasonable considering the change in weather.
So I watched a lot of videos and did my reading and figured out our daily usage at about 3.5 lbs of the feed, I get about 2 weeks on average out of a 50lb bag. So, I measured out 3 lbs and put it in a food grade, black bucket. I covered it with water to the top of the bucket, we are on well water so no chlorine. The way I understand it is, it takes 3 days to get to the right 'age' and ferment to the ideal level. So, the next day I did a second bucket the same way, my idea was to have 3 buckets going at a time so that one is 'ready' each day. I also stirred the buckets twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. I put a lid on each to keep out any bugs or other creatures but I did put a piece of paper between the lid and top so it didn't close down completely. I didn't want the gases building up inside with a closed lid on top. So, I did this and I got NOTHING. None of the tell tale signs of bubbles, it just looks like dirty water in a bucket. I think I did everything correctly but don't know why it didn't bubble up like it should. When I smell it, I get a slight sweet smell from it like I think I'm supposed to. It smells kinda like wet graham crackers.
So a couple questions:
1) Does temperature matter? I'm doing this in my garage but it's still been pretty cold, at least for us. I'm in South Carolina and it's been around 50-70 during the day and down in the 30-40s at night on some days. It's also been VERY VERY wet and rainy outside so we've had a very high humidity for the past 4 weeks.
2) What else should I have done? Where was my mistake? I want to try again and get it right.
3) Can I still use the feed? It's been submerged in water for about 6 days now, but it's been completely covered by water. It looks like mush but doesn't look or smell bad. I don't want to throw it away if I don't have to. I assume, even though it won't accomplish my goal of fermenting it's still ok to feed it to them. I just don't want to make them sick.
Any help would be appreciated before I kill my chickens, lol. Thank you.
So I watched a lot of videos and did my reading and figured out our daily usage at about 3.5 lbs of the feed, I get about 2 weeks on average out of a 50lb bag. So, I measured out 3 lbs and put it in a food grade, black bucket. I covered it with water to the top of the bucket, we are on well water so no chlorine. The way I understand it is, it takes 3 days to get to the right 'age' and ferment to the ideal level. So, the next day I did a second bucket the same way, my idea was to have 3 buckets going at a time so that one is 'ready' each day. I also stirred the buckets twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. I put a lid on each to keep out any bugs or other creatures but I did put a piece of paper between the lid and top so it didn't close down completely. I didn't want the gases building up inside with a closed lid on top. So, I did this and I got NOTHING. None of the tell tale signs of bubbles, it just looks like dirty water in a bucket. I think I did everything correctly but don't know why it didn't bubble up like it should. When I smell it, I get a slight sweet smell from it like I think I'm supposed to. It smells kinda like wet graham crackers.
So a couple questions:
1) Does temperature matter? I'm doing this in my garage but it's still been pretty cold, at least for us. I'm in South Carolina and it's been around 50-70 during the day and down in the 30-40s at night on some days. It's also been VERY VERY wet and rainy outside so we've had a very high humidity for the past 4 weeks.
2) What else should I have done? Where was my mistake? I want to try again and get it right.
3) Can I still use the feed? It's been submerged in water for about 6 days now, but it's been completely covered by water. It looks like mush but doesn't look or smell bad. I don't want to throw it away if I don't have to. I assume, even though it won't accomplish my goal of fermenting it's still ok to feed it to them. I just don't want to make them sick.
Any help would be appreciated before I kill my chickens, lol. Thank you.
I couldn't win with those fussy girls
