Fermenting Feed

[Exotica]

Hello!

Today I stumbled upon the world of fermenting feed! I currently have chicks and plan on fermenting their grower feed that I already bought. I just have two questions

1) Can I ferment food that has animal protein?
2) Is the longer it is fermented, the better? Should I start now and feed them it in 1.5 weeks they hit the 6 week mark?
If yes, do I just keep adding water once it appears to dry a little?
3) If you can't ferment feed that has animal protein - which is better? Fermented feed without animal protein or feed that contains animal protein?


Thank you!

 

[allpeepedout]

If you search for Fermented Feed, you'll find a couple of major threads on the subject in depth.

I just started fermenting so have lots to learn, but you have to regularly re-stock the pot with fresh feed to ensure the right kind of bacteria dominate. It only takes about 3 days to get a pretty good ferment going, so you can just start a few days before you're ready to feed.

 

[CrazyTalk]

There's a lot of positive 'press' on this board about fermented feeds, After looking into the research done in the broiler industry, I'm not all that impressed.

There are significant gains between feeding dry food, and feeding food that is wetted right before feeding, but no statistically significant differences between feeding wetted and fermented feed.