Fermenting Feed

[MeoWusical]

Hey y’all, I have a flock of ducks that I have accidentally been over feeding simply by feeding via auto feeder. I’d like to make the bags last longer and I know fermented feed is really beneficial and easy on the wallet. However, I'm not sure if this bag will do. I attached a picture of the ingredients.
I was wondering if I’d be able to feed them this for the morning and give them egg layer at night. Is that a good schedule if this feed is fermentable?

 

[nuthatched]

Unfortunately, that's a scratch, a treat. It's not a feed, as it states on the bag, so it shouldn't be make over 10% of their diet or their health will go down hill.
Fermenting feed is only slightly beneficial (it makes the nutrition slightly more bioavailable) and not really cheaper. It's been overhyped to death.

 

[Debbie292d]

We ferment, and have both ducks and chickens, but it isn't a meal per se.

You could ferment half of that with half feed and bring up its nutritional value.

What we ferment here is 1/2 Kalmbach's Henhouse Reserve (a layer feed) 1/4 hard red winter wheat, 1/4 whole oats, a little bit of chia seeds and flax seeds. They'll get that once a day, but it's not enough to fill any of them up.

We do it mostly so they're getting something different, and it's a good source of prebiotics, probiotics, and nutrients. More of a treat than a meal though.

 

[MeoWusical]

Unfortunately, that's a scratch, a treat. It's not a feed, as it states on the bag, so it shouldn't be make over 10% of their diet or their health will go down hill.
Fermenting feed is only slightly beneficial (it makes the nutrition slightly more bioavailable) and not really cheaper. It's been overhyped to death.

Dang, that sucks. Thank you for informing me, though. From my research it looks like it’s one cup of regular bird feed per fowl, would I need to feed them twice a day if I stopped using the auto feeder? I’ve been using the auto feeder for a while now so cutting back on it is a slight learning/habit curve.

 

[nuthatched]

Dang, that sucks. Thank you for informing me, though. From my research it looks like it’s one cup of regular bird feed per fowl, would I need to feed them twice a day if I stopped using the auto feeder? I’ve been using the auto feeder for a while now so cutting back on it is a slight learning/habit curve.

Ok, how many birds? What do you mean by auto feeder? A gravity feeder?

 

[saysfaa]

... would I need to feed them twice a day if I stopped using the auto feeder?

They do best eating small amounts often through the day so if "feed them twice a day" means doing chores twice a day - like the morning feeding enough for them to access all day and the evening feeding ensuring they start the night with full crops - then yes, twice a day works well. But if you mean they just fill up in the morning and fill up in the evening then it isn't nearly as good for them. They are quite different in that way than mammals like dogs, cats, or people.

Oh. I just realized you have ducks. I think they are similar to chickens in this aspect but I'm not certain.

 

[Shadrach]

Hey y’all, I have a flock of ducks that I have accidentally been over feeding simply by feeding via auto feeder.

Why do you believe you've been over feeding them?
What have you been feeding them?

Ducks have a similar digestive system to chickens.

https://ducksofprovidence.com/duck-digestive-system-anatomy/

One small but important difference is ducks tend to have a smaller crop capacity than chickens; chickens average 40g capacity, ducks around 35g capacity.
The commercial feed suppliers recommend around 120g to 150g of feed per day.
Assuming the duck has no other food source other than what is supplied by their keeper (no forage) and the food is given by ration size or by time allowed to feed, two feeds a day, fermented or not is not going to supply sufficient feed even allowing for a proportion of what's fed getting sent straight to the gizzard rather than stored in the crop.

This article attempts to explain the pros and cons of feeding regimes.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...fluence-it-may-have-on-feeding-regimes.79124/