Fermenting Homemade Whole Food Chicken Feed

[MaggieRose2001]

Hi,

I am new to raising chickens. My chicks are 8 weeks old and I have 10 of them. They are currently eating up the last bits of chick crumbles the feed store sold me when I bought the chicks. However, after doing more research, I want to feed them a whole food unprocessed feed instead of pellets. Maybe just keeping a bag of organic pellets to fill a feeder if we decide to go camping or something. Ideally, I would like to ferment / sprout a whole grain feed and just feed that exclusively. They are "free range" in the sense that they are in a tractor that I move around the yard where they have access to grass, weeds, insects and dirt all day and then come home to their coop/run at night.

Can I ferment a whole food feed and if so, do I only feed them in the morning and night and just let them eat grass and bugs while out in the tractor all day? I also give them fresh veggies and fruit that I pulse in the processor and then mix with a little feed and grit and take that to them as a lunch in there tractor.

As growing hens, should they have access to feed all day? I don't have to make my own feed but I will if that is best - do you have brands of whole food feeds that you recommend?

Thank you for you help.

 

[saysfaa]

I think it is best for layers to have access to feed all day. If your chicken tractor is big enough or moved often enough, I think you might get away with feeding what they will eat twice a day but still think it is not the best option.

I'm no help with making your own instead of commercially available feed as I see no benefit and lots of downsides to trying to unless, maybe, you have enough chickens to buy ingredients by the ton and know how to balance rations.

What advantages do you think there are to unprocessed feed?

I ferment ground chick feed. I think sprouting would be more workable than fermenting unprocessed seeds.

Why do you pulse the veggies in a blender?

You might consider offering grit separately from their food. Although they can probably find grit while in the chicken tractor. Either way, they can take the sizes and amounts they need.

I've not looked at any brand name feeds so, sorry, not much help with recommendations that way. I'm happy with the feed I get from the local mill that grinds their own.

 

[topochico225]

Not sure on the "whole food" concept.

I also give them fresh veggies and fruit that I pulse in the processor and then mix with a little feed and grit and take that to them as a lunch in there tractor.

What is the ratio of veggies and fruit to feed? How many cups of veggies/fruit are you putting in there? I'm concerned your chicks are not getting a balanced diet. Treats (anything other than chick crumble) should not exceed 10% of the chicks' diet.

No real need to feed at night, either, as long as you're offering feed free-choice. My hens and 9wk pullets will eat to fill their crops in the morning, free range all day, and come back to the feeder as needed for quick snacks.

Maybe @Kiki could help whenever she's free. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

[Kiki]

Where were you doing this research about feeding them whole foods instead of a pellet?

I highly suggest you feed them only a crumble or pelleted type feed.... It is exactly what they need a complete balanced diet.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Thank you for all the replies. So, as I said, I am a newbie and could be totally wrong. That's why I am asking questions so I can minimize mistakes! =)

As for feeding them crumbles/feed - I have been feeding them as much as they can eat of that first thing in morning before I take them out to tractor. Then they are in the tractor all day with just water and all the bugs and greens they can eat. I move the tractor half way through the day so they have access to a fresh supply of bugs and such.

Then I bring them back in around dusk and let them eat all the food they want again before bed.

I started thinking that maybe they should have food outside during the day, so that is when I started bringing them veggies with a little crumble mixed in. I process the veggies because they eat it better that way. I started out giving them whole veggies - bell peppers, apples, cabbage, etc. and it mostly when uneaten. When I pulse it a little - they lick the platter clean - maybe because they are still young?


As for the whole food vs feed. I mostly just want to ferment their food. I have started fermenting their crumble and feeding them that in the morning and they love it! So, I am not against using the grain. I just had a couple thoughts - their are people on youtube that ferment whole grains and feed their chickens that. It just seemed like a better idea then just mushy meal. Also, I read the ingredients on my organic feed from BlueSeal and it was just corn, soy, wheat, barley and yeast along with vitamins. I was planning on making them feed out of corn, wheat, barley, quinoa, millet, split peas, lentils, flax seeds, grubs as well as brewer yeast and vitamins. The homemade version just seemed like more variety and better nutrients.

Maybe I could feed one in the morning and one at night?

I hope that answers the questions you all threw out. I really appreciate the comments.

 

[Kiki]

I repeat I highly recommend not feeding them anything except a crumble or a pelleted commercially made chicken feed.

Anything that you feed besides a crumble or a pellet is taking away from them getting a balanced diet... Which is not good.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

I repeat I highly recommend not feeding them anything except a crumble or a pelleted commercially made chicken feed.

Anything that you feed besides a crumble or a pellet is taking away from them getting a balanced diet... Which is not good.

Is there one you recommend? I prefer to do organic.

 

[Kiki]

Is there one you recommend? I prefer to do organic.

Yes I would recommend you go to your local feed stores and see which feeds they carry.

I believe it is the best to buy what is available to you locally.
It can get very expensive to have 50 lb bags of chicken feed shipped across the country and I do not believe that it would make that much of a difference in your bird's health to buy one brand over the other.


It's very important to feed a pellet or a crumble versus a whole grain type feed which would allow the birds to pick and choose which grain they want to eat.
The picking and choosing can cause problems too.

Go to your stores... See what they carry.

 

[topochico225]

Is there one you recommend? I prefer to do organic.

I feed my hens Nature's Best Organic layer feed and they love it. Not too expensive, and they sell 40lb bags at TSC.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Youtube".

I'm so sorry.

STRONGLY recommend against Youtube diets, for yourself, or your chicks. There is plenty of room for reasonable debate - and it happens here on BYC almost every day, respectfully - about how much protein to offer what breeds, in what situations. How much fat is too much. When you can get away with feeding an enhanced calcium mix to Roos and non laying hens and pullets. Whether BSFL or Mealworms are a better treat, and how much to offer. The benefits of ACV...

But what is NOT in debate is the benefit of feeding a commercially balanced diet to your birds - because the possibility of creating a balanced diet meeting birds needs for various amino acids (to make up a complete protein) without resulting in massive amounts of fat or exhorbitant price tag (or both) by almost any backyard chicken owner is somewhere between nil and none. If you use the search engine, you will find numerous threads (roughly weekly) by new owners feeding very expensive whole grain organic feeds to their birds, who are suffering vitamin deficiencies as they pick out their favorites (according to flock order) and ignore the powdery vitamin/mineral supplement the feed company added to make that corn, barley, soy, wheat mix into something that will support a modern chicken in something like top condition.

Thank you for all the replies. So, as I said, I am a newbie and could be totally wrong. That's why I am asking questions so I can minimize mistakes! =)

This is wisdom ^^^. Accept that, for now, you don't have the knowledge or experience to sort the good from the fad on Youtube regarding feeding your birds.

So, I'll try and touch on the rest of your questions.

My birds free range (flock below, in the signature) across an area of about 4.5 acres, but generally confine themselves to a 1.75 acre area of biodiverse polyculture (Basically, I've deliberately seeded it with everything I could get cheaply which might self-propagate in my climate, then let things go). I benefit from the fact that I'm in north Florida, mild climate with a long growing season. You've not indicated your location, or the nature of your pasture, but the more diversity it has, the less likely that birds will either gorge on particular treat, or find a dearth of some needed vitamin to maintain their diet. I do have to be careful when the muscadines are in season that they don't get too many.

Tractoring is similar to free ranging - there's a lot of overlap in practice and experience - but the fact is, for good or ill, your birds are stuck eating whatever is in the tractor. Makes it easier to keep them away from the bracken fern, for instance, but harder to ensure that what they are offered is nutrient diverse. Just moving them from place to place on the fescue isn't going to cut it.

I feed my birds once in the evening, so they all come "home" to roost in one of the runs feeding them a complete commercial blend in quantity (adjusted seasonally) to ensure they go to bed with full crops, then are eager to free range when I open the gates in the morning. That works for me. My flock appears healthy, they show good weight gain, decent egg production, there's always a batch or three growing out - and I'm looking at the insides of a couple once a week as I cull.

My management practices in this regard are almost unique among the regular posters here at BYC. Thus, my experience in this regard should be considered an anecdote, not data. You are welcome to duplicate, but I make no guarantees.

My experience is that free ranging reduces my feed bill somewhat - around 25 - 30%, not insignificant when you have 50+ birds, but its not a free ride either. I have also fermented feed in the past. I now serve wet mash. Both are ways of ensuring that very important, vitamin and nutrient enriched fine powder in the whole grain feeds actually get eaten. Also substantially reduces waste for those of us feeding crumble (which, honestly, oft looks like powder at the bottom of a 50# bag). I have nothing against fermenting - it happens rapidly in my environment - it just didn't deliver the promised savings in food consumption (but as my birds already free range, it would have been unreasonable to expect big savings). Best guestimate is a savings between 10% and 15% on feed when I fermented. Right now, I don't have the space, but hope to return to it in the winter.

Whether you feed dry powder (crumble), dry pellets, wet mash, whole seeds, or sprouted, fermented whatever, its all going to the same place - the important thing is that the birds get the nutrition they need, not that they have a textural experience while eating. You can still feed them scratch, fruits or veggies from the kitchen*, from sprouting trays, mealworms or whatever as treats - but those treats should not exceed 10% of their daily diet by weight in order to maintain the balanced, nutritionally complete diet that they need.

*with a few to avoid, of course

I think that covers it. I can provide no shortage of studies over the past 40-50 years regarding the nutritional needs of modern birds, particularly modern layers or modern meaties which generally reach the same conclusions. That's science. I can offer my own experience - that's anecdote, and should not be highly valued. and of course I invite you to compare with the experiences of others here, many who have owned and maintained chickens far longer than myself, who have experiences of their own to offer you. Then make the best decision you can, for your needs, with the information available and go forth on your chicken journey, adjusting (or not) based on what works for you and your flock.