Help with wet mash and fermenting

[SBaltz]

Hello,
I have several questions on wet mash and fermenting medicated chick feed. I am new to chicken raising, although long wanted to, and we have 5 one week olds and two 4 day olds in the same brooder. They get along well, but one of our new babies is fighting a constipation or tender vent (she squawks while trying to poop. She does poop everytime, and the poop looks totally normal. Her energy is great and she is eating and drinking, but we can see she needs more liquids). We are treating her with coconut oil both orally and on her vent, I gave her molasses in water earlier today, warm bottom baths, and tonight they all got wet mash. She needs wet mash right now vs dry, so here are my questions:

1) wet mash: how long can it stay out (if not finished) before going bad? Like, overnight in the brooder?
2) how wet should it be? I made mine such that the water was all soaked in, but I saw one one photo of water around the mash while in the feeder
3) how many times should I feed them wet mash?- every meal, once a day?
4) how many meals do chicks normally eat? Mine graze. it seems like every time they wake up they are starving and they rush the food.
5) does wet mash digest differently than the dry feed?

Can chicks go overnight without food? If I give them wet mash at 11:00pm, they finish it and I don’t get up till 7:00am, can they go that long without food?

Fermenting:
1) i read about it and started a small batch, mine has 1/2” of water on top, should it be 1”?
2) I then read posts about fermenting can be fatal for chicks if done wrong and I freaked out- how can I tell if mine is good or bad? I know it should be yeasty smelling and no mold, but I am questioning my judgement on that.
3) how long can fermented food stay in the feeder? Unfinished I mean
4) what are the health benefits of fermented feed vs un fermented feed if it is the same medicated chick feed?
I am really nervous about the fermenting. I am not new to catching yeast and such, it is just worrisome to me on the fragility of the chicks and I really don’t want to harm or kill them accidentaly!

Thanks!

 

[Perris]

hello @SBaltz - welcome to BYC

I would not leave food in the brooder overnight.

Yes they can go overnight without it - think of birds in the wild - they don't eat in the dark.

I think you are overthinking feeding. Perhaps the best way for you would be to offer fermented, wet and dry, in separate dishes, and let them choose which to eat. I would remove any leftover food when you shut them down and turn off the light for bed.

Good luck!

 

[Jenthehen127]

I feed my girls mash every morning. They seem to prefer it a little less wet. When I make it, I try to keep little water in the jar as possible, but it still needs to be completely covered to keep mold away. My girls usually gobble it all up! On the rare occasion they don't, I remove what they haven't eaten once they lose interest. I keep their dry feed filled each morning. I remove the federal at night if its not empty. Hope that helps!