How do you ferment chicken feed? Is it worth it?

[Perris]

fermenting chicken feed brings out the nutrients and nutrition more

would you care to explain how?

 

[Altairsky]

Maybe fermenting whole grains is better and more nutritious but fermenting chicken feed brings out the nutrients and nutrition more and plus the chickens like it more.

I am a fermentation nerd. I ferment kefir, kombucha, gingerbug, sauerkraut, wine, and wild cultures that don't even have a name.
The point of fermenting whole grain is to lower the effects of anti nutrients, and increase the availability of nutrients by letting bacteria pre-digest the seeds.
Industrial feed has no anti nutrients, it's already pre-digested, has synthetic vitamins and many brands also add probiotics in the mix. Fermenting the stuff is not only pointless, but it could make the feed worse.
Processed chicken feed is a balanced diet, it already has all the nutrients a chicken need. If you ferment it, you're changing its nutritional values from what is stated in the label, to something you don't know. Fermenting it won't make it better, but it might make it worse.
In fact, yeasts and bacteria are living things, and they will consume the nutrients in the feed for them to grow. They will consume the synthetic nutrients added because, as I said, unlike in whole seeds, there are no locked up nutrients in processed chicken feed that they can free.
Fermented fruit that you put in Kefir for example lose all vitamin C because Kefir bacteria uses it all.
If you ferment chicken feed, you're probably gonna loose most, if not all, the ascorbic acid added to the feed.

 

[LoveChickens27]

It provides probiotics and boosts their health and helps repel sickness because of the probiotics.

Also, I have realized that my chickens are healthier after fermenting their feed. You can also look at my article on fermenting their feed.

I am not trying to make anyone mad, but I am trying to spread the plain truth. If you do not agree, that is okay. But please double check that you are not spreading misinformation. Thanks!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

^^^ I think that the confusion arises from fermenting whole grain feeds (some of which are created/blended by the chicken owner; the others from a bag) vs fermenting already-processed chicken feed, like pellets or crumbles.

It’s very helpful to ferment whole grains. (Whole grains = you can actually recognize and name many of the individual ingredients.)

It’s not helpful, and you may lose some nutrients per Altairsky, if you ferment already-processed chicken feed from the bag (pellets or crumbles.)

 

[Perris]

It provides probiotics and boosts their health and helps repel sickness because of the probiotics.

Also, I have realized that my chickens are healthier after fermenting their feed. You can also look at my article on fermenting their feed.

I am not trying to make anyone mad, but I am trying to spread the plain truth. If you do not agree, that is okay. But please double check that you are not spreading misinformation. Thanks!

your 2 minute read 'article' is just assertion, like your post here. You could equally well say the moon is made of cheese; it does not make it so. Has it occurred to you that you are the one spreading misinformation? If you practice what you preach and checked your assertions, please cite the source, so your readers can check it for themselves.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

^^^ I think that the confusion arises from fermenting whole grain feeds (some of which are created/blended by the chicken owner; the others from a bag) vs fermenting already-processed chicken feed, like pellets or crumbles.

It’s very helpful to ferment whole grains. (Whole grains = you can actually recognize and name many of the individual ingredients.)

It’s not helpful, and you may lose some nutrients per Altairsky, if you ferment already-processed chicken feed from the bag (pellets or crumbles.)

Pardon my ignorance but if you were to make the feed a mash, does it also lead to the potential to lose nutrients? My chickens enjoy having mashed feed so I'll occasionally make a mash for them and give it to them right away. My gut instinct would be to say that there are no nutrients lost given that I'm not fermenting it and it gets eaten within 12 hours if not quicker. Could you confirm/deny that for me?

 

[Altairsky]

Pardon my ignorance but if you were to make the feed a mash, does it also lead to the potential to lose nutrients?

No, only fermenting for more than 24 hours in hot weather raises doubts on bacterial nutrient consumption.
If you make a mash with water it's great, if you make a mash with yogurt is also great because you add probiotic.
Fermented processed feed is not all bad, it still has plenty of probiotics, but it's more of a treat, and not something to replace the whole diet.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Pardon my ignorance but if you were to make the feed a mash, does it also lead to the potential to lose nutrients? My chickens enjoy having mashed feed so I'll occasionally make a mash for them and give it to them right away. My gut instinct would be to say that there are no nutrients lost given that I'm not fermenting it and it gets eaten within 12 hours if not quicker. Could you confirm/deny that for me?

I’m glad that @Altairsky answered you, because I haven’t a clue! I don’t serve (non-fermented) mash unless I’ve just completed messed up on the fermentation schedule. Altairsky makes (assembles) his own feed and has done so for years.