How much to feed fermented/soaked food?

[MrsNorthie]

Puberty with roosters is rough. Twice last year one of my hens raised a clutch of boys. I separated them from the flock so they wouldn't mess with the girls, but four to five roosters in the same pen was a nightmare! The way I dealt with it was just to ignore it until I saw blood or any other actual injury, which I never did until I sold them.

That said, I doubt corn would cause aggression. Most chicken feeds are primarily corn.

I can't find the article now, I have bookmarked lot's of things that was helpful, but not that one. I didn't know if maybe it was the sugar, increasing hyperactivity or something, but glad to hear it is likely false.

 

[Brooks_]

I can't find the article now, I have bookmarked lot's of things that was helpful, but not that one. I didn't know if maybe it was the sugar, increasing hyperactivity or something, but glad to hear it is likely false.

Sadly a lot of what we hear is false. And a lot true.

 

[Mamashenhouse]

This is such a great post! I have been thinking of trying this. But if this a good idea to try on chicks that are 7 weeks? Or stay with the chicks starter and grit till they are a bit older and adjusted to outside?

 

[Shadrach]

I've been doing a lot of research on feeding my chickens as cheaply as possible. Feeding fermented or soaked food has come up a lot. I've started doing that and it has been saving on food some, but I'm not sure if it is to the full potential. I've heard that I should be able to save 50% on their feed. Here's the thing:


I've also been substituting around 1/4 (probably a bit under) of regular layer crumble with deer corn. It's cheaper, and I have been watching their health and egg production to be as careful with this as possible. (I'll be shooting myself in the foot if they stop laying because of the carbs. ) Since I'm feeding a total of 22 chickens, according to the statistics I've seen, I should be feeding 5 1/2 lbs of dry food daily (based on 1/4 lbs per bird) or 2 3/4 lbs soaked/fermented feed. I've actually been feeding them a total of 3 lbs fermented feed and around 1 lbs deer corn. They have been eating all of it in a day. Is it safe to cut back on their feed?

My biggest concern is that the reason they're eating so much is because, even though I feed it daily, they see corn as a treat. They finish their regular feed and then still eat all that corn. For all I know, they are just eating the corn because they're little piggies, not because they actually need it.


To sum up, my main question is: Even though my chickens are eating all of the food I give them, is it safe to feed them less based on what I've seen you should feed fermented/soaked feed to them?

Feed by dry weight, not fermented weight. Do you know how much they eat?
What benefits there may be in feeding some types of fermented feed; wholegrains primarily (it's a waste of effort fermenting commercial feed) will not be offset lack of feed intake due to the extra volume from the water.

No it's not going to save 50% on feed costs and if you've balanced the ingredients properly it's likely to work out more expensive.

Finally if the chickens are contained then I wouldn't feed feremented feed. A lot of people manage feeding fermented feed because their chickens are able to forage and will make up the shortfalls in the supplied diet through foraging.
If you can't produce a diet sheet giving the percentages of protein, preferably with an amino acid analysis, vitamin and mineral and fat content then stick to commercial feed.