how to cook or what to do with wet/ frozen crumbles

[AnimlCrakrAcres]

I just bought a bag of layer crumbles, and long story short a bucket of water got dumped and splashed into the bag, soaking into the crumbles. Not wanting the new bag to become spoiled, I quickly sorted most of the mush into Tupperware containers and put it in the freezer and the rest of the bag into the fridge. That gave me the idea of trying to thaw out some of the frozen mush and bake it, like a flock block. Any idea what to mix in to make it stick together when baking that is safe for my chickens/ ducks? If I keep the slightly mushed bag in the fridge, how long will it possibly last? Or is crumble more durable than I think, I am always worried about spoilage.

 

[Den in Penn]

Well you can feed it to them wet they'll love it. Obviously only a days worth at a time. Might feed the frozen crumble to them frozen on hot days. As to the longevity in the frig, how long does something baked last in it before it goes moldy?

 

[RonC]

As long as it's not moldy the chickens love wet crumbles. I make it for them as a treat with cold water.

 

[off-grid hen]

I don't know if you'd want to make suet in the warm weather, but you could get some beef suet from the grocery store or butcher to melt down and mix with the crumbles. Those plastic containers make great suet molds. I made my suet with feed, black oil sunflower seeds, some flax seeds, and a little scratch thrown in. I fed that to my flock in the winter, though. Not sure if you should feed it on hot days. You could just feed the thawed melted crumbles one container at a time in the hot weather.

Oh wait! What if you mix in some mushy fruits or veggies they like (tomatoes, the mushy but not yet moldy strawberries or grapes nobody eats) and refreeze to make some tasty Popsicles for your chickens? That would be a healthy way to reduce heat stress in the warm weather. Just pop it out of the mold into the middle of the run and let them go crazy.

 

[AnimlCrakrAcres]

Thanks for the ideas! Popsicles are much less time consuming- I tried to bake some of the crumbles with eggs and seeds like a flock block and gave up after the first two hours and 17 batches! First time I've ever been up till 2am making "bird" cookies! The flock block even started to look good to me after that

 

[off-grid hen]

Haha!

The trick with those blocks is to mix something in with it that will be solid and sticky at room temperature. I use animal fat (suet or butter or a combination of both). I have seen a recipe with unflavored gelatin-that was in backyard poultry magazine. I think the ones you see in the store have some sort of syrup or molasses in it to keep it stuck together. And you'd also have to make sure there's enough water/liquid to hold together the pops.


Please post back when you get it sorted as to how the Popsicles went. I haven't tried those and would like feedback.