need advice re: soaked/fermented feed

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

I've recently transitioned my flock to soaked/fermented feed and, after an initial adjustment period, they seem to like it. (I say soaked/fermented because I don't always time my next batch of feed so that it has a chance to fully ferment so that first feeding is often just soaked feed and then after that it is more fermented.)

For those of you that also feed soaked or fermented, how much do you give at a time? On the one hand, chickens are grazers, not meal eaters, so it seems ideal for them to have continued access to food throughout the day. That's what we did when we used dry feed, replenishing the hanging feeders in their coop as they ran low. On the other hand, with soaked/fermented feed, there is the risk of mold or bacterial growth as it sits out in the sun or rain and is exposed to flies.

I've been feeding 2-3 times a day, adding more food when the previous batch is gone or nearly gone, but some days the chickens are less hungry and significant amounts of feed sit out in the open for several hours. I've also left uneaten food out overnight a few times where mice could have gotten into it. We just realized that one of our hens got salpingitis after she laid a lash egg last night, and now I'm beating myself up for potentially unsafe feeding practices that could have given her an infection.

Should I feed smaller amounts, more frequently? Remove any uneaten food after, say, 15 minutes, and bring it out again after a while? Also, those of you who have cold winters, how do you prevent the wet food from freezing?

 

[JaeG]

I've left fermented feed out all day without incident but mine is in a covered run in the shade. It should be fully fermented though as that prevents bad bacteria from growing too quickly. You can 'backslop' where you save a little of your fermented batch, add new dry feed and water to it and within 8-24 hours, depending on the temperature of where it is kept (and using warm water will also speed up the process), it will be fermented and ready to feed out. That way you only need one container.

It never freezes where I am but I do think those in colder climates do switch to dry feed in winter. You could still give them some warmed fermented feed as a treat but only enough that they'll eat it before it freezes.

As to how much they need it's really a case of trial and error and it will change with the seasons.

 

[DobieLover]

I've left fermented feed out all day without incident but mine is in a covered run in the shade. It should be fully fermented though as that prevents bad bacteria from growing too quickly. You can 'backslop' where you save a little of your fermented batch, add new dry feed and water to it and within 8-24 hours, depending on the temperature of where it is kept (and using warm water will also speed up the process), it will be fermented and ready to feed out. That way you only need one container.

It never freezes where I am but I do think those in colder climates do switch to dry feed in winter. You could still give them some warmed fermented feed as a treat but only enough that they'll eat it before it freezes.

As to how much they need it's really a case of trial and error and it will change with the seasons.

It does freeze where I am. The plan here is to feed a small amount of fermented 3 times daily. Only as much as they will completely clean up. Then leave flock raiser or layer in a feeder for picking at throughout the day. We're aiming for 50% fermented intake per day.