Not eating the fermented feed ?

[SF411chicks]

I have been feeding fermented feed for a few months now. I have 10 hens. I feed 2 times a day, about 10 - 11 cups total.The last 2 days they are not eating as usual. Half the fermented feed is left over.

The feed smells and looks as usual. The girls are all acting fine, I am getting between 7- 10 eggs a day. I have not increased snack and only very limited scratch when it is really cold.

Why are they not eating? Can the feed be bad??

 

[Kikiriki]

Human sense of smell is not so great compared to other animals.

I can't paste the link for some reason, but look up:

Birds have a good sense of smell
Science daily

If they are avoiding their food, trust that something is wrong.

I went through that with my dogs not wanting their food (and one is a total pig). I did not force them to eat it...I threw out the whole bag. Later discovered there was a big contamination issue going on.

Trust them. Throw it out.

 

[pdirt]

My thoughts are it's not normal for a chicken to eat 100% fermented feed. I don't know if there are studies that prove or disprove this theory, but it just doesn't seem quite normal to me. I feed both dry and fermented feed. In the winter time, fermented feed is not as easy to deal with because I have to do it indoors, so I feed less of it. Summer time I tend to feed more fermented feed.

Also, do you make a new batch each time or are you just adding more dry feed in each time you take some out? If the latter, it's possible it has gone a little too sour and they not liking it.

 

[KittieChick]

I've had parrots for a while, and am new to chickens. I've noticed that the birds don't seem to really use their nose to smell stuff. My parrot goes for color, shape and texture.

My hens are currently being picky about the FF. I am thinking that they aren't hungry. All the literature I read says a hungry birds is better than an over fed bird.

In the meantime, here's some info from 2014 about smell and taste. The other articles were a bit older, and like everything, there's anecdotal evidence to support whatever one wants to believe.

http://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/birding-basics/can-birds-smell-taste/

 

[Silvey17]

What type of feed are you fermenting? Is it commercial feed? Commercial feed doesn't sit right with chickens when fermented. I recommend fermenting something whole and natural like scratch grains. I have a jar of fermented stuff. I just put in some scratch grains, black oil sunflower seeds, legumes and oat groats together in a jar with an air-tight lid. I fill it up with tap water until it covers the grains and let it sit for a few days. Once their is a sheet of bubbles formed at the surface, you can start feeding the grains to your chickens. Every time I take a scoop out of my jar, I always add one scoop of one of the ingredients. But if you're set on having fermented FEED then here's a link that will show you how you can do that. And you're chickens will love it either way.

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/05/why-and-how-to-ferment-your-chicken-feed/