Question about feeding eggshells to chickens?

[Chris09]

Chris, can you say more about how the game bird folks have been doing fermented grains? Or what they think of the pros/cons of feeding too much? I'd be very curious as to how they do it. A quick google search only found me game bird feed with added direct fed microbials.

Pretty early on in doing fermented feed, I decided that feeding a diet of 100% fermented grains to chickens didn't make sense to me. I wouldn't eat such a diet, nor feed it to my dog or any other animal. My very limited understanding of silage is that it is fed as a supplement, not as the sole ration of nutrition, day in and day out. Also, too much lactic and acetic acid (from fermentation) can't be good for them. A little yes, but a whole lot...it just doesn't make sense to me. While I think there are several benefits to fermented foods, I think they should be a supplement/complement to forage or dry feed.

Most all the game guys I talked to only ferment/ soak the harder to digest grains like oats anymore.

When fermenting/soaking grains the biggest con would be a B vitamins deficiency taking place. Poultry with a B vitamin deficiency tend to have poor feathers, poor metabolism, eat less, have a fatty liver and heart.

As for fermenting/soaking there grain here is a recipe that I have used and like.

Take a plastic container with a tight fitting lid and add the amount of whole or clipped oats (not rolled or quaker type oats) that you will be using for one days feeding in it.
Add enough water to cover the oats about 2 inches and cover.
The next day a good bit of that water should be soaked up and you will have to add more water to cover the oats again.
Keep doing this until the oats don't soak up anymore water.
When the oats stop soaking up water it is done and is ready for feeding.

*Note - You can substitute some or all the water with apple juice or some of the water with ACV.

Here is a quote from a site I was on.
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