Questions about fermented food and feeding

[nab58]

One thing is not clear to me. Since I have Ducks and Chickens together, I feed Flock Raiser and toss Scratch. Is that what I use to start the fermented food? Can I mix them in one bucket?

Thank you
Janelyn

Yes, you ferment the food you feed on a daily basis.....even the crumbles. I didn't understand that myself at first.

 

[Janelyn]

I am really thankful to everyone that chimed in. All the opinions are really helpful.

I read in a couple threads there are a some people that soak the food each night for feeding the next day. Not getting it to fermenting stage yet, just overnight soak. They say it is also a good way to feed and feel there are benefits to doing it that way.

Any thoughts?

 

[pdirt]

Soaking overnight softens the food and over all makes it more digestible. Some folks adhere to the "phytic acid anti-nutrient" theory, in which soaking or fermenting neutralizes it. I don't care if that theory is true or not but I do know that if I soak my brown rice 8-24 hours before cooking, it settles in my belly so much better. I can imagine it might be similar for other animals, such as chickens. Fermenting will further start to breakdown ("pre-digest") the food, thereby making the nutrients more bio-available to any critter that might eat it. Fermenting can also increase some nutrients...for example, vitamin C content increases about 500% in cabbage when it is fermented into sauerkraut. I don't know yet specifically how that might correlate with the different types of chicken feed, but I know the general principle still stands.

 

[tymimo]

Some people ferment feed, some ferment grains and others ferment a mix of feed and grains so I don't see a problem with mixing scratch with feed. Personally I have been fermenting grower pellets for a couple of weeks now. Some posters have mentioned that any feeds with animal protein such as fish meal will begin to stink. I have had one, one gallon bucket fermenting from the beginning. Each morning I scoop out enough for my 4 chickens and then stir in some new pellets to replace what I've removed. When I first started to ferment the grains I added a few tablespoons of liquid from some Lacto-fermented sauerkraut so I swear I smell sauerkraut when i scoop out the ff. I've never added ACV to the bucket but do add it to their water.

hope that helps.

 

[pdirt]

Some posters have mentioned that any feeds with animal protein such as fish meal will begin to stink.

Our feed does have fish meal in it and I have not had any issues with stinky feed. I ferment a bit differently than most of the recipes out there. I only wet the feed until quite damp with a bacterial starter called EM (effective microorganisms). While the EM does have lactic acid bacteria (also in the normal under water feed fermentation setup), it also has symbiotic yeasts and unique buggers called Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria. The PNSB's are found in nature in icicles, pond scum and carnivorous plants, to name a few. They love stinky things, such as septic tanks and rotting flesh. Sounds disgusting, I know, but as they eat smelly things, they produce antioxidants. And I don't put septic material in my feed, just good feed! Usually I go through the jar in about 7-10 days and even then, still no smell. I even found a jar I had forgotten about that has been fermenting for about 7 weeks now (temps have varied a lot, between 65-90F daytime temps), still no stink. The only smell is a good sour smell particular to lacto-fermented foods.

For most folks, going by smell works fine. If it smells sour, you're good. But if you throw in something different, say broccoli, you are going to definitely get some bad odors. Actually it is usually fine to eat fermented broccoli, but it smells so bad, most folks wouldn't want to do so. If it smells strongly like alcohol, you don't want to feed this to your chickens. In that case, the container probably was not airtight and the excess oxygen made the naturally present yeasts especially active, which produce alcohol.

 

[Janelyn]

You all have been really helpful.

 

[SophiaMoon]

All I know is my chickens love kefir poured over bread with scratch on top. My girls are to young/small to roam the yard so they are caged.

 

[gaitngirl]

I started doing soaked feed a couple weeks ago - the benefits seem worth it. The ducks loved it from the get go but the chickens weren't too sure about it. Now that they are used to it, it's a knock down drag out when I take the food out!!! They don't usually squabble over food but they love this stuff. I've moved on to fermenting about a few days or so ago and they love that just as much. I do notice that they seem to fill up faster and stay full longer.
I also add ACV and garlic to their food mix and sometimes to their water. The fermented feed smells like a good sourdough bread to me - I don't know if that means it's yeasty or if it's 'right'. I've never had lacto-fermented sauerkraut (that I know of) so I'm not sure what that smells like. I'm feeding anyone over 2 months old this mixture (the hens and ducks get layer mash, duck pellets, and scratch grain mixed and soaked/fermented, the younger batch gets grower mash and scratch grains mixed and soaked/fermented). Prior to that the younger flock was on non-medicated starter feed.They get lots of other treats, too, daily. Fresh fruits and veggies (apples and grapes are a favorite, as are peas). The older flock and the ducks all free range, the younger flock is in a chicken tractor well away from the older flock. Unless it's found to be harmful or of absolutely no nutritional benefit over going back to dry feed, I will continue this way. I'm curious as to how they will do on it during the winter . . . I will probably offer both types of feed just to make sure nobody goes hungry once there is little or no grazing left. I am letting large areas of grass and clover go to seed in the yard and am going to grow a late garden, possibly even use a cold-frame in or around the coop for them to still have some fresh greens without draining my wallet, lol. Combined with fresh mealworms, they should get through winter quite well this year. They did fine last year on dry mash and store-bought fruits and veggies, though, too . . . I will have to look into the EM mentioned in the posts above. It sounds interesting.

 

[pdirt]

I also add ACV and garlic to their food mix and sometimes to their water. The fermented feed smells like a good sourdough bread to me - I don't know if that means it's yeasty or if it's 'right'. I've never had lacto-fermented sauerkraut (that I know of) so I'm not sure what that smells like. . . . I will have to look into the EM mentioned in the posts above. It sounds interesting.

 

Yep, if it smells like a sourdough starter, that's what you want. In fact, I fed mine some extra sourdough starter today and they loved it! As far as I know, all sauerkraut is lacto fermented, it's just if you buy at a store in a tin can that sits on the shelf, then it has been pasteurized and therefore has no live bacteria. The smell is very similar.

PM me if you want to know more about EM and I will send you some info.

 

[gaitngirl]

Thank you! I will definitely be checking that out.