Raising Cornish X's on Fermented Feed - How often to feed and how much?

[Bri.jac]

I'm planning on raising around 15 male Cornish Crosses and like the concept of fermenting their feed to not only save money, but aid in their overall health. I'm pretty sure I understand how to ferment the feed itself but rationing it out appropriately is something I can't seem to find a clear answer on. How much fermented feed should I give to each bird throughout the course of their development? I'm wanting to start them on a fermented diet as soon as they arrive and am planning on starting them off on 20% chick starter for the first 5 weeks and then transitioning them to 18% chick grower until about 8 to 9 weeks. Should I allow fermented food to sit out to allow them to free feed for the first 5 days of the chicks lives, replenishing daily, or should I feed them for small periods while I'm there to supervise them? Also after the first 5 days I've been reading that it's best to feed the broilers in 12 hr increments, on and off. That seems like a pretty straight forward concept with dry feed but leaving out fermented feed in large quantities for 12 hrs just seems strange to me and I'm not sure how I'd go about it. Would I have to measure out and plan the exact amount of food they'd need for that 12 hrs relying on them finishing it completely? Or is there a better way to go about that?

Any information would help, thanks!

 

[JaeG]

I've found fermented feed fine sitting out in a bowl, just try and keep it out of the sun. If you can keep their feed clean (ie. they can't poop in it) they should be fine having it free choice. It will take a few days to work out how much they need to eat and it may reduce over time (or not seeing as they are meat birds, and growing).

I have 16 chickens, 2 large fowl, 4 light breeds and the rest are bantams. One 2 litre icecream container (not sure what that would be in gallons sorry) of fermented feed does all of them plus my many quail. I do give the chickens a bit of dry feed in the afternoon too. It's winter here so most aren't laying, so they will need more over summer.

Once you have your ferment going as long as you have a bit left over and top it up with new food it will be ready to feed out the next day.

 

[JaeG]

Also, this is the best article about fermented feed I've found:
https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[jennyf]

I can only tell you what worked for me--I'm sure folks will have lots of feedback on other options but... I used the Welp Broiler feed chart (don't have it handy but you can google it) to estimate about how much feed by weight they should be consuming. I split that up into two feedings. They'd clean it up in about 30 minutes. Sometimes a snack midday. I free fed for about two weeks, replenishing the fermented feed as needed, then started the rationing. I didn't lose any early--they were all moving around and happy up until processing at 8 weeks, and the largest were 6.5 dressed, which I was pleased with.